Two changes for Cats

Brian Cody has made two changes to his Kilkenny side for tomorrow's Guinness All-Ireland SHC final against reigning champions Cork (Croke Park, throw-in 3.30pm).

The hole left by cruciate ligament injury victim JJ Delaney at left corner back has been filled by team captain Jackie Tyrrell.

The 24-year-old Tyrrell lined out in the right corner in last month's semi-final win over Clare, and his number 2 jersey has been taken by Michael Kavanagh.

The other switch sees fit-again Under-21 attacker Richie Power replace Michael Rice at right wing forward.

The Cats' top scorer this summer, Henry Shefflin, has been listed at centre forward where his direct opponent would be the highly rated Ronan Curran, but 'King Henry' seems certain to roam between the centre, left corner and full-forward berths.

John Tennyson has also recovered from his latest shoulder dislocation to start at centre back for the Leinster champions.

Tyrrell, who was part of the panel when Kilkenny last lifted the Liam McCarthy Cup in 2003, is backing the Noresiders to reign again.

The James Stephens clubman said: "Cork are a class team and have not won two All-Ireland titles in-a-row for nothing. We can't say we are attempting to stop Cork winning the three in a row. We can only look at this game from a Kilkenny point of view.

"I feel Kilkenny are peaking for this game because our performances up to now would not be good enough to beat Cork. We are definitely peaking and feel our best game is yet to come."

KILKENNY (SHC v Cork) - J McGarry; M Kavanagh, N Hickey, J Tyrrell (capt); J Ryall, J Tennyson, T Walsh; J Fitzpatrick, D Lyng; R Power, H Shefflin, E Larkin; E Brennan, M Comerford, A Fogarty.