HURLING ANALYST NICKY ENGLISHThe champions should be strong enough and fresh enough to see off a team many of whom have been on the road since 1999

I ALWAYS FELT Kilkenny would be at their most vulnerable this year in the quest for three in a row. We know they are the best hurling side in the country; we just don't know if they can produce it when it comes to the ultimate test. Tomorrow is that moment.

Contrary to Brian Cody's constant and understandable protestations, they have yet to be genuinely scrutinised in the 2008 championship. In the past two years only Galway have put it up to them and that was for 65 minutes before they pulled clear.

Cork are a different proposition entirely. They will stay with them to the death and remain the most obvious challengers to their crown. There was a suspicion Waterford would fade this season, while Tipperary may be another year off full potential. Galway, to be honest, never featured in my short list when it came to actually winning the All-Ireland.

During the league Kilkenny were outbattled by Tipperary in Nowlan Park, which was a highly unusual occurrence. Wexford asked questions of them in the first half of the Leinster final that emphasised this perceived vulnerability. In mitigation, when they stepped on the gas they accelerated out of sight quickly.

Not that it matters really. It was always going to come down to two Sundays for Kilkenny: tomorrow and the first in September.

They know they need a performance on a par with the 2006 final when they ruthlessly dashed Cork's three-in-a-row aspirations. They know it is Cork, more than anyone else, who would dearly love to end the dream of the immortality that would come with such a magnificent achievement.

We already know from Cork's last two games that they still have the hunger for further success.

Word from inside the Nowlan Park training sessions is that Noel Hickey, James Ryall and Aidan Fogarty in particular are flying.

The intensity of Kilkenny sessions is notorious and the team is picked on evidence of training. Hickey should start but hardly at the expense of John Dalton - who has been outstanding this season - and Ryall has a big job on his return to cover the loss of the injured Michael Fennelly.

Henry Shefflin is another returning from long-term injury, and while he improved from the Offaly to the Wexford game, he remains some way off the peerless standards he has long set. Henry must come on again tomorrow for Kilkenny to progress.

Tommy Walsh is another who needs to step up another notch. He was pulled off in last year's provincial final before exploding to life in the All-Ireland series so no major concern exists. The half-back line of Walsh, Brian Hogan and JJ Delaney should reach full throttle tomorrow.

At the start of the year I felt the strike would prove a catalyst for Cork to push on and win the All-Ireland but subsequent events have changed my view. The Tipperary and Dublin matches showed, and then confirmed, several problems in the spine of a team largely on the road since their 1999 breakthrough.

Of course, they found temporary redemption with rejuvenating performances against Galway and Clare - Ben O'Connor excelling and Tom Kenny finding form along with Seán Óg and Ronan Curran. The influence of Cathal Naughton has also been steadily growing. The contribution of new players like Shane O'Neill, Pa Cronin and Patrick Horgan cannot go unmentioned. I'm surprised, by the way, we haven't seen more of Paudie O'Sullivan since his decent showing against Tipperary.

The reignition was confirmed in the second half of the Clare game, when they found inner reserves despite playing Galway the week before, but they had to rejig the 1999 core to survive.

A lot has been made of the replacement of Diarmuid O'Sullivan, but remember Timmy McCarthy was on that team and he came off the bench. The fact remains that Kieran Murphy's introduction allowed Naughton out to midfield, where he always seems to find space (although Cha Fitzpatrick will prove a different proposition entirely) and Tom Kenny to wing back.

In one respect I was surprised Gerald McCarthy didn't continue with the formation that got them through, but to leave John Gardiner at full back in place of O'Sullivan upsets a great half-back line.

Cork need to create space but if they start with Plan B it becomes difficult to introduce O'Sullivan if things start to unravel. The switch is easier to enact as the game develops - as they have proven.

If Kilkenny are the team we think they are they should survive even a thoroughly searching examination. Just as Clare did, Kilkenny will seek to suck the oxygen out of Cork's key go-to areas and keep the space closed for 70 minutes but the All-Ireland champions have better hurling in them to achieve that.

The individual match-ups will be a treat to watch: Kenny against Cha; JJ against Ben O'Connor; Shefflin against O'Sullivan.

Cork have not created enough goal chances either (an average of one per game will not suffice). They will keep it close but do they have enough left in them to make it over the line? I don't think so.

Kilkenny to dip and break the tape. But what a sporting treat we have in store!