Kilkenny to topple tired champions

Some time after the 1994 All-Ireland football final, winning captain DJ Kane admitted that during Dublin's frantic, second-half comeback he had glanced at the Hogan Stand and wondered was he about to become the first Down captain not to lift the Sam Maguire after a final.

Something of the same weight of history hangs around All-Ireland hurling champions Tipperary tomorrow. Only once in 80 years have Kilkenny defeated their neighbours in championship hurling. One Kilkenny supporter has tartly pointed out it was hardly his county's fault Tipperary's lengthy famine prevented the counties meeting more often but it is still a striking statistic.

It means little enough to this weekend's teams in that DJ Carey is the only playing survivor from the most recent meeting, 11 years ago. But in bleak moments surely it will nag at Tipperary that there will be a dim place in history for the team responsible for such an epochal lapse.

For the first time in quite a while Kilkenny are travelling under cover of darkness. A year ago they arrived at this stage torn between the competing distractions of the loss of drive that increasingly characterises champions and daft hyperbole proclaiming them as one of the great teams in history.

This time around the boot is on the other foot. Kilkenny were unimpressive in the Leinster final and have been hidden away in the six-week hiatus since. Somehow you feel it unlikely they will suffer from the staleness that has afflicted other provincial champions in both hurling and football.

The team has been well freshened up by Brian Cody's judicious pruning and grafting. The focus this week has been on Carey's return. It is surprising that someone without intercounty action for the past 12 months should walk back into the starting 15 but the management knows his condition and if it's good enough for them, there's no reason for the rest of us to be too concerned.

In Carey's absence, Henry Shefflin has grown into the role as leader of the attack, both by his positioning at centre forward and his disposition. It is unfortunate for Tipperary that such a challenge awaits them in the very area, centre back, which has given most trouble this year.

Eamonn Corcoran has the hurling for the task but hasn't been having his best year, is happier on the wing and will concede four inches in height to his old Waterford IT team-mate.

This is the crux of the matter for Tipperary. Their top players aren't in the sort of form that landed the All-Ireland last season. As a result the team is suffering from a crisis of confidence and also the flatness that has undone the last few All-Ireland champions in either code.

Manager Nicky English has rejigged the team as best he can to try to reinvigorate it. Noel Morris is named at wing back, a position he's well familiar with, and his centrefield experience will be a help against the statuesque Kilkenny half forwards. The prospect of marking Carey will concentrate Tomas Costelloe's mind; after that it's a question of how sharp the Kilkenny icon is.

Whatever the chances of the backs recovering their form, Tipperary's forwards are not going well. Eoin Kelly is showing signs of fatigue after a hectic few years and the team badly need him topped up for this. Similarly the anxious wait for Eugene O'Neill to erupt into his best form goes on. With the exception of John Carroll and newcomer Benny Dunne, the champions' attack isn't punching at the same weight as a year ago.

This Kilkenny team are untested at the highest level but they have survived all the challenges to date. Excellently served by their central defence, the Leinster champions look equipped to restrict their opponents to a manageable score.

Neither centrefield is performing at its best but there is better potential in Tipperary's. This won't matter so much if the Kilkenny backs can establish a decent platform. Like Kerry in football, Kilkenny have purged the weariness of last year and introduced some new blood.

There are reservations about them but not sufficient to see the struggling champions survive.