first the Harty Cup, which De La Salle had never won before, and now this. Congratulations to the players and to their management team of Derek McGrath, Dermot Dooley and Nicky Quinlan.

They've achieved something unique in their lives and in the history of the school.

My alma mater . . . the college, as it's known in Waterford . . . has long been a hotbed of Gaelic games, though oddly it was football that was the predominant sport when I was a boarder there. Now the boarders are no more and the vast majority of the students are from Waterford city and its environs, with a sprinkling from across the bridge in south Kilkenny.

The local clubs deserve immense credit for De La Salle's triumph at Croke Park seven days ago. They, after all, provided the raw material. Hurling is as strong in Waterford city as it is in any urban area in the country, including Cork and Kilkenny. Take a bow, Waterford GAA.

The exploits of the Waterford hurlers in recent years will have served as a consistent inspiration to the De La Salle lads. By the same token, I see no reason why De La Salle's success shouldn't in turn serve as an inspiration to Waterford today. Let's face it, Justin McCarthy's side need all the inspiration they can get.

Kilkenny are the reigning National League champions.

They're the reigning All Ireland champions. They've contested seven of the last nine All Ireland finals. By 5.30pm today they'll have contested five of the last six National League finals. Their leading club team, Ballyhale Shamrocks, won the All Ireland on St Patrick's Day.

Despite being without the Ballyhale contingent, among them the Hurler of the Year and the Young Hurler of the Year, Kilkenny reached the league semi-finals through the front door. The Hurler of the Year and the Young Hurler of the Year are back in harness this afternoon. Strength in depth or whatf One result of the above is that Waterford will start as firm outsiders. From their point of view, that's no harm at all. Like most other counties bar Kilkenny and Cork, Waterford do not wear the mantle of favourites lightly. Yet win, lose or draw here, it's much better for Ken McGrath, Big Dan and the rest of them to be contesting national finals than not to be contesting them. Reach enough finals and some day you'll undoubtedly win one of them. Reach enough league and Munster finals and some day you'll reach an All Ireland final on the back of the experience you've built up. The old adage is correct. If you're not in, you can't win.

Today is the third time since 1998 that Waterford contest a league final. They haven't won the competition since 1963. Interestingly, they reached the All Ireland final the same year. For such a proud hurling county, these are deeply frustrating statistics. But they shouldn't make the mistake of thinking that this afternoon is 'only' the league. You won't hear Brian Cody making little of the league or playing it down. Getting to and winning league finals hasn't hindered Kilkenny. It won't hinder Waterford either.

They remain one of the most discussed teams in the country, never far from any talk concerning potential McCarthy Cup winners. With the hurling world dying to see someone coming along to upset the Cork/Kilkenny applecart, Waterford have been viewed as the Team Most Likely for the last few years. Okay, they haven't quite done so, but it's better to be talked about than not to be talked about.

Back in the days when heavyweight boxing was worth watching, black fighters dominated. Fans around the world clamoured for a white man who could step up to the plate . . . hence the origin of the phrase Great White Hope, Rocky Marciano being one of the few white men who proved he could fit the bill. In a sense, Waterford are hurling's great white hope. Even their jerseys are white, to paraphrase Muhammad Ali.

On their best days, moreover, Waterford can be thrilling to watch. They're full of characters, full of spirit and, yes, they occasionally overdo the histrionics. In short, they're compulsive viewing. Also, they beat Cork fair and square in the semi-final a fortnight ago . . . much the same Cork team, give or take Brian Corcoran, that won two All Irelands. They have lots going for them today, then.

As we suspected, their defeat by Offaly which was deeply frustrating to Waterford fans at Walsh Park in the final round of the qualifiers ended up being a blessing in disguise. It put them into a quarterfinal against Tipperary, and winning that allowed them enter the semi-final with a degree of momentum behind them. Over the course of the past month, Waterford have had two tough games on successive Sundays, then a week's rest.

Kilkenny have had one easy game, then a week's rest. Waterford should be better steeled for this battle.

That's not to say they'll be the hungrier team. Normally a team that hasn't won a national title in 44 years ought to possess a significantly greater appetite than a team that won two national titles last year alone. Such is the internal dynamic and team spirit Brian Cody has fostered, though, Kilkenny approach nearly every fixture like it's a World Cup final. Cody even has his own rotation policy.

Every member of the panel is either on the team, looking over his shoulder at the men on the bench, or on the bench, breathing down the neck of his immediate rival for a place on the team. They're all so busy trying either to hold onto their place or to take someone else's place that nobody, but nobody, can afford to slacken off for even a moment.

Waterford have a reasonably good league record against Kilkenny in recent years and are in with a decent shout today. To win, all their attacking big guns must perform in symphony; it won't be much use Eoin Kelly and Big Dan doing well, for instance, if John Mullane and Seamus Prendergast are off key. They'll also have to keep their discipline; the concession of soft frees will be punished by Richie Power, who was deadly from placed balls against Wexford, and if Power should have an off-day with them like he did against Galway a couple of weeks previously, then Kilkenny have other players who'll fill the breach.

Conceding goals is not an option for Waterford, for even on a good day their forwards will not make up the deficit to offset two or three Kilkenny goals. The challengers will have to get it right all over the field. That's a big ask against this Kilkenny team. Probably, too big an ask.

Laois versus Wicklow is a novel pairing in the Division 2 final and I take an improving Laois to do the business. In conclusion, congrats to my former colleague Rory Kinsella, one of Wexford's finest hurling men, and his small rural school FCJ Bunclody who won the All Ireland colleges' B title last Sunday.