All-Ireland hurling semi-finals - all you need to know

Cork, Dublin, Kilkenny and Tipperary will contest the All-Ireland hurling semi-finals

This weekend's All-Ireland hurling semi-final double-header at Croke Park has thrown up a couple of intriguing ties as Cork host Dublin on Saturday 5 July at 17:00 BST and Kilkenny take on Tipperary on Sunday 6 July at 16:00.

Cork remain on course to go one better than last year when they lost to Clare by a single point in a thrilling final and they face a Dubs side who caused a huge upset at the last-eight stage by seeing off Limerick despite playing much of the game with 14 players.

Leinster champions Kilkenny are the most successful county in the history of the Liam MacCarthy Cup with 36 successes but they face formidable opposition in the form of Tipp.

BBC Sport NI brings you the lowdown on the two big games in Dublin.

How can I follow on BBC?

Both matches will be broadcast live on BBC Two NI, BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport website.

Sarah Mulkerrins presents coverage on both Saturday and Sunday, with Thomas Niblock and Jamesie O'Connor on commentary.

Sarah will be joined by Neil McManus, Paul Murphy and Seamus Flanagan, who will provide expert analysis.

Mark Sidebottom will be pitchside alongside Mark Landers for the Cork-Dublin encounter and will have the company of Brian Hogan and Seamus Callanan for the meeting of Kilkenny and Tipperary.

Television coverage begins on Saturday at 16:40 BST and at 15:40 on Sunday.

In addition to live video coverage, the BBC Sport website will provide text updates of both games, plus in-play clips, highlights and post-match reaction.

Routes to the semi-finals

Kilkenny came out on top in the group stage of the Leinster SHC with four wins from their five games, before defeating Galway 3-22 to 1-20 in the provincial decider.

Tipperary finished third in the Munster SHC group stage to advance to the All-Ireland preliminary quarter-finals in which they beat Laois convincingly 3-32 to 0-18.

Liam Cahill's men then got the better of Galway 1-28 to 2-17 to book their semi-final place.

Cork came in second at the group stage of the Munster championship to progress to the provincial final where they beat Limerick 3-2 on penalties after the game ended in a draw after extra-time.

Dublin were third in the Leinster SHC round-robin and followed up a comprehensive 3-25 to 0-13 win over Kildare in the preliminary quarter-finals by shocking Limerick 2-24 to 0-28 in the subsequent round despite losing captain Chris Crummey to a red card early in the game.

All-Ireland pedigree

This year's semi-finals feature four of the five most successful counties in the history of the All-Ireland Hurling Championship.

Kilkenny have won a record 26 titles but have not lifted the Liam MacCarthy Cup since 2015, their four most recent appearances in the final in 2016, 2019, 2022 and 2023 having ended in losses.

Cork are 30-time winners but are aiming to bridge a 20-year gap since their last success. Like Kilkenny, they have been defeated in their past four finals.

Tipp have 28 triumphs to their name, the last in 2019, while Dublin remarkably last won the All-Ireland way back in 1938, with their most recent progression to a final having been 1961.

Team news

Munster champions Cork welcome back team captain Rob Downey who has recovered from a hamstring injury to slot back in at centre-back as Cormac O'Brien drops out due to a quad injury.

In another of the three changes from their penalty shootout win in the provincial decider last month, Niall O'Leary returns at corner-back in place of Damien Cahalane with his groin injury cleared.

In attack, Declan Dalton is another coming back from injury having recovered from the hamstring problem that forced him out of the Limerick game, but a similar issue means Seamus Harnedy is absent for the weekend.

Cork: Patrick Collins; Niall O'Leary, Eoin Downey, Sean O'Donoghue; Ciarán Joyce, Rob Downey, Mark Coleman; Tim O'Mahony, Darragh Fitzgibbon; Diarmuid Healy, Shane Barrett, Declan Dalton; Patrick Horgan, Alan Connolly, Brian Hayes.

Subs: Brion Saunderson, Damien Cahalane, Ger Millerick, Tommy O'Connell, Ethan Twomey, Luke Meade, Brian Roche, Jack O'Connor, Shane Kingston, Robbie O'Flynn, Conor Lehane.

Dublin: Sean Brennan; John Bellew, Paddy Smyth, Conor McHugh; Paddy Doyle, Conor Burke, Andrew Dunphy; Conor Donohoe, Brian Hayes; Rian McBride, Fergal Whitely, Darragh Power; Sean Currie, Ronan Hayes, Cian O'Sullivan.

Subs: Eddie Gibbons, Donal Burke, Colin Currie, Paddy Dunleavy, Daire Gray, John Hetherton, AJ Murphy, David Lucey, Paul O'Dea, Diarmaid O Dulaing, Conal O Riain.

Eoin Cody and Shane Murphy have been restored to the Kilkenny line-up to face an unchanged Tipperary in Sunday's All-Ireland Hurling semi-final at Croke Park.

Ballyhale Shamrocks club-man Cody returns to Derek Lyng's full-forward line after missing the Leinster final win over Galway on 8 June with a leg injury.

Tipperary boss Liam Cahill has opted to stick with the same 15 that beat Galway in the quarter-finals for the Munster county's first last-four appearance in six years.

Michael Breen, Ronan Maher, John McGrath and Jason Forde all started Tipp's 2019 All-Ireland final win over Kilkenny.

Kilkenny: Eoin Murphy; Mikey Butler, Huw Lawlor, Shane Murphy; Mikey Carey, Richie Reid, Paddy Deegan; Cian Kenny, Jordan Molloy; Adrian Mullen, John Donnelly, Billy Ryan; Martin Keoghan, TJ Reid, Eoin Cody.

Subs: Aidan Tallis, Tommy Walsh, David Blanchfield, Padraic Moylan, Killian Doyle, Zach Bay Hammond, Fionan Mackessy, Stephen Donnelly, Luke Hogan, Luke Connellan, Billy Drennan.

Tipperary: Rhys Shelly; Robert Doyle, Eoghan Connolly, Michael Breen; Craig Morgan, Ronan Maher, Bryan O'Mara; Willie Connors, Peter McGarry; Jake Morris, Andrew Ormond, Sam O'Farrell; Darragh McCarthy, John McGrath, Jason Forde.

Subs: Barry Hogan, Joe Caesar, Sean Kenneally, Seamus Kennedy, Brian McGrath, Noel McGrath, Oisin O'Donoghue, Johnny Ryan, Conor Stakelum, Darragh Stakelum, Alan Tynan.