THE BIGGEST weekend of the GAA calendar to date sees matches of major significance in both football and hurling.

At Croke Park, the Bank of Ireland Leinster football championship brings together Dublin and All Ireland champions Meath in the first round, reviving memories of their four match epic at the same stage six years ago.

Thurles, meanwhile, will host the second semi final in the Guinness Munster hurling championship as champions Limerick take on Tipperary.

Any semi final is important, but under the current experimental hurling structures, both provincial finalists in Leinster and Munster qualify for the All Ireland series and last week, Clare became the first county to advance when they defeated Cork to reach the Munster final and guarantee themselves, at least, an All Ireland quarter final.

Both venues are expected to attract sell out crowds - particularly Croke Park, which also hosts another Leinster first round meeting, between Offaly and Wicklow.

Although they lost their Leinster and All Ireland titles to Meath 11 months ago by only two points, Dublin are outsiders for tomorrow's match.

Team manager Mickey Whelan has selected 12 of the side that won the All Ireland in 1995 under his predecessor Pat O'Neill. This represents something of a turn around from last year during which he appeared anxious to change the team in terms of personnel and tactics.

Two of tomorrow's line up, Paul Clarke and Ciaran Walsh, were dropped from the panel in the week before last year's Leinster final against Meath. The attack reverts to the exact six who started the All Ireland final of two years ago.

Such revivalism is always a bit risky. With a number of the players getting on in age and many of them with a hefty milage up, the likelihood is that tomorrow will be the last hurrah for the bulk of the team that has soldiered together since the start of this decade.

Faced with the bleak alternative, Dublin should be adequately motivated. The big question is, can they reproduce the sort of form that gave them a decisive edge two years ago?

Having reverted largely to the style and personnel that brought success two years ago, despite having tried to change both in the interim, Whelan will be hoping that the players can pick up where they left off before his arrival. Even if it were that simple, the passage of time is against such revisiting of the past.

Despite a more upbeat mood than prevailed last year, when Whelan's autocratic first year in charge appeared to preclude extensive discussion with the players, there is no guarantee that the healthier atmosphere can help bridge the gap that has opened between the counties over the last year.

Meath have built on their unforeseen success in last year's All Ireland and will bring far greater levels of self confidence to the defence of their title than they would have had in the corresponding match last July. They are missing Martin O'Connell, their vastly experienced corner back, whose contribution to the team has been exceeded by only Trevor Giles.

Much speculation has centred on possible tactical switches on both teams but at the end of the day, Dublin Meath matches are conservative affairs. Over the last 11 years, the counties' meetings have rarely defied the public consensus and at present, that consensus is gloomy for Dublin.

The clash between Tipperary and Limerick offers no such comfortable consensus. Over the past two years, Limerick's reputation for avoiding defeat has become legendary. Last summer's Munster final saw them hunt down a Tipperary half time lead of 10 points.

Although Tipperary have a new manager in former All Ireland medallist Len Gaynor, who has set out to stiffen their resolve for big occasions, the same questions of a year ago remain.

Will they believe in the heat of battle - no matter how well they are doing - that they can force home the advantage? When the teams played in the NHL in April, Limerick again pulled back a substantial half time deficit.

From a Limerick perspective, the question is one of endurance. Can the same players who have been outsized influences on the team in recent years continue to deliver until the younger players start to make their own impact? How much has the wear and tear of their ultimately frustrated All Ireland campaigns taken from the team?

Answers tomorrow.