All-Ireland SHC final: History not necessarily on Limerick's side - but they're good at bucking trends

It probably feels like an answer should jump to mind. Kilkenny and Tipperary met in quite a few deciders over the past decade and a half didn’t they?

The great rivals played each other in six finals across that time, with the first three of those coming one after the other. However, in each of the ‘repeat’ finals – 2010 and 2011 – the side beaten the previous year bounced back to win.

Outside of that the only other time in the past four decades that the same teams have made it to the showpiece occasion two years running was in 2003 and 2004, when Kilkenny saw off Cork initially before the roles were reversed a year later.

Otherwise, you have to go back to 1982 and 1982, when Cork won the first two of what would be five consecutive Munster titles only to fall to Kilkenny in the All-Ireland final each time. Thankfully, they would make it third-time lucky in 1984, beating Offaly in the centenary final in Thurles.

While it might seem like a phenomenon that would be more common in the straight-knockout days, that wasn’t the case – the first two legs of Cork’s three in a row came with wins over Wexford in 1976 and 1977 but prior to that the last time a team went back-to-back and beat the same opposition in both finals was Cork against Dublin in 1941 and 1942 (the first two parts of what would be four in a row).

In that regard, it could perhaps be said that history isn’t exactly on Limerick’s side when they face Kilkenny in Sunday’s final at Croke Park – especially when you add in the fact that the Shannonsiders’ win over the Cats in 1973 was followed by a turning of the tables in 1974.

And yet, given that John Kiely’s side have been in the business of making their own history, does it really matter that they are once again trying to do something that is in the rare pile?

In the same way that the Treatymen’s average winning margin in 2022 was reduced compared to the regal procession of 2021, this time around the champions have been forced to dig deep on more than one occasion. They had to salvage a draw against Tipperary and then edged Cork by a point on a day when they could have exited the championship before squeezing by Clare in the Munster final, again by a point.

Perhaps the mileage built up over the course of winning four All-Irelands in five years was a factor in them appearing more pressed than usual; if so, the four weeks off before the semi-final against Galway was an ideal tonic, as evidenced by the rampant second half against a side that had caused them problems in the last four in 2020 and 2022.

There has been some discourse lamenting the fact that the seemingly ‘open championships’ have left us with Limerick and Kilkenny facing off in the hurling final while Dublin and Kerry once again battle it out in the football – but is there anything really wrong with the best teams emerging from fairer systems?

Sunday will be the third successive final where Limerick and Kilkenny have collided, after last year’s All-Ireland and this year’s league decider. Others have challenged, but these two are hard to shake.

Of course, the lovely sub-plot is that Limerick are trying to win a fourth straight title, something which only Kilkenny have managed in the last eight decades, doing so from 2006-09 inclusive.

It would be quite the achievement if Derek Lyng was able to bring the Liam MacCarthy Cup back to the banks of the Nore in his first season in charge, especially given that following Brian Cody looked like such a massive task. That he would be doing so by beating one of the best teams in hurling history would make it all the more admirable. Lyng has managed to evolve the Cats’ style without losing any of their steel.

And yet, just like we used to say, “Kilkenny are Kilkenny,” as a reason for not backing against them, Limerick are Limerick. They are never fazed and they are unlikely to start now, with such a prize in front of them.