The championship is reaching its peak. It’s knockout all the way from here to September with the back door shut. Of course, the hurling has been in flight for a number of weeks now and this weekend sees a mouth-watering double-header in Semple Stadium. Both of Sunday’s contests are fascinating. Can Wexford maintain the momentum of recent weeks? Are Limerick over the disappointment of the Munster final loss? Can Dublin be as poor as they looked against Kilkenny in Leinster and are Tipp really back on form?

It should be worth noting that three of the last four All-Ireland hurling champions won via the back door. Yes, that even includes Kilkenny (in 2012). On Sunday, the two winners who emerge to take on the Cats and the Rebels in the semi-finals will do with some rest and renewed vigour. They will see themselves as serious contenders and they’ll be right.

Of the four, perhaps only Tipperary are considered a team that can use the back door to fruition. This won’t bother the other three because they all have valid All-Ireland aspirations. Clare are the template here because they were well under the radar this time last year, ambushed Galway at this juncture and rode that wave all the way to late September.

Right now, Wexford fit the Banner profile. They are on a roll and won’t fear Limerick one bit. The Yellow Bellies are getting better for every outing and their biggest problem just might be physical preparation. This will be their fourth weekend in a row playing a do-or-die championship clash and while there is no substitute for matches – matches they are winning – going to the well this often is fraught.

It’s not a problem that will bother Liam Dunne. It’s one he wants. The canny manager has been using his bench excellently over the past three weeks, indeed he tends to use all of it. He’ll probably need it again on Sunday because Limerick will be the most physically imposing side Wexford have met this summer. That will take a toll. So, too, will the size of the Thurles pitch because it is wider than Cusack Park, Nowlan Park and Wexford Park.

This is a very tough game to call and a very unusual championship pairing. Limerick’s sheer doggedness gives them a chance no matter who they play and they have to put the Munster final loss to Cork behind them. They are such a proud county and squad that their competitiveness is a given, but will they have enough to stem the Wexford tide?

The key will be the Shannonsiders’ forwards and how they fare against a set of backs that are battle-hardened by now. In the Munster final, Limerick stuttered in patches and really need big games from Declan Hannon, Shane Dowling, Kevin Downes and David Breen (if selected).

A couple of Limerick forwards occasionally rely on one side a bit too often and that can make them a little bit easier to defend against. On Sunday, they will need goals and raining high balls on an immobile full-forward line won’t get it done. For Limerick to win, they must add a little variety to their forward play – something that would complement the heart and work rate of their numbers one to nine.

If Wexford had another week off before this game then I would strongly fancy them, but Limerick are not a team to give you a breather. The Wexford of last Saturday night, the team who won a classic in Nowlan Park, would win on Sunday. The form of Conor McDonald, Lee Chin, Paul Morris and Liam Og McGovern and a few more has been nothing short of revelatory. But can they keep it up?

The instinct is to go with Limerick because Wexford just have to hit a flat spot. If that happens, they will be sorely missed for they have lit up this summer.

Neither Tipp nor Dublin have done that yet this year. Sunday is their chance to stake a claim for championship reckoning. I have a sneaking fancy for the Dubs. Last year’s Leinster champions were nothing close to as bad as they showed against Kilkenny two weeks ago and Tipperary in Thurles is the perfect route to redemption. Danny Sucliffe is closer to full fitness and this greatly adds to Dublin’s forward options.

If I was Anthony Daly I’d be stationing Liam Rushe in front of Peter Kelly and Seamus Callinan, Conal Keaney alongside Pauric Maher at full-back and then letting the chips fall where they may. If this match becomes an intense affair, not high-scoring but hard-hitting, then it is there for the Dubs.

Eamon O’Shea got the championship monkey off Tipperary’s backs by beating Galway but questions will always remain about his team in a game that goes down to the wire. That monkey remains.

The Premier’s new-found reliance on Seamus Callinan is a risky strategy but certainly one that paid off against Galway and Offaly. Not, however, against Limerick and they closely resemble Dublin in style of play.

If Tipp are the real deal, they’ll shrug off Dublin on Sunday after 50 or 60 good minutes and win handy enough in the end. They would do so by scoring something in the region of 3-18 and look very good doing it. They do have the hurlers for that job.

That’s the Tipp blueprint but Anthony Daly is far too savvy tactically to let that happen. He’ll be doing his level best to set Dublin up to drag Tipp into a battle and in the trenches he’ll take his chances with his men. If Daly gets his way ,and I suspect he will, the Dubs are right back into this championship mix and Jimmy Barry will start losing a bit of sleep.

Football action

Cork will take Sligo in the first of the Tullamore double-header on Saturday. There is no other scenario. The second game is another rare match-up, with Tipp and Galway in the football championship. What’s stranger still is that Tipp are the confident selection.

If 10 or 20 years ago you’d said that Tipp footballers would be beating Galway, while their hurlers would be losing to Dublin, you’d be considered half-mad. We might still be.