Format
The All-Ireland Championship is a knockout tournament, however, there is a certain element of seeding. The Munster and Leinster champions are put on opposite sides of the draw in separate semi-finals. The Ulster champions and Galway are put on opposite sides of the draw in separate quarter-finals. The Munster and Leinster runners-up are drawn against these two teams in the quarter-finals.
Each match is played as a single leg. If a match is drawn there is a replay. Drawn replays are now settled with extra time, however, if both sides are still level at the end of extra time a second replay takes place and so on until a winner is found.
The format has remained virtually the same since the very first championship in 1928. In 1997 the biggest change took place with the introduction of a 'back-door' to the All-Ireland quarter-finals for the defeated finalists in Munster and Leinster. This followed on from the success of the same system at senior level.
Read more about this topic: All-Ireland Minor Hurling Championship