All-Ireland SHC Qualifiers Round One: Winning your qualifier group is vital, says Nicky English - in the first of his columns for The Irish Times - and Clare might take a big step towards that goal tomorrow.

Last year in the qualifiers I don't think people realised the importance of winning their group. If Waterford had to go to Ennis again they'd approach it a lot more cautiously than they appeared to at the time. Offaly could be capable of springing a surprise, but this looks almost certainly the key game in the group.

Their defeats in Munster have really ruled out Clare and Limerick as All-Ireland contenders. I thought that Clare in particular could have built on last year's All-Ireland semi-final and I saw Limerick a couple of times - particularly in the league final when they looked capable of troubling Kilkenny on the day.

But, on the evidence of the Munster championship, they don't seem to have enough forwards who can actually score. Limerick's attack didn't score enough or win enough ball against Tipperary and that's an area that will need a lot of improvement.

Limerick probably played worse against Tipperary than they are. But the problem in terms of them as genuine All-Ireland contenders is the forwards aren't able to score enough. Changes have been made with Mark Keane left off and Barry Foley back on.

Keane can be brilliant, even if some of his totals can be a bit soft, but in the Tipp match he was virtually anonymous. But he's only one and seems to be carrying the can. After 10 or 15 minutes the last day they didn't have anyone who looked like scoring.

Going into their match there was a lot of talk about Clare and I was one of the people who bought into it and thought they could actually beat Cork on the day. Maybe the hype coming out of Clare actually drove on Cork.

But although there are excuses for both of tomorrow's teams, to me they've dropped back in the overall pecking order.

Limerick were very poor around midfield and in their half-forward line - to the point where Tipperary really dominated midfield and Eamonn Corcoran and Hugh Maloney were outstanding in the half backs. During the match, Limerick replaced both their midfielders and have done so again tomorrow. They may be about to lose Stephen Lucey from the half forwards as a replacement for TJ Ryan, who's almost certain not to line out in the full-back line tomorrow because of injury.

They need improvement in the half forwards if they're to get a decent supply through to the full forwards. That line is dangerous enough with Brian Begley, who has already done well against Clare in the league semi-final, and Andrew O'Shaughnessy, who's showing some signs of being the player we thought he'd be three years ago.

I think there might have been a strange sort of over-confidence at play. Most people thought Limerick would win that match. They were on a bit of a high after the league final and had probably put a lot of effort into the league final - more than it warranted - and that may have left them a bit tired going into the championship.

When they got the couple of early goals it seemed easy on the day, relaxed them and they weren't able to get going again.

Looking at Clare, it's too early to say on the basis of one championship match that Brian Lohan, Seánie McMahon and Colin Lynch are definitively gone. Niall McCarthy, Brian Corcoran and Tom Kenny, their direct opponents against Cork, are very serious hurlers and would be a match for anyone, including Lohan, McMahon and Lynch in their prime.

I wouldn't make a decision on them before seeing them a second day, but there are clear signs that they're under pressure. They're playing central positions as well, so it's not that they've retired to corner back or corner forward at this stage of their careers.

Most of the pressure on teams comes in these central positions. They're not getting any break there and they're coming up against the opposition's best players.

They're definitely slipping, but Anthony Daly's in the most difficult of positions, managing players he played with, and not just players but icons, and I'd be very surprised if Lohan and McMahon aren't in the team tomorrow.

Everything about Clare this year smacks of one last hurrah, even for the manager and maybe that's what's driving them. It's a long road between the level they played at against Cork the last day and All-Ireland success. Those boys have tasted that success and know exactly how long the road is.

The Clare forward line looked no more certain of getting scores than Limerick's. But there were some positional reasons there, like placing Tony Griffin at midfield. If you'd had Griffin and Tony Carmody in the half-forward line, it would have been more of a threat.

I think that will change for tomorrow, maybe with Brian O'Connell going back to midfield, where he was outstanding against Cork last year, or Jonathan Clancy - impressive when he came in as a sub - starting.

The half forwards looked cumbersome against Cork, but they're not up against that half-back line this weekend. Limerick won't be as tight marking or suffocating in their play.

There's also a major advantage in Ennis. Although there's nothing unusual about the dimensions of Cusack Park, which is as wide as any pitch, the psychological thing is the crowd is so close it makes it really tight for the players.

In some cases, there is a very real reluctance to spread the play wide; that's happened to teams I've been with over the years. Unless you're prepared for or used to it, you can fall into that trap and that would not help the Limerick forwards. Whatever else, they need space and they need room.

Limerick's full-back line was shown the last day to be a bit vulnerable as well. If Lucey moves back to cover for Ryan that will improve the line, but it equally weakens the half forwards.

Full backs, midfield and the half forward line will be the areas they need to show improvement in. Any team's half forward line and its full back line are inextricably linked.

If you're being beaten in the half forwards, the full-back line has virtually no chance of containing the opposing corner forwards. They are your primary lines of defence. Clare weren't much better and you could see that from the damage done by Eoin Kelly and Joe Deane in the two matches.

I think the league semi-final between the teams was pretty genuine and on the day, although Limerick came back well and won in extra-time, I thought Clare were the better team. They can prove it tomorrow.

Nicky English's column will be regular feature in the sports pages of The Irish Times throughout the hurling year.