Alas, Henry Shefflin was a model of diplomacy. There wasn't a hope of the captain revealing even a morsel of insight into what makes the Kilkenny hurling machine so potent, never mind offering even a smidgen of inspiration for the 3 to 1 underdogs. This article won't make the Limerick dressingroom wall.

Has the country's leading hurler ever felt invincible? "No, never. I think you'd be a fool to think like that, wouldn't ye?

"In all fairness you are setting yourself up for a fall. We've been around long enough and I suppose our manager keeps us on our toes. You would never think you are invincible or anything like that.

"Look at any sport, on any given day (any team can win) - of course a good team will perform more consistently - and I think the championship this year has reflected that. There have been results, up and down and it's probably made it a better championship."

Do you ever get sick of winning (this was an attempt to gauge something about Kilkenny's unfaltering annual quest for All-Irelands)?

"For Kilkenny this year we haven't won anything really. I suppose the league final was the first thing at the beginning of the year. Unfortunately we didn't win it. We weren't good enough. I didn't play much of a part in it myself.

"The way the championship has gone . . . provincial championships do play a part but the quarter-final is when the real serious stuff gets going. The kick we get out of sport is winning."

In 2006 Kilkenny were on a very precise mission to deny Cork a three-in-a-row (an assertion Shefflin flatly denies) so what is the primary stimulant this time around?

"It's very basic. This time last year you would ask the same question - is it motivation to beat Cork? - and we would answer the question, no.

"We set out our stall to worry about ourselves. Try and win the All-Ireland. That's motivation alone.

"If you think back to the days where you didn't win it or whatever, I think it gives you the motivation. We feel we have been lucky and we have had the success but we have had the losses as well so we need (to experience) the pain before the gain. All you have to do is look back at the losses and that drives you on."

A couple of salient, yet minor, issues stand in the way of Kilkenny retaining their All-Ireland title. For starters, if Limerick reproduce the doggedness of their semi-final performance against Waterford they will prove difficult to contain.

Limerick made it to September via the most arduous of routes. Kilkenny beat Offaly, Galway and Wexford, twice, without being tested down the final furlong.

"The Galway match was a savage game," Shefflin claims. "I watched it on video and it was a real manly game.

"Limerick have probably had tougher matches. They had three games against Tipperary. Two games against Waterford. Probably didn't have it hard against Clare. You can say on the one hand they are more battle-hardened. They've been through the mill. They've been up there with that intensity and maybe we haven't been but another time maybe you might say (they are under) a wee small bit of pressure because of that. I think it balances out.

"When the ball is thrown in it will all be decided."

Henry Shefflin

Age:28.

Height:6ft 2in.

Weight:13st 10Ib.

Position:Forward.

Club:Ballyhale Shamrocks.

Honours:4 All-Ireland SHC medals (2000, 2002, 2003, 2007), 1 All-Ireland Under-21 HC medals (1999), 2 Fitzgibbon Cup medals with WIT (1999, 2000), 8 Leinster SHC medals (1999-2005, 2007), 4 NHL medals, 6 All Stars, 2 Railway Cup medals, 1 All-Ireland club medal (2007).