In the first of a fortnightly series on schools players excelling in more than one sport, Emmet Riordantalks to cricketer and rugby player Andrew Balbirnie

THE SIGHT of one 21-year-old setting up another for Ireland's opening try against Canada at Thomond Park last Saturday night will have stoked the dreams of many young rugby players throughout the country.

Luke Fitzgerald and Keith Earls have shown that youth is no barrier to playing international rugby, with new Ireland coach Declan Kidney raising a banner over his early tenure stating loudly that if you're good enough, you're old enough.

But one talented young rugby player was probably more interested in Sachin Tendulkar's 40th Test century against Australia or the off-spin bowling of Harbhajan Singh.

Andrew Balbirnie has had either a cricket or rugby ball in his hand for as long as he can remember, excelling at both at St Andrew's College in Booterstown and with Pembroke Cricket Club and Ireland at underage level.

The 17-year-old from Sandymount has stayed true to his first love though, with cricket dominating his sporting life. And it's a relationship that goes back as far as he can remember.

"My dad was working in London and we lived there for two years when I was about four or five. He used to take me down to the park to hit the ball around so that's when I got the first taste for it," said Balbirnie, who made his Ireland A debut during the summer.

It was when his family moved to within a cover drive of Pembroke's ground at Sydney Parade that he got the opportunity to really learn the game, spending hour after hour in the nets with friends and his younger brothers.

"I played my first game with the under-11s. I remember they put me down at fine leg and I just loved it. I was seven or eight at the time," added Balbirnie.

He would go on to make the first team at 13 and score his first senior half-century the year after against Merrion. He has been capped at all underage levels, many as captain and won European Championship medals at under-13, 15, 17 and 19 age groups.

The game has also afforded him the chance to travel, with the highlight being a three-month stay in South Africa during his transition year a particular highlight.

"I was very fortunate to spend three months in Port Elizabeth at Muir College which was a brilliant experience. It was a key part of my development as a cricketer and in so many other ways.

"People were saying I missed school but travel is one of the best forms of education, especially when you're 16," said Balbirnie.

Earlier this year he was part of the Ireland under-19 side at the World Cup in Malaysia and is expected to captain the side in their next qualification campaign.

His development has not gone unnoticed and he spent time with Middlesex this summer, along with his good friend Paul Stirling, who has already made the breakthrough to the senior international side.

Balbirnie is hoping to get a call to the full Ireland side next summer and hopes to follow the likes of Ed Joyce, Eoin Morgan and Niall O'Brien into the professional ranks in the future.

With so much cricket going on, he has still been able to make his mark as outhalf in a St Andrew's side that made the Senior League final last year.

But with the Leaving Cert also on the horizon, Balbirnie knows it's time to prioritise his dual sporting career.

"I plan to play rugby up until the end of school and then concentrate on the cricket.

"It's going to be tough now with the Leaving Cert so studies are going to have to come first until June.

"Ed Joyce got a degree from Trinity before he went professional so I'd like to go down that route."

Rugby's loss looks set to be cricket's gain for a dual star who isn't planning on letting go of his first sporting love just yet.