Exit Kilkenny. Seldom can an All-Ireland semi-final have taken place with such a range of issues hanging in the balance. The new championship system, the advisability of losing provincial finalists re-entering the equation, Kilkenny's advantage in having a greater amount of match practice than Clare all swirled around, vying for attention as the weekend's match loomed into view.

In the midst of it all, the central, uncomfortable consideration was the identity of Kilkenny rather than the nature of their progress in the championship to date. To a greater extent than Tipperary who contest next Sunday's semi-final with Wexford, Kilkenny's continuing presence seemed to agitate the public at large.

This was largely based on fear. Kilkenny's reputation is that the county improves over the summer and anything, therefore, that prolonged their participation in the championship was facilitating this genetic disposition to "improve over the summer".

Within six days of their defeat by Wexford in the Leinster final, Kilkenny went to Cork and began their campaign of rehabilitation. An irony of Sunday's defeat by Clare was that the two players whose resurgent form was confirmed by the League quarter-final in Pairc Ui Chaoimh, Liam Simpson and Michael Phelan, were both injured.

A week later, the comeback win over Galway achieved in a welter of goals further hardened the apprehensive impression that Kilkenny had been let out of the bottle and wouldn't be easily recaptured.

Against the background of a growing public desire for the All-Ireland final to be contested by Wexford and Clare, the prospect of Kilkenny spoiling the party was exciting a deal of resentment towards the new system.

Down in Wexford - where paranoia about Kilkenny comes as naturally as the latter's tendency to "improve over the summer" - a view that typically expressed local feeling was: "Last year we thought it was a great idea, but now we're not so sure".

Those opposed to the championship reform were clearing their throats for splenetic indignation if popular Munster champions were to be eliminated by a Kilkenny side beaten in the Leinster final. Supporters of the reform were terrified at the adverse consequences for its future of Kilkenny winning.

In the middle of all this, Kilkenny manager Nicky Brennan maintained his dignity. With the furore being whipped up over the Leinster final defeat and much reference to "second chances" and "back doors", he was eventually moved to point out that the county had come through the front door often enough.

Additionally burdened with a role in the formulation of the reforms, Brennan found himself being held doubly responsible for the system and the team poised to realise the worst fears of the system's sceptics. With none of the surly embarrassment occasionally exhibited in Tipperary, he patiently welcomed the experiment and said that it was a great opportunity for his team.

What was generally overlooked was the huge contribution the Leinster finalists have made to the championship. Their growing momentum put them in the spotlight for the last month and accomplished exactly what was intended by the changes to the All-Ireland schedule.

In the past, once last month's Leinster final had concluded, there would have been only three realistic All-Ireland contenders remaining. Only one Sunday's action would have been in prospect before the All-Ireland final and either the Munster or Leinster champions would have known that, by virtue of being scheduled to play their Ulster counterparts, progress to the final was all but inevitable.

This year, there will have been at least three times as many big days and two competitive semi-finals guaranteeing nothing to any of the participants.

Expanding the number of important matches requires the teams to make them competitive and raise public interest levels. For those few weeks, everyone believed that anything was possible for Kilkenny as they patiently re-shaped their team and launched a remarkable comeback in the second half against Galway. Such were the fears, however, surrounding the new system that the team rarely attracted the credit they deserved for keeping the pot boiling.

Instead, voices were raised about the unfairness of allowing Kilkenny the extra matches to get their house in order while Clare twiddled their thumbs waiting for them. This is in fact a logical part of the new championship. Facilitating improvement in a team that has lost a provincial final helps ensure competitive semi-finals.

(In case anyone was in any doubt about how specific the reservations were to Kilkenny, Sunday's minor semi-final provided strong evidence. Great and general jubilation greeted the fall of a Kilkenny team who had comprehensively outplayed Offaly for the Leinster title as they were defeated by a feisty Clare outfit which had been narrowly denied by Tipperary in the Munster final.)

The only difficulty surrounds Galway who are still required to come in from the cold at All-Ireland quarter-final stage without the benefit of any meaningful matches. Munster and Leinster champions progress straight to the semi-finals in reasonably good order after winning provincial finals which have remained hungrily contested despite dire warnings to the contrary.

To resolve that situation, the introduction of an open draw or the grafting on to the current system of a round-robin format will be necessary.

Without trying to guess the likely deliberations of Congress when it passes judgement on the reforms, the one certain victory of the reformers is that a return to the old ways is most unlikely.

On a practical point, Clare's powerful display helped bury the notion that there's a natural advantage to coming into the semi-finals by way of a quarter-final match against Galway. Listening to Des Cahill's Sportscall on Friday evening, you couldn't help notice the difference in demeanour between Nicky Brennan and Clare captain Anthony Daly.

Brennan - we now know that he was secretly juggling with the loss of his full back and full forward - seemed a bit worn by all the activity of recent weeks, hoping that there was enough left in the tank. Daly, on the other hand, detailed how they had gone on the rip after the Munster final, purged themselves with heavy training for a couple of weeks before spending another fortnight sharpening up.

For a team that already had matches against Cork and Tipperary under their belts, the preparation sounded a lot more appealing than Brennan's frantic search for his best 15.

Whoever goes on to win the All-Ireland now will have a place in history, but somewhere it should also be recorded that Kilkenny showed everyone the possibilities of the hurling reforms, raised the competitive stakes and contributed enormously to making this summer the exhilarating memory it will remain forever.