Munster's two hurling giants meet on Sunday with traditional form skewed, but neither captain is in thrall to odds or history. Gavin Cummiskey reports

A Munster hurling final between Tipperary and Cork sounds normal enough but it feels a little strange this year.

The presence of Cork is expected - they are the All-Ireland champions and are, according to those in the know, the only side capable of stopping the Kilkenny freight train. In contrast, Tipperary have stuttered along in recent times.

Still, most of those who won All-Ireland medals for Tipperary in 2001 are still hurling and since this topsy-turvy campaign got under way a few others have made the breakthrough.

Two such men are Micheál Webster and Ger "Redser" O'Grady. O'Grady has rejoined the panel, his late-night disciplinary lapse after the replay against Limerick forgiven, mainly because his club form was irresistible.

Ditto Webster, whose confidence is high after his cleaning out of Brian Lohan; he is clipping points from all angles.

These two represent the rags-to-riches element. But what of the young captain, Benny Dunne, brother of Tommy? He travelled to Dublin yesterday for the pre-match press conference and reminded everyone present he hasn't won anything yet in Tipperary colours - a preposterous statistic he intends to remedy this Sunday.

"That's exciting in itself," he remarked. "Not having won anything in blue and gold is amazing really. Again, I suppose Tipperary supporters have been starved of success for the last number of years."

It being a Munster final, Tipperary should be ultra-competitive, but history and expectation will become irrelevant when referee Barry Kelly tosses the sliotar in around midfield at 4pm on Sunday. So how do they beat Cork?

"If we can break them down at half back and midfield, that is probably the critical area," says Dunne. "Cork showed how strong they are at half back over the last number of years with (Seán Óg) Ó hAilpín, Ronan Curran and John Gardiner - three excellent ball-players.

"Jerry O'Connor and Tom Kenny (at midfield) have really built it from there and Niall McCarthy at centre forward - you know he seems to have brought this team forward on his own."

He could start listing the Cork full-forward line, each name more daunting than the last, but he keeps it simple: "If all our guys can win the personal battles against their markers we can take it from there."

Tipperary enter the Páirc Uí Chaoimh cauldron as underdogs but their steady progress this summer should not be overlooked. Even for Dunne it was been an education - he was called ashore in both Limerick encounters.

"We had a poor league campaign. There is no point in saying any different. Pretty mixed altogether, obviously, not making the latter stages of the league. But we had a week in Portugal as well and I think that really benefited us later on in the year.

"I suppose we were lucky to get out of jail the first day against Limerick in Thurles. That was the turning point for us. We had to sit down and look at ourselves that week and say, 'Look, guys, we aren't going so well.' We changed things around and I think the two following games down in Limerick really have brought us on.

"The extra time in the Limerick game was a huge test for us mentally and physically. The wet day down there against Clare brought us on as well."

There are other positives, the return of full back Philip Maher being one. But the way players initially reacted to his knee injury was just as significant.

"He's back and took a full part in training last week. He's been a huge plus for us because, you know, Philip has been a colossus for us back there. But again a number of guys stepped up to the plate.

"I think maybe there was an over-reliance on Eoin (Kelly) in the last couple of years but again lads have shown their worth this year. The likes of Webster and these guys have been a target for us."

Cork captain Ben O'Connor also travelled to Dublin yesterday and immediately dismissed talk of a foregone conclusion. He has seen too many painful defeats at the hands of Tipperary to let form or possession of silverware induce complacency in a Munster final.

"One of my first memories of Tipp was back in '87 in Killarney," he recalls. "Tipp had beaten Cork in a Munster final so it wasn't a great memory for my first of Cork and Tipp clashes. Going down through the years, seeing the tapes, Cork and Tipp matches have always been fairly tough. There will be plenty of belting around early on but I think down through the years it has always been fair."

Then there is the unfinished business of winning last year's All-Ireland without picking up a Munster medal on the way.

"Yeah, that was one thing that disappointed fellas last year, that we didn't win the Munster title and go on and do it properly. Fellas don't like playing in the back door but we got our chance last year and were delighted to take it.

"This year it is playing on players' minds that we wanted to win a Munster title and work on from there."