Sunday’s Cork/Tipp showdown another hurling milestone

As well as representing the first meeting of Cork and Tipperary in Croke Park, Sunday is an historic day in that it will mean all five of the traditional Munster hurling counties will have met in the All-Ireland series (i.e. from the quarter-finals on, as opposed to the qualifiers).

Of the nine other possible pairings, only Cork and Limerick have yet to meet in Croke Park. Their 2006 quarter-final took place in Thurles.

Otherwise, there have been 16 all-Munster ties at GAA headquarters since the initial introduction of the back-door system in 1997.