Leinster SHC final: Familiar foes Galway and Kilkenny need to deliver statement display

Leinster, the unloved sibling of the hurling championship, could do with the public relations boost of a humdinger on Sunday.

If only to quieten the stream of condescension and dismissiveness emanating from down south.

To paraphrase one Munster legend, they have listened to many jibes over the past couple of months.

The unity of Hurling Nation is in danger of sundering due to Munster exceptionalism.

Former Limerick hurler Niall Moran really pushed the boat out when he posited on the Our Game podcast - mischievously no doubt - that a Munster Championship medal might be worth more than an All-Ireland medal at this stage.

He followed it up with a wistful homily to the delights of the Munster championship - "the scene coming down the Ennis Road yesterday, no different to going down the Hill in Thurles, or going down to La Bombonera in Ennis last weekend" ('I thought that was in Buenos Aires,' mutter the Leinster crowd in unison).

He did acknowledge that the trip to Croke Park wasn't without its perks, chief among them being the prospect of a Supermacs at Junction 14 - a motorway station service in Monasterevin for the uninitiated.

If such talk isn't reined in, the Munster hurling fraternity may soon seek to go further and rebrand the All-Ireland series as an afterthought.

In this new reality, the All-Ireland hurling final could be the equivalent of the World Club Cup final. Perhaps run off on a weekday afternoon a few months later, with Kilkenny or Galway serving as hurling's equivalent of Palmeiras or Vasco de Gama or Colo-Colo.

In a few years, they could probably stick it exclusively on GAAGO without a peep of complaint from a government minister.

The protracted nature of the round-robin format has heralded a new era of provincial