UCC give it socks but remain bottom after defeat

There are plenty of rugby traditions to baffle the uninitiated — New Zealand’s haka, the French smuggling cockerels into stadiums, clubs touring to the other side of the world for no practical reason whatsoever — and university rugby is no different.

Saturday saw UCC’s players ‘win their colours’, an annual tradition where players wear the socks of either their school or club, or in some cases both, as a tribute to them for helping in their rugby development.

Historically marked by matches against other university opposition, the advent of the All-Ireland League — and the demise of the Dudley Cup — has often prevented these intervaristy colours clashes taking place, but UCD’s presence in Division 1B of the Ulster Bank League solved that issue this season.