The Leinster Schools Senior Cup is back on the radar. There is much that is hyped and overblown about the whole competition, but there is also much to appreciate, writes Gavin Cummiskey
Here we go again. Those on the outside label it an uncontrollable monster, while others, most of whom have tasted the euphoric highs and bitter lows, hark back with watery eyes. You can love it or lambaste it but the Leinster Schools Senior Cup is back.
More than any other event on the sporting calendar, coverage will be scrutinised by those even remotely involved. That includes the players, coaches, teachers, former pupils and - the most precarious animal of all - the parent. If "Our Johnny" receives even the mildest criticism, Mum, Dad and extended family will be poised, ready to demand an apology and a retraction. Tell me about it. While compiling a guide to this year's competition I was lectured ad nauseum about the devastating impact any criticism can have on a teenager's mindset.
The message is thus: feel free to note moments of brilliance but go easy on the errors. That is not balanced reporting. This is the Senior Cup. You think it requires a thick skin to enter a defeated dressing room after an All-Ireland final? That's small beer compared to the landmines lying in wait for the Senior Cup reporter. Even the slightest hint of an affront to school pride is seized upon.
And there are issues that deserve to be raised. What about the heavy toll which serious injuries take on many promising and not so promising players? What about the huge numbers who drop out of rugby after the Senior Cup and opt for other games? Only three of Clongowes's 2000 winning team are still playing the game.
And yes, what about the use of Creatine and other potentially dangerous supplements by some players - and the blind eye kept by some coaches? A former schools star noted recently that the weights regime, which is evidently a huge part of a player's development, takes place either at dawn or late at night. It is the proverbial elephant in the room; it is there but we cannot see it, let alone ponder the implications.
There are plenty of positives. Witnessing the raw ability of Gordon D'Arcy, Shane Jennings, Denis Hickie, Brian O'Driscoll and more recently Robert Kearney and Luke Fitzgerald as they glide over the Donnybrook surface has been breathtaking.
All were superb schools players but only the latter two were exposed to the national consciousness by Setanta Sports. Three years ago the fledging channel, now firmly established in the marketplace, saw schools rugby as an ideal slot filler and games were regularly repeated before the channel got their magazine programmes up and running.
Setanta is covering 13 games this season - three from the Junior Cup - including both finals live and "exclusive". A line could be drawn at televising the under-15 competition. Too much exposure, too soon is the obvious argument.
Luke Fitzgerald is the latest, and potentially the most remarkable, talent to come from the schools system. Since sitting his Leaving Cert last June, Fitzgerald has progressed from schoolboy to international winger eclipsing the early feats of O'Driscoll, D'Arcy and many others who required an 18-month buffer to develop physically.
It's proof that the competition remains the central breeding ground for professional rugby in this country. Two Triple Crowns in three seasons. Incessant talk of a Grand Slam. Progression to the World Cup final has been mooted. Irish rugby is on the cusp of world domination - and it is all down to the strength of the schools game.
It's reached this exalted level thanks to a unique crop of players - the best of whom come from Blackrock, Clongowes, Terenure, St Mary's, Rockwell, Pres Cork, CBC Cork and so on. So why complain about schools rugby when it is delivering this assembly line of talent?
The famous 20th century sports journalist, Grantland Rice, coined the phrase: "For when the One Great Scorer comes to write against your name, He marks - not that you won or lost - But how you played the game."
Rice's wisdom holds resonance today, but for the five elite schools (which could become six if this season's favourites St Michael's College win their first title) it's all about winning. How you played the game - be it with honour and respect - are not discarded but winning is built on a foundation of ruthlessness, not sentiment.
Take Presentation College, Bray. In 2004 they upset the odds by charting a route to the Junior Cup final where they were beaten by Blackrock. It was a memorable journey and their progress to senior level was keenly anticipated. But these days their Junior Cup captain is a Blackrock Senior Cup player.
Equally, you won't find any school talking on the record about sports scholarships which allow a promising rugby player to slip from one school to the next. And parents will never talk about it. They just want their young man to achieve his sporting potential; that is understandable.
In any case, how can the media move to the high ground on the rights and wrongs of the Senior Cup when we all have a symbiotic relationship with the competition? This newspaper and several others have fed the beast for years. My advice? Forget the hype and hoopla and enjoy the prospect of some marvellously raw talent performing on the big stage. Isn't that what sport is really all about?
