All-Ireland Senior Cup Final: John O'Sullivanon the contrast between Garryowen's shaky league form and their success in cup events, as they chase a third trophy in Saturday's Senior Cup final
Curate's egg seems an apposite description of Garryowen's season to date. They prevailed in the Munster Senior Cup for the 36th time, won its Junior counterpart to boot, and on Saturday in Dubarry Park will look to claim a third knock-out success when they face Belfast Harlequins in the AIB All-Ireland Senior Cup final.
That pedigree of achievement, though, is tarnished slightly by their standing in the AIB All-Ireland League Division One. Going into the final round of matches, they lie in fifth place, and in order to make the top four - and by extension the semi-finals - they will require favours from elsewhere.
Shannon's superior points difference means Garryowen's ultimate destiny in the league - assuming they win their final game and manage a bonus point - will be out-sourced. Consolation rarely suffices for the ambitious Dooradoyle club, one weaned on success, but Saturday's cup final offers the opportunity to unlock the trophy cabinet once again.
Captain and flanker Paul Neville is suitably pragmatic, focusing on the tangible rather than the possible permutations of the final league weekend.
"It's (the cup final) huge for us. We set our goals at the start of the year.
"One was to reach the top four (in the league) and that's still achievable, although it'll depend on other results to a certain extent. We won the Munster Senior Cup, which we hadn't done since 1993, and now we're in the AIB Cup final. It's a national competition and a trophy we'd love to win."
A catalyst for that ambition is outhalf Eoghan Hickey. The London Irish-bound former underage international is not included in Munster's squad for their weekend clash with Llanelli at Musgrave Park, so the only thing precluding his involvement with Garryowen is the back spasm that sidelined him last weekend.
Garryowen crafted a gritty victory over Clontarf at Castle Avenue, founded on an abrasive performance from the pack. Their traditional values generally encompass more rounded patterns. Neville admitted: "You don't want to play wide just for the sake of it but in terms of a generalisation it's fair to say we like to use the ball."
In trying to elicit a form line for Saturday's game, the focus invariably shifts to the league encounter between Garryowen and Belfast Harlequins, a match which the Limerick side won 17-0.
Much has changed since as the Ulster club have transformed their season post-Christmas while Garryowen's new year form was patchy.
Neville acknowledged: "Although we won that match it'll bear no relation to this weekend. We went through our dreary patch in January so we know what it's like to lose a few games (Harlequins lost their first nine games in the league). We had a few injuries in the squad (during that period) and that necessitated wholesale changes.
"This match presents an opportunity to win a national trophy and that's huge for the club. It'll be reflected in the number of supporters we bring up to Athlone."
On a personal level, Neville, a former underage international and Munster player, concedes that his full-time rugby career "is long over", and has settled into his day job at Frank Hogan car sales.
One deal he's dearly hoping to clinch this weekend is a third cup success this season for the Limerick club.
