One common element in the team announcements from Clare and Tipperary this week has been the inclusion of some fresh faces and young blood. Both sides have broken some of their more traditional lines and will start Sunday's Munster hurling championship clash in Pairc Ui Chaoimh with many of the new generation.

For Tipperary, championship debuts will go to corner back Tomas Costello and corner forward Lar Corbett, while Eoin Kelly, still only 19, will get his first championship start in the other corner forward position.

Clare have given debuts to David Hoey at wing back and Tony Carmody at wing forward, and Gerry Quinn is also part of the newly designed half-back line.

Last Sunday Limerick manager Eamonn Cregan experimented with similar infusions of fresh blood and he has little doubt that the roles they played were crucial in the win over Cork. Paul O'Grady, just 21 and making his debut, scored five points and Brian Begley, just turned 22, wasn't far behind with three points.

"There is always the need to bring in some young players even for big games like this," said Cregan. "Provided they are good enough. Limerick happen to be a young side right now, and the vast majority of the team is around the 25 of 26 year-old mark.

"But it should always be a constant process of change. Young players will lose some of their confidence if they are always kept out by older players, and once they are blooded in the league I don't think there is any reason to leave them out once you believe they are good enough."

Yet there is also a certain amount of risk involved. With limited experience comes the potential for increased nerves and the danger then, believes Cregan, is that a player will under-perform.

"You would always be afraid that things could go wrong. They may have performed before but it's what happens on the day that counts, and you would wonder if they are up to repeating those performances of the past.

"Thankfully the players did it for us. I think Paul O'Grady was superb even though he was under intense pressure at times and it showed the tremendous the confidence that he now has as a player." Of the Tipperary newcomers, Kelly has already sampled championship hurling. He came on in the closing minutes of last year's defeat to Galway in the All-Ireland quarter-final - and managed to chip over a point - and his starting place perhaps comes as the least surprise.

"There's no doubt that Kelly is a superb talent. He was an outstanding minor and I remember he nearly beat Limerick on his own a couple of years ago. But we are talking about the senior championship now and it is a different ball game, although it is a tremendous opportunity for him."

The introduction of Hoey and Quinn into the Clare half-back line also came as something of a surprise. It will be the first time in seven years that the familiar line of Liam Doyle, Seanie McMahon and Anthony Daly will not be operating as a unit - and it's also the first time in 10 years that Daly will not be starting a championship match for Clare. While McMahon remains, Doyle and Daly will on the bench.

"I suppose that half-back line eventually had to split. But the important thing here is that you now have two superb substitutes on the bench if they are needed. Doyle has been suffering with a rib injury and that put a doubt over his fitness.

"But for all these younger players the main task will be competing with the more mature men. They'll have done the training and they'll have the skill but they won't have the full physical strength."

Cregan knows as well that one shouldn't read too much into league form. Tipperary may have beaten Clare in the league final earlier this month but the ground is now harder and the ball is moving faster.

"Munster is looking very open again. Everyone is thinking that they can win it and everyone is thinking that we did them a favour by beating Cork. I'm sure Waterford are a lot more hopeful about beating us than they would have been about beating Cork, and the winners here will feel the same. But we'll see."