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.