On Saturday evening various Dungannon people approached the team's coach Willie Anderson. One player informed him that next Saturday's AIB League final will be the greatest day of his career. A member of the backroom staff said the first item on his packing list for next weekend's trip to Dublin would be a towel, so he could say he showered at Lansdowne Road. Notions that this game might therefore be moved can be dispelled.
Dungannon estimate they will bring 2,000-3,000 supporters, and Cork Constitution's travelling numbers will probably be in the same region. So unless the fickle Dublin rugby public suddenly turn up in droves, it's unlikely to have the old ground packed to the rafters. There is an argument going around that the game should be switched to, say, Donnybrook, but that would be insulting to both clubs concerned.
"For some of this team, Saturday's final is the greatest moment of their lives and so it deserves the sense of occasion that comes with Lansdowne Road," maintains Anderson. "Donnybrook is Leinster. Lansdowne Road is for Ireland. This is an All-Ireland final, this is the Irish stadium and this is two Irish sides playing." End of discussion.
With two clubs in the final whose head coach is Irish, praise be, it may not draw the biggest crowd for a final to Lansdowne Road, but I have no hesitation in forecasting that it will be more entertaining than the previous four AIL deciders. Indeed, given favourable weather, it will probably be the best AIL final by a distance too.
It's a crying shame Ronan O'Gara won't be there to go head-to-head with David Humphreys, who is on fire. Still, Cork Con have won the seven in which Conor Mahony has played at outhalf. They have been the team to beat all season and fittingly are the team to beat this Saturday. Right now, Dungannon are possibly the only team who could.
Not only are they the best AIL side to come out of Ulster (and accordingly the province's first finalists) but possibly they are the most potent side in the history of the competition. I certainly can't recall an AIL side which plays such a ball-in-hand game, using the full width of the pitch and with their converted full-back Bryn Cunningham, their "jewel in the crown" according to Anderson, they are also liable to run it from anywhere.
"I think it's very important that if you have talented players you give them the freedom to express their talents," says Anderson. Then again, with an all-contracted, all-representative back line, it would be silly not to play an all-singing, all-dancing game.
"But even though the back line gets the credit and are running in the scores, that's just the icing on the cake," adds Anderson, the former lock."You have to have the ball, you have to ensure you have good set play and you have to win quick ball and re-win the ball."
ADMITTEDLY Anderson is not shy about talking up his players, but even so, his sense of outrage over Tony McWhirter's exclusion from the 40 for Ireland's pre-season training in Poland is manifest.
"I find it incredible that Tony McWhirter isn't pushing for the number one spot (at number eight). He is playing international forward rugby. He wasn't at the start of the season, but he is now."
For other contentious omissions, I'd throw in the names of the Young Munster lock Paul O'Connell, who played the best rugby of any lock in Ireland this past couple of months, and Gavin Duffy. With a bit more work on his pace, this guy has it, and the more full-time training the better. We'd better keep a beady eye on him too, for John Kingston will covet him from Harlequins in England.
Duffy was the one Galwegians back who could live with his Dungannon counterparts. They play the game with brio; it's high risk but highly entertaining. One could see why, if the passes stick, they might run up 60 points on a team, even against a Terenure side in relaxed mode.
Ken Maginnis, MP and incoming club president, reckons Dungannon's odyssey has reinvoked the Ulster European Cup winning spirit of two years ago and at Glenina on Saturday he said: "Mary McAleese stand back, if we win in Lansdowne Road next Saturday, I'll be the All-Ireland president."
Alas, it is as unlikely Dungannon will bring 50,000 supporters to Lansdowne Road as Maginnis's prediction materialising. However, the unscheduled availability of the contracted players for the club run-in has ensured the AIL of a last hurrah of sorts.
"It has, possibly for the last time, put a good light on club rugby," said Anderson on Saturday, "and hence the AIL has produced club rugby which is top quality. It's given guys a chance to show at this level. You see all the kids that were there today and that's what it's all about. And where do they start playing? At club level. And if you can hack it in Clifford Park against Young Munster one week, you can hack it against Munster in Thomond Park. Under-21 rugby is all well and good but the AIL prepares a player for playing against men."
"I'm not majorly worried (about club rugby) but over the next two or three years there'll be fewer contracted players playing and then we have to take a step back to ensure we've got the depth to take two or three steps forward, which is very important. It's an absolutely massive challenge but one necessary for the continuing development of the game."
Congratulations to the Connemara All Blacks for completing a second Connacht Junior League and Cup double in succession last Sunday with a 29-6 cup final win over Westport to augment their promotion to the All-Ireland League third division. It was Westport's first final since 1975, when they beat Connemara 4-3.
gthornley@irish-time.ie
