Strength in depth crucial to Cork

The big talking point here is a certain AN Other at centre forward in the Tipperary team. At this stage we can be nearly certain that Declan Ryan won't play and there were some doubts about Paul Shelley earlier in the week, although he resumed training on Wednesday, having missed Monday's session.

Of course, you'll always hear this sort of talk before big matches like this and you can't be certain how Tipperary will line out. But it seems that Ryan has lost his battle to get over his ankle injury.

Anyway, there are still all the ingredients here for a great game. It is nine years since the sides last met in a Munster final; it's something they have been looking forward to for a long time. In recent years, Munster has been about the dominance of Clare and Limerick but this is something of a new era for both sides.

And it's a very interesting match-up. Both teams are based on youth - even though Cork are All-Ireland champions they still have a bunch of young players. Of the two, I would say that Tipperary have been the more impressive in getting this far. They struggled at times against Waterford but then decisively beat Clare, much to everybody's amazement. I certainly thought that there was another hurrah in this Clare team, but Tipperary dismissed that theory in very emphatic fashion.

That victory was based on a great team effort, but it also featured some tremendous individual performances from the likes of Philip Maher and Paul Ormonde, and of course John Leahy, who has been a revelation this year.

Both sides will be extremely hungry for this. Tipperary haven't won Munster since 1993, while their last All-Ireland came nine years ago. Cork won't be happy either with just the one Munster title since 1992. People are talking about the back-door scenario taking away from the occasion but I don't agree with that. This is a Munster championship between the old enemies and they certainly want to beat each other.

One thing that has struck me this year is that Ken McGrath, Barry Foley and Declan Ryan have all injured their ankles. It's a coincidence of course, but each one of them is a key player. I wonder then if Tipperary will be same side we saw against Clare if Ryan misses the game.

He'll be replaced by Eddie Enright but he's not the same type of player as Ryan, who added a lot of bulk to the Tipperary forward line. So much will depend now on how the ball comes into Shelley from the half forward line. Tipperary did play a very effective game in that area against Clare, moving the ball low and quickly up to the forwards. I would think they will try something similar here, because they'll have seen against Limerick that any high ball that went into the Cork half back line was won by Cork and driven back down the field.

Cork do have problems at midfield and Tommy Dunne and Leahy have the edge there. But again play is inclined to bypass midfield these days - the position is basically a linkage area.

Tipperary's forwards are young and fast and, if anything, it will be this speed that will upset the Cork backs. But I still feel the Tipperary forwards are a little too inexperienced for what is a very big Cork back line.

One of the key areas is how the Tipperary backs will contain the Cork forwards. They'll have to be fast and they can't afford to make any mistakes against this Cork line. The half backs of John Carroll, David Kennedy and Eamonn Corcoran are solid and I can see why Cork brought in Alan Browne. Carroll is a tough wing back but Browne will be able to take the punishment and switch around if needed as well.

There was a stage in the second half of the Limerick game when we got to within two points of Cork before Joe Deane got his famous goal. But that's where Cork showed their strength and experience - they can raise their game a few steps.

They still scored 2-17 without playing their best, and I also feel that they have the greater depth on the sideline. With five substitutes allowed now, that becomes a bigger factor.

Even if Declan Ryan did play, he can't be fully fit, and Tipperary will be struggling a little bit in the forwards. So Cork to win by a couple of points but, of course, with a Munster final in Thurles you never know for sure. It should be a great atmosphere, even though it could be a bit tense. But if the teams let things fly it should be a great display of hurling.

In an interview with Ian O'Riordan