Bluffer's guide

... to the All-Ireland hurling final

What is it? Not since a young Davy (the future king of Israel, not Fitzgerald) dispatched the Philistine warrior Goliath with a single blow to the face that would do any Kerry versus Cork football game proud have so many people been rooting for the underdog in a perceived insurmountable mismatch.

And the teams? The contrast in styles between the sides could not be more acute - though we're not talking tactics. Waterford players and supporters celebrate every score in ways only an English Premiership soccer player would understand - crests are kissed, fists are pumped, hurleys are waved.

In contrast, Kilkenny fans celebrate a score by raising the decibel level to something, we imagine, that would not be out of place during an opera at Milan's La Scala.

So what do I need to know? Well, in truth, all you probably need to know is that Kilkenny have won 16 All-Ireland senior titles since the last time the Liam MacCarthy Cup resided in Waterford - and are going for three-in-a-row.

Most of the Waterford supporters who can remember their last final victory can avail of the Free Travel Scheme to get to and around Dublin this weekend.

And tickets? Don't mention the T word. Especially not in Waterford. In fairness, apart from the fact it's old hat in Kilkenny to be in an All-Ireland final, if every single adult in Kilkenny turned up at Croke Park in the morning they could seat them all without having to open Hill 16.

But in Waterford, thousands have been turning up at training sessions during the past week, with the team wrongly rumoured to be heading to a hurling-free location (if they want to do that they don't need to go all the way to Britain).

And, as everyone who has cousins or former friends in Waterford have found this week, they haven't forgotten you. Or the fact that you're a member of a GAA club.

The bad news is that many true Waterford hurling supporters will probably not get a ticket for Sunday's final and will have to content themselves with watching it on the television.

The good news is that, this time, it'll be in colour.

So it's bedlam in Waterford? There are blue-and-white banners, flags everywhere - and every kind of Beware of the (under) Dog sign depicting a dog chasing a cat. The same effort certainly hasn't been made in Kilkenny, though some places, such as the residents of Johnstown, have the black-and-amber up.

So who'll win? That's the big question - will it be Avonmore Milk or Yop? Glanbia's masterstroke in sponsoring both All-Ireland senior finalists means it's win-win for them. And even more so because the man who will present the Liam MacCarthy Cup to the winning captain is, of course, GAA president Nickey Brennan - a Glanbia employee.

We suspect that 90 per cent of the country will be shouting for Waterford on Sunday, but, as we heard earlier this week, Carlsberg don't do hurling teams, but if they did . . . Kilkenny would probably still beat them handy.

Either way, with the serious quality of forwards on show on both sides, it should be highly entertaining.