Munster SHC semi-final - Semple Stadium, Sunday June 1st, 4pm, Referee; Brian Gavin

2014 to date

Tipperary finished fourth in Division 1A and qualified for the knockout stages of the league after they beat Waterford in round 1 and Dublin in round 5. Alarmingly, in their three defeats to Kilkenny (5), Galway (3) and Clare (4) they conceded 12 goals. That leaky defence, conceding an average of 2.5 goals a game, will be one of the main concerns from a productive league campaign where they lost the league final to Kilkenny by a point after extra-time.

Limerick finished second in Division 1B after three wins and two draws against Cork and Offaly. They beat Antrim by 23 points, Laois by four and Wexford by just three. Galway beat them by 8 points in the league quarter-final.

Jamesie O’Connor and Daithí Regan previewed the game last night for Off the Ball.

2014 League Stats

2013 Championship

Tipperary - Played 2 - W0 - L2

MSHC semi-final - Tipperary 1-15 1-18 Limerick

AIQ round 2 - Tipperary 1-14 0-20 Kilkenny

Limerick- - Played 3 - W1 - L2

MSHC semi-final - Limerick 1-18 1-15 Tipperary

MSHC final - Limerick 0-24 0-15 Cork

AISHC semi-final - Limerick 0-18 1-22 Clare

Team News

The Tipperary team is expected to be named on Saturday.

While Limerick had a number of injury problems during their league campaign, they have nearly all cleared up. 13 of the team that beat Tipperary in that Munster semi-final last year are named to start on Sunday. Na Piarsaigh clubman David Breen is still out following his knee surgery last February.

Limerick: N Quaid; Seamus Hickey, Richie McCarthy, Tom Condon; Paudie O Brien, Wayne McNamara, G O Mahony; J Ryan, Paul Browne, Shane Dowling, Donal O Grady, Declan Hannon, Graeme Mulcahy, Kevin Downes, S Tobin.

2013 MSHC semi-final - Limerick 1-18 1-15 Tipperary

Tipperary: B Cummins; P Stapleton, P Curran, M Cahill; K Bergin, C O’Mahony, Pádraic Maher; Brendan Maher 0-01, Shane McGrath; P Bourke 0-01, Patrick Maher, J O’Brien 0-03; S Bourke, S Callanan 0-04 (4fs), N McGrath 0-01 Subs: J O’Dwyer 1-03, for S Bourke (HT), E Kelly 0-02 (1f), for Pa Bourke (45), B O’Meara for Patrick Maher (blood, 48-49), S McGrath for C O’Brien (64), Lar Corbett for B Maher (67).

Limerick: N Quaid; S Walsh, R McCarthy, T Condon; P O’Brien, W McNamara, G O’Mahony; P Browne, D O’Grady 0-03; D Breen 0-01, J Ryan 0-01, S Hickey; G Mulcahy, D Hannon 0-09 (7fs), S Tobin 1-01 Subs: C Allis for D Breen (43), S Dowling 0-02 (1f) for S Hickey (49), N Moran 0-01 for S Tobin (61), C King for P Brown (66), K Downes for J Ryan (69)

Recent History

Limerick ended a 17-year wait for a Munster hurling title last summer. They beat Tipp in the semi-finals and Cork in the final. They went on to lose the All-Ireland semi-final to Clare, 1-22 to 0-18. One of the favourites for the Liam McCarthy before the Championship started, Tipperary were knocked out of Munster by Limerick, and then Kilkenny in the qualifiers.

This will be the 13th meeting between the two counties since Tipperary beat Limerick in the 2001 Munster Final. Limerick have won just twice, last years semi-final and the semi-final of 2007 in the second replay, they went on to lose the final to Waterford. Tipperary have won seven of the games, including the 2001 Munster final and 2009 All-Ireland semi-final. As well as that there have been three draws.

Recent Championship clashes

2013 - Limerick 1-18 1-15 Tipperary - MSHC semi-final

2012 -Tipperary 2-20 1-19 Limerick - MSHC quarter-final

2009 - Tipperary 6-19 2-07 Limerick - AISHC semi-final

2007- Limerick 0-22 2-13 Tipperary - MSHC semi-final replay replay

2007 - Limerick 1-24 2-21 Tipperary - MSHC semi-final replay

2007 - Limerick 1-19 1-19 Tipperary - MSHC semi-final

Talking Points

1) Did Tipperary just take their eye off the ball last year? They played twice and lost twice in a year where they were the favourites for the All-Ireland alongside Kilkenny. Will we see the team that everyone expected to lift the Liam McCarthy last year on Sunday?

2) The post-match scenes after Limerick won their first Munster title in 17 years last year was one of the most iconic moments in a season full of them. It was revealed earlier this week that the Limerick captain Donal O’Grady received death threats in the aftermath of their semi-final loss to Clare.

What will we see from Limerick this year? Can they build on last years Munster success or will Tipperary just be too strong?

 Waterford weren’t given much of a chance last Sunday...

The winners will face Clare or Cork/Waterford on July 13th in the Munster SHC final