Hurling history awaits this weekend, but for who?

This weekend will see history created in some shape or form.

In a year when this Limerick team are trying to achieve a first, in terms of five All-Ireland titles in a row, if they can win at Tom Semple’s field on Sunday they will also have achieved a first in terms of six-in-a-row Munster tiles, surpassing the great Cork sides of the 1970s and 1980s.

Dublin will be trying to create their own bit of history by beating Kilkenny in a Leinster final for the first time since 1942. That same year Cork won the All-Ireland beating Dublin in the final.

Could the same happen this year? Hard to see those two in the final but Cork winning it, now that’s not outside the realms of possibility at all.

The atmosphere on Sunday in Thurles will be everything you’d expect and more.

There is a crossroads near Kelly’s of Fantane quarry, just outside of Borrisoleigh, called Currabaha Cross and if you are attempting to get out there on Sunday from 2pm onwards you’ll do well to get a gap between the streams of Clare and Limerick supporters heading for Thurles.

You can almost feel the atmosphere in Borrisoleigh if you pull into the shop for a roll or a coffee.

As soon as you hit the long stretch of road after the Ragg and you get a glimpse of the floodlights of Semple Stadium in the distance, there is this feeling that comes over you that you just cannot explain, not the road rage from the traffic building up but rather this feeling that your team and your place is about to take part in something very special.

Munster final day for many is their favourite day of the year, even ahead of the All-Ireland final, such is the atmosphere it brings. People will hit the road at the weekend from far and wide to get to Thurles for this special day on the hurling calendar.

I can vouch for this as I remember after the Munster final in 2009, waking up on the Tuesday after swapping my finest summer shirt for a Derry GAA polo with a guy who had travelled from the Oak Leaf County, slept in his car after the Munster final and decided to join us on the Monday for the celebrations.

The best of times. The worst of swaps on my part, but I still have that top and often have a laugh when I come across it in the drawer and takes me back to those great days we had after Munster finals.

It just goes to show what this day means to so many who are not even remotely connected to the game, other than the fact they love hurling, and that’s what brings them together to a town in mid-Tipperary. To say you were there, that you saw it with your own eyes and for that time you felt like nothing else in the world was happening only this game. To say you were there to see Davy Fitz’s penalty, Ciaran Carey’s point, Gillane’s goal or Tony Kelly’s sideline.

What will be the moment on Sunday that they will talk about for years to come and who will provide it?

So what about this rivalry? The same two teams for the third time in-a-row in the provincial decider. Clare can beat Limerick and they have done so, the only thing they have not done is beat Limerick when there is a cup on the line.

Can they do it on Sunday? Healthwise, Clare are looking at a fairly full deck to pick from, with David McInerney perhaps being their biggest concern but Limerick will be without Peter Casey, Seamus Flanagan and Darragh O’Donovan from last year’s decider, and Sean Finn is a 50/50 at best.

Even in comparison to that Munster final last year, team-wise Clare will be much stronger, with Conor Cleary, who was a massive loss last year, in the full-back line. David Reidy is in flying form, Shane O’Donnell is in the form of his life and Tony Kelly looks set to make a full return.

Add into the mix the fact that Mark Rodgers, Darragh Lohan and Aidan McCarthy have become real leaders on this team and I think that the Banner have never had a better chance of beating Limerick and lifting some silverware after it.

The prize is massive, a break for a few weeks after the battlefields of Munster, and a path straight to the semi-final at Croke Park.

How will Clare go after this?

Tactically, they have always been very brave when it comes to playing Limerick and they will do the same Sunday. I’d imagine they’ll go man on man, maybe with Conlon sitting somewhat to cut off that space in front of Gillane.

Limerick will negotiate that if they have an extra player out the field to work that ball, so that will almost force Conlon’s hand to press up. The biggest loss to this space and utilising it to the max each time, and who I feel Gillane misses the most, is Darragh O’Donovan.

The quality of service the Doon man delivers time and time again when he gets a chance to get his head up is incredible. Every time, it’s one bounce just inside the 45 to the onrushing Gillane at an angle, and more often than not a score will follow.

Their biggest learning, in terms of tactics, from Ennis should be not to get sucked into Limerick’s trap of them dropping so deep. This led to them working the ball out more so that it left an ocean of space at the other end and defenders were wondering where they should be or what they should be doing.

Trust the process, be patient. If they lose their shape they will lose the game. Last year, it was Gillane who did the damage, but this year, Conor Cleary will be there to try and curb his influence, with Adam Hogan busy around him.

Further out the field, I’d imagine David McInerney (if fit) will pick up Hegarty, who he did a great job on for 50 minutes or so in Ennis.

Will TK return and where will he play? I have seen him at his brilliant best when given the freedom of midfield and that’s where I’d be putting him on Sunday and asking the question of Cathal O’Neill or O’Donoghue. ‘Do we man-mark or just let him float and let whoever is in that zone worry about him when he comes into it?’

Man-marking Tony Kelly is a no brainer as when it is done and done well it usually means victory for the opposition, but again, this Clare team are different. They are not reliant on TK like they were before, so shutting him down is not the calamity it once was for Clare.

Up front, it’s the battle of Shane O’Donnell and Dan Morrissey I am most looking forward to. O’Donnell is the go-to man and when he gets the ball it usually ends up in a positive result, but the bigger the day, the better Morrissey plays. The winner of this battle will be key to where the Mick Mackey Cup rests on Sunday night.

So a call needs to be made here and I’m going to say Clare will win. They need it, their fans needs it. A lot has happened since 1998 when Anthony Daly walked up the steps in Semple Stadium. The Banner roar on the pitch will need to be as loud as it has ever been on Sunday to try and stop this Limerick team creating even more history.

Across in Leinster, I am looking forward to seeing another big performance from this Dublin team that seems to be growing in confidence and quality with each passing week. I was in Salthill to watch them demolish Galway and they will rightly feel they can win this game on Saturday.

In Parnell a few weeks ago, Kilkenny got the job done, but it was Dublin that did most of the hurling that night but just could not make it count where it mattered most.

One of Kilkenny’s leading scorers in this campaign has been John Donnelly, with 15 points from play to his name, and seven of them coming against Dublin. He is unlikely to be able to feature on Saturday night.

Mikey Carey could also be a doubt with an ankle injury but on the plus side, Adrian Mullen should return to action. So like Clare, the Dubs will be the healthier panel and the way they are hurling with their best players, playing their best in their best positions, I am going to go with Dublin to win this game and just throw another cat amongst the pigeons in terms of the All-Ireland series.

Finally, well done to the Offaly Under-20s on Saturday night. No complaints from Tipp here, the better team won this title and they hurled like lads possessed and determined to win this for themselves and their county. For these lads to develop next year it needs to be in the Liam MacCarthy and so the Joe McDonagh final against Laois is a massive game for Offaly hurling. Many will say ‘no, let them hurl away in the Joe McDonagh for another year, it will be good for them’.

For me, if these lads want to learn and learn fast, it will have to be against the very best and on a frequent basis. They will learn about the physicality of the top level players, the speed of the hurling, and if they are good enough to compete right now.

If they go up and get relegated, so be it. It will be a massive learning for them and the likes of the star man Adam Screeney.

The main question about this hurling genius has not been about how is he able to duck and dive and still get a shot off with the space smaller than a phone box. Rather, it has been about his strength, and for me this guy’s strength is his hurling ability, his game smarts and how he can mix it when it was needed in the U20 final.

The learning at Liam MacCarthy level for the likes of him and his U20 team-mates will be, ‘can we succeed with just our hurling and do we need to do more to be competing with the likes of Kilkenny and Mikey Butler breathing down his neck?’

This is why it is so important for Offaly to keep riding that wave of momentum and get the job done against Laois.

Watch the Joe McDonagh Cup final, Offaly v Laois, on Saturday from 3pm. Follow a live blog on rte.ie/sport, follow a live blog on rte.ie/sport and the RTÉ News app and listen to commentary on RTÉ Radio 1

Watch the Leinster Hurling final, Kilkenny v Dublin, on Saturday from 5pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player. Follow a live blog on rte.ie/sport and the RTÉ News app and listen to commentary on RTÉ Radio 1

Watch the Munster Hurling final, Limerick v Clare, on Sunday from 3.15pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player. Follow a live blog on rte.ie/sport and the RTÉ News app and listen to commentary on RTÉ Radio 1