Schools Rugby Preview: Today at Lansdowne Road, Blackrock College will try to take another step closer to a 64th Leinster Schools Senior Cup crown when they face Belvedere College.
They have already accounted for pre-cup favourites St Mary's College by virtue of a character-laden comeback when trailing 17-0 in that first-round clash. They produced a marvellous second-half performance to win 22-20.
They then accounted for King's Hospital (22-6) in a tighter game than the scoreline suggests.
Blackrock will be without outhalf Conor O'Daly, injured the last day. Daniel Barnett, who would have started the cup campaign as first-choice outhalf, is available again after recovering from a bruised leg.
They are the most rounded side of the four remaining in the competition, with a powerful pack led by skipper Diarmuid Laffan and including Darren O'Reilly and Gary Walsh, while behind the scrum they have the best back three in the competition in David Nyhan, Michael Kavanagh and the hugely promising 16-year-old wing Vasya Artemiev.
Belvedere's path to the penultimate stage of the competition has been less celebrated. They struggled to overcome the tenacious resistance of CBC Monkstown, a feat they only achieved following a replay, and they had to work far harder than expected against St Patrick's Classical School in Navan.
They boast a big pack, in which number eight Brian Kennedy, Ger Brennan and Harry Lacey have produced eye-catching performances. Flanker Ross McDonald should be fit. Conor Hayes has been the pick of a back line that includes Kevin Barden and Marcus McAllister, both of whom have been more low-key than their talent suggests.
Belvedere's scope for improvement is significant - and it will have to be if they are to fare better than they did in a pre-cup friendly in which Blackrock prevailed 25-10. One suspects that Belvedere will have to considerably up the intensity of previous performances, and they should manage that given today's opponents.
In the other semi-final tomorrow, Newbridge have confounded pre-cup assertions to make it to the semi-finals, where they face fellow Kildare school Clongowes Wood College. Fionn Carr, a representative wing, will play in the centre alongside captain Shane Roe.
Clongowes' traditional qualities are very much in evidence, with a tough, nuggety pack in which the collection outweighs individual contributions, while in full back Robert Kearney they possess arguably the outstanding back in the competition. His kicking skills belie his tender years, while he is also an elusive runner and has impressed no less a figure than Leinster senior coach Gary Ella. His kicking duel with talented Newbridge outhalf David Aherne will probably be pivotal to the outcome.
Form suggests a Blackrock-Clongowes final, but this season's tournament has thrown up enough surprises to suggest it's far from a foregone conclusion. Both games are at Lansdowne Road, today and tomorrow, with 4.15 p.m. kick-offs.
