All-Ireland hurling final preview: Cool Cats Kilkenny need more than hunger to stop big dogs Limerick

A team on the edge of historic hurling greatness. Standing in their way, the sport's most successful county but one enduring their longest title drought in almost 30 years.

Today’s All-Ireland final is a mouth-watering rematch of last year's decider, when Limerick were pushed to the finish by Kilkenny but held firm for a third Liam MacCarthy Cup in a row and a fourth in five years.

John Kiely’s Green Machine can become just the third team to secure four in a row, after Cork (1941-44) and the Cats (2006-09), whose current manager Derek Lyng played for the winners that record-equalling day against Tipperary.

Kilkenny needed a bit of luck to get over the line that afternoon and eventually came unstuck during the 'Drive for Five’ against the same opposition the following September.

The question now: is the ‘Fight for Four’ destined to end the same way or do this superb Limerick team have another title in them? It would arguably be their greatest achievement.

Having been taken to the brink of elimination in Munster before securing a fifth consecutive provincial crown - avenging their first loss in four years at the hands of Clare in the process - Limerick coldly dissected Galway from the 29th minute of the semi-final. Even more impressively, they did so without Sean Finn and captain Declan Hannon, two multiple All-Stars and mainstays of their defence.

Kiely likes to talk about the role his entire squad plays but all of today’s named starting XV, except for David Reidy and Barry Nash, saw action in the 2018 final victory that ended 45 years of hurt. Former forward Nash has become the prototype ‘playmaker corner back’ while Reidy’s three points in the Munster final helped to ensured he finally nailed down a starting jersey, ahead of