Wide boys can serve up a cracker

SCHOOLS rugby stereotypes? Alongside a colourful terrace culture and visible agony and ecstasy at the final whistle, you’ll find cagey, no-risk, win-at-all-costs rugby.

There’s a lazy prevailing opinion that amid huge pressure to maintain a winning tradition or begin a new one, schools care little for the overall development of their players, instead coaching all the flair out of them and turning them into little more than tackling machines.

Anyone who’s watched Presentation Brothers College (PBC) Cork or Rockwell College in action this term will beg to differ, however. This year’s Avonmore Milk Munster Senior Schools Cup finalists have reached the decider by playing high-tempo, heads-up rugby. Should the track remain dry at Musgrave Park for today’s decider (3pm), those who are happy to have their preconceived notions challenged could be in for a treat.

“How you set out to play depends on the profile of your team,” explains PBC coach Peter Scott. “Our teams change every single year (in terms of personnel) and you’ve got to play to your individual strengths.

“It just so happens this year that both teams like to play running rugby, and if the weather is good I think you’ll see an expansive game. If you don’t have pace or a high level of technical skill, it’s very difficult to get the ball into the wide areas. But both these teams have that.

“We’ve a very talented back-row who are very accurate at the breakdown, and if you can win that contest it allows you to play the game. Every year you have to go through the first couple of months and see where your players are taking you, and then decide on a philosophy. It’s been fairly obvious from early on that we’ve played in one way, expansively, and I don’t think we’d be able to change the mentality of the players at this stage.”

Scott’s counterpart in Rockwell, Mark Butler, also has his charges playing an attractive, effective brand of rampaging rugby. He reckons that in a school of such small player numbers, work ethic helps propel them into contention for major honours.

“We’re playing a numbers game in Rockwell in terms of schools rugby; we have a player pool of about 200 boys which, compared to Castletroy, PBC or CBC, is not a lot,” he says.

“We need every edge we can get, so we base everything we do around work ethic. If we can’t match them in the numbers game, we’re going to have to match them in the quality of player we’re producing, so the emphasis is on player development.

“It’s fine that they’re in Rockwell playing rugby for five years, but they also have a 15-year career ahead of them swell, so what we’re looking to do is not only develop a team for the cup, but prepare a player for his future in the game, whether that be at professional, All-Ireland League or junior level. It’s important to us that our players enjoy their rugby and get the most out of it.”

In recent years, players from the Tipperary nursery who have gone on to, as Butler puts it, “bigger and better things”, and invariably of the barnstorming back row variety.

Ireland flanker Denis Leamy was a goal-kicking number eight during his Rockwell days around the turn of the century, while Paddy Butler has since worked his way into the Munster setup. Last year’s skipper Shane Buckley and current number eight incumbent Luke Cahill are both members of the IRFU’s national underage talent squads.

“What all those guys had going for them was their attitude, and Luke’s is tremendous,” says Butler. “The guy is 6’3” and 16 and a half stone, and he’s as balanced and runs as fast as most backs. He’s an outstanding individual.”

Scott, sees good news on the horizon via an evening out of standards in the province, raising the overall level of quality in schools rugby.

“Once you would have considered there to be easier cup games but those days are long gone,” he says. “Glenstal (Abbey) for example; it’s unbelievable what they can achieve with the numbers that they have. In our match against them I thought the score-line (21-5) flattered us a bit, they were a very good side, hugely competitive.

“You’re seeing that with everybody more and more every year. Testament to that is the fact there hasn’t been a cup won by a team in successive years since 2000. You’re getting a much more even distribution, because of the evening out of the standard around Munster.”