'Rock boys look a chip off old block

"Blade One, please, but leave the fringe." Barbers can expect to do a roaring trade this week, thronged by schoolboy rugby players attending to the preparatory minutiae. On Sunday week defending champions Clongowes Wood and De La Salle Churchtown meet at Donnybrook, heralding the start of the Leinster Senior Cup campaign. Within two days a sizeable proportion of the 24 teams will be just left with the memories: four-and-a-half months of blood and sweat ending in tears.

It seems an unfair trade, but most first round losers have already resigned themselves to their fate. Despite a significant broadening of the base in terms of the number of new schools competing in Section A of the competition over the last five years - the IRFU deserve credit for the financial and technical support that has expanded the rugby net - the business end of the competition retains a familiar look.

The established "big five" of recent seasons - Blackrock College, Clongowes, Terenure College, St Mary's College and Belvedere College - will look to dispute overall honours. Wesley College, Kilkenny College - by virtue of a favourable draw - and Castleknock represent the next tier, while St Michael's College may give 'Rock some uncomfortable moments in their second round clash.

For the majority, the focus though will be on acquitting themselves honourably in defeat. Whatever transpires there is always the salve of the post-game party.

Perspective is not a word that sits comfortably in the context of schools rugby. The pressure is intense, claustrophobic at times. For too many there is no second chance and the emphasis placed on winning often supercedes the development of the individual.

Coaches at the top schools cite the pressure to succeed, where winning is the only currency that counts. It occasionally camouflages a sterile approach. The purists and the romantics cite schools rugby as the Mecca for inventive and thrilling back play. Ironically, it is the smaller schools that more often subscribe to that ideal.

Forced to operate within a shallow pool of talent, the coach is forced to tax himself further, and pursue the unorthodox approach to find ways around the superior muscle of the elite. Mind you, there can be no doubting the appeal of the competition, its history littered with gripping encounters, the intensity of those occasions sometimes matched by the quality of rugby.

It is amazing the number of men who - having once regarded the old school tie as a badge of slavery - will proudly sport same as the half-day culture kicks in for a two-month period. It merely illustrates the breadth of the appeal of a competition regarded by many that reach the highest level in the sport to be among their most treasured memories. The media contributes to the prestige of the Leinster Senior Cup, column inches bestowed liberally, the critical glare softened in recognition of callow youth and honesty of endeavour. Like most things the structure of the competition is not beyond reproach. A change in the tackle law, banning tackling above the waist and the double tackle, would prompt better technique and partially assuage safety concerns.

It would also be nice to see greater emphasis placed on a running game, where the first inclination is to keep the ball in hand rather than kick. Many schools are very well coached and it requires just a slight alteration to the mind-set for coaches and players alike to benefit in the long term.

Returning to the forthcoming competition, Blackrock appear to be the team to beat, not alone for a fine friendly record but also a superb victory in the St Joseph's School Festival in October. It is the only event in which all the premier schools in Britain take part and Blackrock became the first ever non-British entrants.

The teams were split into four groups of four and the top two moved forward to the next phase the following day. En route to the final on the second day, 'Rock beat Campion (7-0), St Joseph's (24-0) and Wellington (14-0) before beating Millfield (15-10) in the final.

They have been favoured by a good draw and, if they overcome Michael's, should progress to the semi-finals with minimum difficulty. In the bottom half of the draw, Castleknock (league winners) and Gonzaga should meet in the second round with the winner progressing to the semi-final: CBC Monkstown being the main threat to that assumption.

In the top half, whoever prevails in the Kilkenny/Roscrea clash should make the semis while Terenure and champions Clongowes who are scheduled to meet in the quarter-finals will probably dispute the other place. Wesley present a formidable opening test for Terenure and could cause an upset. Belvedere and St Mary's harbour genuine aspirations to boot.

Borrowing from the wisdom of others, I tentatively suggest a Blackrock-Clongowes final - hopefully a repeat of their classic encounter at any earlier juncture last season - with the Williamstown school prevailing.

Who's gonna knock the 'Rock?