By Cian O'Connell

"It doesn't matter who you are playing in Munster, there is always great rivalry," John Kiely acknowledges the relevance of the Munster Hurling Championship.

Cork's thriller with Tipperary has set the tone down south and Sunday's Thurles joust featuring Limerick and Clare drips with intrigue too.

Kiely, who steered Limerick to All Ireland Under 21 glory two years ago, was a substitute during the compelling clashes in the mid 90s.

"I live on the Tipperary border, work in Tipperary town," Kiely says about the enduring battles.

"There is a real edge to the rivalries no matter which side of the county you live on.

"On the Eastern corridor, from Pallasgreen going up to Kiltealy, Hospital, Gallaby, that is all the Limerick side of the border and there is great rivalry with the Tipp lads.

"When you go into Limerick city, it is all about Clare and then you head out to West Limerick, and some parts of South Limerick, it is all about the Cork rivalry.

"There has been so great matches between Limerick and Clare down the years, I was lucky enough to be part of the 1990s team when there was a great sense of rivalry between two great teams at that time."

Kiely didn't feature in 1995 or 1996, but he remembers the matches vividly. "I didn't, no, only at the end," Kiely laughs about his involvement.

"Listen I was very privileged to be part of that panel, they were a fantastic team and we had some fantastic days. Won a couple of Munster titles and narrowly missed on a couple of All-Irelands.

"There is no doubt that we had opportunities in the last 25 or 30 years to get that All-Ireland success, but it remains to be done at the same time."

During the Allianz Hurling League Limerick used 34 players. Kiely accepts that expectations will always be high in Limerick, who have won 35 out of 54 Championship encounters against Clare.

"Listen, there is always going to be pressure in Limerick for success," Kiely says.

"Having been in Division 1B for seven years now, I would be lying to you if I said this management team and this group of players didn't have ambitions to get out of 1B and play in 1A.

"That is something we want to see happen, as soon as possible. But that is easier said than done, when you have the likes of Clare in there for one year, and Dublin and Galway and Wexford. It comes down to one game quite often and if you don't get it right for that one game, your chance is blown.

"While 1A is considered a really tough league, it is tough in the sense that teams wants to avoid the bottom two and the relegation play-off, in 1B you can't afford to lose any match whereas in 1A you can afford to lose one match, or even two."

Kiely acknowledges that the opportunity to play in a Munster decider is a significant carrot for both teams this weekend. "Huge prize at stake, but there is for every game," is Kiely's assessment. "Listen, I am not saying that I haven't thought about what the alternatives are but for me, at the moment, the focus is solely on the fourth of June.

"Our perspective, if you look at the recent history of matches, and even over the past number of decades, Clare and Limerick matches have been very tight affairs. Even last year, when Limerick were perceived as not playing at their best, there was still only a couple of points in it.

"Clare have always found it difficult, Limerick have always had opportunities in the games to win them and that is the challenge, when we do get our purple patch, to make it count and listen, it is a Munster Championship hurling match and anything can happen."