Dónal Óg Cusack and Joe Canning nearly came to blows on RTÉ’s coverage of Cork v Galway, with Canning’s jab at the Rebels’ overconfidence going down like a lead balloon with Cusack.
Canning’s native Galway laid waste to Cusack’s beloved Cork in Saturday’s All-Ireland semi-final, outscoring them by 12 in the second half to claim their spot in the final in three weeks.
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It secures another year of disappointment for Cork, who have defeats in the Munster and League finals to sit alongside another catastrophic Croke Park disaster.
Many in the county had been sure that they would be heading to the decider, likely to face arch-rivals Limerick.
Whether that was a motivator for Galway or not is unclear, but Joe Canning believes it may have contributed to Cork’s implosion on Saturday – a suggestion which brought a disappointing jab from Dónal Óg in response.
Canning’s Cork jab riles up Dónal Óg
The end of RTÉ’s coverage of the All-Ireland semi-final made for awkward viewing, as Dónal Óg Cusack snapped in response to a playful dig from Joe Canning about Cork’s overconfidence coming into the last-four encounter.
Dónal Óg v Joe Canning. I feel awkward just watching this 😬🤣pic.twitter.com/BlLllTSW1x
— Craic Of The Ash (@CraicOfTheAsh) July 4, 2026
Here’s the full transcript of the truly awkward discussion.
Joe Canning: “The trains are booked out for the All-Ireland from Cork.”
Dónal Óg Cusack: “Ah, Joe, you’re better than that.”
Canning: “No, no! My point is…”
Cusack: “Joe, you’re bigger than that.”
Canning: “My point is that that seeps in to the mentality.”
Cusack: “Have you that, Joe?”
Canning: Do you not think that seeps in, the supporters, the whole thing?”
Cusack: “What’s your point?”
Ursula Jacob: “The hype.”
Canning: “The hype is what I’m on about.”
Cusack: “About trains being booked. Ah, go on, keep doing it, keep sticking the knife in, stay sticking the knife in.”
Canning: “It’s not sticking the knife in”
Cusack: “Joe, you know that’s bull. About trains…how many All-Ireland medals did you win yourself? That would be like somebody saying what’s the reason behind that?”
Initially, this seemed like a good-natured disagreement, but it became clear as the disagreement escalated that Canning had touched a nerve with his initial joke.
Cusack escalating things to call out Canning having won just one All-Ireland was a classless remark towards one of the greatest hurlers of all time.
It’s been a long time since we had genuine barb on the RTÉ panel, but it was there in abundance after Cork’s defeat to Galway on Saturday.