AT SUNDAY'S Munster hurling final, Tom Ryan will be sitting in the stand rather than on the sideline for the first time in four years. His previous three years in charge of Limerick's hurlers involved seasons that stretched at least into July.

The irony in his situation this weekend is that this year's new championship structures allowing both provincial finalists, in Munster and Leinster, through to the All-Ireland series come in the very year his team hasn't advanced to the final.

Limerick have qualified for next month's League semi-finals and resume training next week, but the championship is gone for this year and it remains to be seen what appetite the county's hurlers will bring to the task. When the League is over, Ryan's four-year tenure will bee reviewed by the county executive.

In the meantime, he is interested in the meeting of Tipperary - Limerick's convincing conquerors in the semi-final - and Clare both from the point of view of the match and also the manner in which the teams approach it, given that losing this year's Munster final doesn't bear the usual drastic consequence.

"The winner-take-all situation is a very haunting one," he says,, "and I think that in Sunday's game, that won't be there. Both teams are looking at the All-Ireland now and the Munster championship will be secondary in their thoughts.

"The All-Ireland is the ultimate now - that's the way I look at it. I believe the provincial championships have been downgraded by this change. I'm convinced of that. That will be a factor on Sunday. Both teams know going to Cork that even if they don't win, they'll still be there.

"Clare need to win an All-Ireland now and that's what they're looking at. Even during the League, Clare were looking down the road to winning an All-Ireland to prove that they weren't a one-hit wonder.

"Looking at it from our point of view, if we were going to Cork - okay, Limerick and Clare always put on a fair match - we'd know there were going to be no losers. Second chances to me in a championship aren't right.

"I'm interested in whether it will have an effect on the game. When you go into a game knowing you have a second chance, the bite has gone out of it anyway. Championship is about having no cushion. Limerick had no cushion in Thurles, Waterford didn't either. Cork went to play Clare without a cushion.

"If they wanted to go down this road, they needed an open draw as an alternative. The loss of revenue for the provincial championships has meant that whenever this comes up, it's not acceptable."

Does this mean he is sceptical about Clare's insistence that they don't have so many Munster titles that they can afford to let this one drift by?

"I wouldn't say they're not anxious to win it, but putting myself in their position, I'd say Clare have won Munster titles and what they really want this year is the All-Ireland. The same is true of Tipperary and I wonder will the bite go out of the final."

Last year's Munster final featured a remarkable comeback by Limerick in forcing a draw after trailing by 10 points at half-time. In the replay they were forced to field Gary Kirby as a passenger in the hope that they would get something out of him despite a bad head injury and on the basis that there was no point in keeping him for later in the championship were they to lose. In the event, they won with Kirby making a fairly muted contribution.

Ryan says that such scenarios would have been unthinkable under the new system "I always said that. I looked at last year as an example, that if Limerick had been behind 10 points and both teams were going through, well what difference would it make? I'd say what happened then wouldn't have happened. In the replay, we wouldn't have played Gary Kirby."

As regards the match itself this weekend, he is uncertain but has a slight leaning towards Clare.

"It's a very difficult game to call. You've two different types of teams. In their last meeting, Tipp won a tight game by a point in Cusack Park. Of course they struck oil against us and everything went right for them on the day - whether that will do them good or bad.

"We had a good League campaign against good teams. What happened against Tipp reminds me of Christy Roche talking on Derby day about Desert King's performance at Ascot. He said they couldn't get an answer for it.

"Well I found it hard to get an answer for Thurles because on the Tuesday night before that match, I looked at that team training - and I know them well enough and don't get carried away - and left the Gaelic Grounds thinking that what I saw out there was ready to take on Tipp and beat them.

"In the first 20 minutes, we had them under severe pressure and had our forwards put away their chances, it might have been a different story. Clare's forwards won't do the same if the chances come their way. Clare's defence is very good and centrefield is well "up to Tipp's and I'd give them the verdict."