Format
The Munster Championship is a knockout tournament with pairings drawn at random – there are no seeds.
Each match is played as a single leg. If a match is drawn there is extra time and, if the sides still remain level, a second period of extra time is played.
The format has remained the same since the very first Munster Championship in 1961. An open draw is made in which three of the five teams automatically qualify for the semi-final stage of the competition. Two other teams play in a lone quarter-final with the winner joining the other three teams at the semi-final stage. Once a team is defeated they are eliminated from the championship.
The Munster Championship has wider implications for the All-Ireland Intermediate Hurling Championship. The winners of the Munster final automatically qualify for the latter stages of the All-Ireland series of games. Unlike the final runners-up in the minor and senior championships, there is no 'back-door system' at intermediate level.
Five of the six counties of Munster – Clare, Cork, Limerick, Tipperary and Waterford – participate in the championship. Kerry, the sixth county in the province, contested the Munster Championship until recently. Galway took part in the competition in the 1960s.
Read more about this topic: Munster Intermediate Hurling Championship