Former Wexford manager Liam Griffin believes that the new format for the Guinness All-Ireland hurling championship, whereby provincial losers in Munster and Leinster remain in the competition, has been seen to be flawed.

Griffin says he does not wish to knock the new system, but he wonders about the practicality of a process that can benefit any team to such an overwhelming extent.

Griffin says that the new arrangement is similar to Formula One motor racing. "You get into trouble, drive into the pits, get refuelled and overhauled and off you go again. The hurling championship should not be like that, it is knock-out," he says.

Turning his attention to the specific case of Sunday's semi-final between the Kilkenny, the beneficiaries of the new system, and Clare, Griffin says: "Kilkenny have had the time and the opportunities to refine their team in top-class competition. I have maintained all along that whoever was going to survive the Galway quarter-final match would be vastly better off as a battle-hardened championship side.

"As things have transpired this time the system is weighted heavily in Kilkenny's favour, and more luck to them," says Griffin. Griffin contends that Kilkenny, who lost to Wexford in the Leinster final, deserve to be favourites to beat Clare because of the benefits they have derived from the `back door' route.

He feels that there is something basically wrong with a system whereby provincial champions like Clare will be at a disadvantage against provincial losers who have been given time and the means to rejuvenate themselves for a fresh challenge.

"Clare have been waiting for a competitive match since winning the Munster title back on the sixth of July. Kilkenny, in the meantime, have been refining their team."

Griffin feels that Sunday's game "is a hard one to call". He feels that Clare's biggest asset will be their physical strength right through the team. In addition "they have experience from being there before and they are also confident in their ability to perform.

"Kilkenny's main strength is possessing a player of the calibre of DJ Carey in their attack," he says.

However, he believes that other Kilkenny players are underestimated.

One of those players, Willie O'Connor, has his own views on the `back door' route, saying that he is glad to be able to take advantage of it but has never agreed with the idea.

Clare will have their final training session prior to Sunday's match at Cusack Park in Ennis tonight.

The session may not be open to the public. Supporters were disappointed over the past two weeks when refused admission as the squad trained behind closed doors.

The two sets of forwards in Sunday's match are unlikely to be as prolific as those in two All-Ireland semi-finals of the distant past. Kilkenny were involved in both cases, and 15 goals were scored in each match. However, Kilkenny failed to score a point in one of these matches.

In 1913, Kilkenny beat Glasgow by 10-6 to 5-2, while in 1925 Kilkenny went down to Galway on the score 9-4 to 6-0.

Kilkenny were also involved in the greatest semi-final shock of the championship when losing out to Antrim in Corrigan Park, Belfast on the score 3-3 to 1-6 in 1943.

Antrim struck again in 1989 when they beat Offaly to qualify for the All-Ireland final against Tipperary.

At the All-Ireland final stage, the great Kilkenny sharp-shooter, Eddie Keher still holds the record as top scorer. He chalked up 2-11 (17 points) against Tipperary in the 1971 final.

Kilkenny held Galway scoreless in their first All-Ireland final in 1897, scoring three goals and four points themselves. Clare have also set a number of records in championship hurling. Pat "Fowler" McInerney of O'Callaghan's Mills came into the Clare team in 1913 and his county career lasted until 1933. He was on the All-Ireland-winning team of 1914, and played in the final against Kilkenny 18 years later.

As part of their own preparation for Sunday week's semi-final against Wexford, the Tipperary hurling team had a training session at Croke Park last evening. It is now becoming a growing trend for teams to get the feel of the pitch at headquarters before a big game.

Clare, who trained there on Monday night ahead of Sunday's semi-final clash with Kilkenny, were the originators of the idea in 1995 when they were granted the facility before their All-Ireland final with Galway.

Tommy Barrett, the Tipperary county secretary, said that they applied for permission to train at headquarters because the county team has not played a championship game there since 1994.

Meanwhile, the National Hurling League semi-finals are listed for August 23rd, but the actual venues for the matches have yet to be decided upon.

The pairings are: Tipperary v Galway; Kilkenny v Limerick.