A rotor blade 100) comprising: an airfoil portion 110) that extends in a radial direction from a root end 112) to a tip end 114), a plurality of internal airfoil cooling passages 40) defined in said airfoil portion; a tip shroud 20) comprising a shroud plate 22) extending radially outward from a first surface to a second surface coupled to said tip end; a plurality of cavities defined in said second surface; wherein said tip shroud comprises a plurality of cover plates ; each cover plate covers a respective one of said cavities formed in said shroud plate to define a respective one of a plurality of tip shroud cooling passage each of said tip shroud cooling passages extends within said shroud plate in a direction generally transverse to the radial direction; each of said tip shroud cooling passages comprises: an inlet coupled in flow communication with a respective one of said airfoil cooling passages ; characterised by an exit opening defined in, and extending therethrough, a respective one of said cover plates said exit opening coupled in flow communication with said inlet ; said plurality of airfoil cooling passages comprises a first set of said airfoil cooling passages, each of said first set of airfoil cooling passages is in flow communication with a respective one of said tip shroud cooling passages ; and each of said first set of airfoil cooling passages cooperates with one of said tip shroud cooling passages and one of said exit openings in one-to-one correspondence to form a respective cooling flow path. an airfoil portion 110) that extends in a radial direction from a root end 112) to a tip end 114), a plurality of internal airfoil cooling passages 40) defined in said airfoil portion; a tip shroud 20) comprising a shroud plate 22) extending radially outward from a first surface to a second surface coupled to said tip end; a plurality of cavities defined in said second surface; wherein said tip shroud comprises a plurality of cover plates ; each cover plate covers a respective one of said cavities formed in said shroud plate to define a respective one of a plurality of tip shroud cooling passage each of said tip shroud cooling passages extends within said shroud plate in a direction generally transverse to the radial direction; each of said tip shroud cooling passages comprises: an inlet coupled in flow communication with a respective one of said airfoil cooling passages ; characterised by an exit opening defined in, and extending therethrough, a an inlet coupled in flow communication with a respective one of said airfoil cooling passages ; characterised by an exit opening defined in, and extending therethrough, a respective one of said cover plates said exit opening coupled in flow communication with said inlet ; said plurality of airfoil cooling passages comprises a first set of said airfoil cooling passages, each of said first set of airfoil cooling passages is in flow communication with a respective one of said tip shroud cooling passages ; and each of said first set of airfoil cooling passages cooperates with one of said tip shroud cooling passages and one of said exit openings in one-to-one correspondence to form a respective cooling flow path. <EOS>