Defeat for the visitors will mean that they've gone backwards under Babs.

And if Tipp do lose, the life support machine may as well be switched off there and then, irrespective of the ensuing fallout within the camp and the county. Bar 1997, when Len Gaynor eschewed subtlety for size and came within a Davy Fitz save of winning the All Ireland as a consequence, Tipperary do not possess a track record of reinventing themselves when presented with the sight of the back door. For them the All Ireland qualifiers constitute a tiresome stay of execution, not a welcome key to the cell door.

Tipp travel to Dublin in September first-class or not at all.

Their half-forward line is the obvious make-or-break sector today. Can John Carroll do more than relieve himself of the occasional marauding, groundtrembling run? Can Ryan O'Dwyer get into the game sufficiently early to make an impression or will he be bypassed and eventually called ashore? Can Darragh Egan stamp his size and personality on proceedings, a question that applies equally - and not for the first time - to Gary Hanniffy two hours later in Portlaoise? Paul Kelly, meanwhile, would have been just the lad to prestidigitate a calmly taken, deliberately mishit goal out of thin air.

Were the Tribune to have a bet on first goalscorer, Sean O'Connor reeks appeal; certainly it's difficult to see Limerick winning without him or Andrew O'Shaughnessy sticking one past Brendan Cummins. In limiting Eamon Corcoran space to uncork deliveries towards Eoin Kelly and Lar Corbett, Mike O'Brien will have as much to do in a defensive capacity as an attacking one. On the opposite wing, Niall Moran must carry the battle to Tipp as opposed to being content to snipe a couple of left-handed points off the fringes.

There is a tide in the affairs of hurlers. Against this Tipperary XV, the tide is Limerick's to take today.

Verdict Limerick LIMERICK B Murray; D Reale, S Lucey, S Hickey; M O'Riordan, B Geary, M Foley; P Lawlor, D O'Grady; N Moran, O Moran, M O'Brien; A O'Shaughnessy, S O'Connor, B Foley TIPPERARY B Cummins; E Buckley, P Curran, D Fitzgerald; E Corcoran, B Dunne, C O'Mahony; S McGrath, J Woodlock; J Carroll, R O'Dwyer, D Egan; E Kelly, L Corbett, W Ryan Enda McEvoy