Storm clouds seem to gather whenever Clare and Limerick meet.
Showers are forecast at a sell-out Gaelic Grounds as even Oscar considers coming for a look at the most gripping hurling rivalry of the moment.
Last year, the two counties served up a classic Munster final battle amid a torrent of rain in Thurles.
Three weeks after a bruising round-robin draw, Tony Kelly stepped up to cut a sideline over the bar in the 74th minute and force extra-time.
Limerick went to the well and marched on to four in a row. Clare seemed spent for the season.
The barometer has been straining again this summer. At the end of April, Clare finally inflicted a championship defeat on the Treaty, their first in almost four years.
In those three epic contests, there was one point in total between them across normal time. Two if you include Limerick's one-goal victory at the end of 90-plus minutes.
The competitive edge between the counties is now up there with their classic meetings of 1994-96 – though this time around it is Limerick who have progressed on to All-Ireland glory.
Clare haven’t won what is now known as the Mick Mackey Cup since Anthony Daly lifted it after a replay against Waterford in ’98.
It’s not essential to win Munster to lift Liam, as Clare themselves (2013), Limerick (2018) and Tipperary (2010 and 2019) can attest to in recent times.
But it feels like defeat on Sunday would puncture the momentum the Banner have been building and erode the belief built in that victory over the champions. Can they back it up with silverware at stake?
Clare have probably been the most impressive team of the championship so far. Only for conceding some soft goals against Tipp on day one (5-22 in all) they would have a 100% record.
Brian Lohan didn’t hesitate to replace unfortunate debutant goalkeeper Eamonn Foudy with Eibhear Quilligan in the aftermath and the average number of goals conceded dropped to 1.66 in the remaining three games.
Admittedly, Cork and Limerick were only beaten by a point apiece but holding on to win two tight games will have been a massive confidence boost.
Conor Cleary is named at full-back despite carrying a shoulder injury. If he doesn't actually start it would be a significant loss, bigger even than Seán Finn to Limerick, Brendan Cummins believes. Cleary has fought a running battle with Aaron Gillane and restricted the sharpshooter to four points from play over the last two meetings.
But U20 captain Adam Hogan and Rory Hayes have been very solid in the corners and Clare will hope that Paul Flanagan or Seadna Morey, one of six survivors from 2013, can slot in effortlessly.
Morey’s fellow All-Ireland winners David McInerney, John Conlon, Tony Kelly, Shane O'Donnell and Peter Duggan (a non-playing sub 10 years ago) have been to the fore again, but there is much more depth in attack this year.
Aidan McCarthy (1-22, 16f), who missed last season due to a work injury, has scored only a goal less than Kelly, having shared the placed-ball duties. Mark Rodgers has 2-04 to his name while Ryan Taylor (0-06) has scored from play in every game. Clare always seem to find points off the bench.
It’s hard to believe that believe that a team as dominant as Limerick have been were only two points away from elimination.
They got a couple of breaks against Cork, fended off a fightback and can instead win five Munsters in a row for the first time.
John Kiely’s outfit cruised to a league victory but have not been their usual supreme selves in championship.
They struggled to put away Waterford, albeit a man down for nearly half an hour, needed a late goal to get within one point of Clare, made a lot of errors in the draw with a far-from-the-finished-article Tipperary and almost let the Rebels back into it as they hit 15 wides.
Kiely suggested this week that this Munster campaign has been "the most competitive" of the five in which they have reached the provincial final on his watch. He also said that Clare had deserved to win, that they had outworked his team and been more accurate but warned that "we’ll have learned a lot from it".
Limerick's rivals are highly motivated to take down a team enjoying sustained success and the physical and mental strain of that pressure could be taking its toll. The aura of invincibility has certainly dimmed.
But they have still only lost one game, and even then by a single point. Victory on Sunday would put Clare back in their box, show that they are still the team to beat and secure what would be an invaluable month’s rest after five games in seven weeks. Lose, and they would likely face a fresher Dublin side in another physical battle in a fortnight.
Four-time All-Star Finn is gone for the season with that cruciate ligament injury but Limerick’s defence remains as mean as ever – they have conceded only two goals in four games, the lowest average of any team.
However, keeping the deep-lying full-back line presumably means no man-marker again for Tony Kelly, who scored four points from play in round two.
Up front, Seamus Flanagan (4-07), Tom Morrissey (0-12, 1f) and Cathal O’Neill (1-07) have been the standout performers.
Cian Lynch is named on the bench though his hamstring is apparently okay again after coming on for the closing stages of the win over Cork. Gearóid Hegarty was sent off against the Déise and looked out of sorts against Clare and Tipperary but bounced back with three points last day out.
Liam Gordon, the man who issued that second yellow, takes charge again. Kiely suggested this week that his players were simply taller than the opposition rather than able "to bully fellas around the field" but Flanagan got away with a clear shoulder to the head against Waterford and it will be interesting to see how the Galway official deals with anything similar today.
Clare’s willingness to play the final on Limerick’s turf is an interesting one. An equal split on tickets and ease of access for supporters aside, you would expect Limerick to have a slight advantage on a field they know better. But then Clare have already beaten them there and the 'home’ team only won three of the ten Munster round-robin games in any case. If they win it will be interpreted as a canny display of self-belief.
There will again be a winner on the day, raising the prospect of more extra-time or even the unprecedented drama of penalties.
Will Limerick write fresh history today or can Clare cast off the shadow of theirs?
A fascinating clash of champion and challenger awaits.
Clare: Éibhear Quilligan; Adam Hogan, Conor Cleary, Rory Hayes; Diarmuid Ryan, John Conlon, David McInerney; David Fitzgerald, Cathal Malone; Peter Duggan, Tony Kelly, Aidan McCarthy; Ryan Taylor, Shane O'Donnell, Mark Rodgers.
Subs: Eamonn Foudy, Cian Nolan, Ian Galvin, Shane Meehan, Aron Shanagher, Aaron Fitzgerald, Robin Mounsey, Paul Flanagan, Cian Galvin, Keith Smyth, Séadna Morey.
Limerick: Nickie Quaid; Mike Casey, Dan Morrisey, Barry Nash; Diarmaid Byrnes, Declan Hannon (capt), Kyle Hayes; Darragh O'Donovan, Will O'Donoghue; Gearóid Hegarty, Cathal O’Neill, Tom Morrissey; Aaron Gillane, Séamus Flanagan, Peter Casey.
Subs: David McCarthy, Conor Boylan, Ronan Connolly, Aaron Costello, Colin Coughlan, Adam English, Richie English, Cian Lynch, Graeme Mulcahy, Oisín O'Reilly, David Reidy.
Watch a provincial hurling final double-header on Sunday, Limerick v Clare (1.45pm) and Kilkenny v Galway (4pm), follow a live blog on all matches on RTÉ.ie/Sport and the RTÉ News app or listen to updates throughout the day on Sunday Sport on RTÉ Radio 1
