Speaking to Off The Ball Shane Dowling said it took Limerick some time to adjust to Kilkenny's intensity on Saturday.
The Limerick hurler rejected claims that having a four-week break before the All-Ireland semi-final hampered their performance.
“You have to respect the stats that are there, teams who have won Munster haven’t done fantastically well after, but I don’t buy it," he said.
“If anything, I think it played to our strengths because we got a week off after the Munster final so really it was only a three-week run in.
"Within those three weeks, you only have two weeks that are real hard graft and then the week before the match is always the same."
"I don’t believe it was a factor early on I just think we came across an intensity that we hadn’t come across in a long time," Dowling admitted.
He wasn't afraid to praise Kilkenny for their performance and how they got at Limerick early on.
"What Kilkenny did the other day was savage. They were unreal in how they approached everything."
"I think it was a step above what we came across this year anyway - you know when we played Tipperary down in Thurles they were quite intense that day - but I think Kilkenny were just on another level on Saturday."
Despite Kilkenny's fast start, Dowling thought Limerick got to grips with their intensity as the game went on.
"They were putting in some savage hits early on, then the table's turned and we were able to do that. It ebbed and flowed for the whole game really."
"They were probably that bit better at that side of the game on the day and we could have got a result out of it but we had a big mountain to climb after the first quarter."
"I always say you have to be a good team with a bit of luck to win an All-Ireland and we had that bit of luck last year. Yesterday we didn't get that bit of luck and Kilkenny did," Dowling said.
While it was a disappointing loss for them, Dowling said as a team they don't really have any regrets.
"John Kiely is extremely proud of us and proud of everyone involved with the team over the last three years and he expressed that after the game."
"He said just because you were beaten that doesn't change any of that."
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