All-Ireland League finals: When Trinity take the field at Lansdowne Road on Saturday for their Division Two play-off final against UL Bohemians, some of their supporters are liable to be wide-eyed and legless regardless of the result. As events would have it, the Trinity Ball takes place the night before. Gerry Thornley reports.about the factors that helped them graduate

A carefree, celebratory tone would be apt. The oldest club in continuous existence in the world game, Trinity have marked their 150th year by already securing the sole promotion place from the 16-team second division.

Trinity were Division Four champions four years ago, and what makes their climb all the more remarkable is that they've effectively done it with three different teams. Overseeing it all has been the infectiously enthusiastic Tony Smeeth, the English-born ex-USA Eagles under-19 coach who has been Trinity's director of rugby for six years, and his assistant/forwards coach Hugh Maguire.

"I actually can't say enough about the two boys and the admiration I've developed for them," enthuses captain and second row Martin Garvey. "Tony is just a fanatic, unbelievable, and Hugh has done something special because the guys who left would have been his babies."

Central to the turnaround at Trinity and colleges rugby in general have been the scholarship programmes, which have made being a full-time student/rugby player highly attractive.

"The academy systems have been put in place and the youngsters are taken in after school and put on weights programmes, nutritional diets and stuff like that," explains Garvey, who adds that upward mobility through the divisions is crucial in sustaining those academies and keeping players.

The likes of Jamie Heaslip, their Irish under-21 number eight and "boy wonder" of the team, and Hugh Hogan have been prime examples. Trinity have plenty of potency up front; hence they've scored 18 of their 26 tries through forwards, with Heaslip leading the way on eight and Hogan on four.

The chronic shortage of tight-heads obliged even Trinity to seek a foreign acquisition, the Canadian prop Forrest Gainer. "He's a typical Canadian-stroke-American, big into his weights and nutrition, and he's a phenomenal player. I believe Gary Ella was out watching him last Saturday. He's a talent."

Garvey reckons Trinity lost 10 or 11 of last year's team prior to the start of the season, and with an average age of 20 years and eight months their aspirations would have been the play-offs at best.

Their opener was actually against UL Bohs and "in the first half we were blown away. They went 28-3 up by half-time but the lads showed great character, skill and belief to come back and win 35-28. It was probably the first time we played together and that just set the tone for whenever we were in doubt."

Even so, four defeats punctuated their campaign and they generally trailed UL Bohs and Old Belvedere. But on the penultimate weekend they won "a dog-fight" in Lakelands by 16-11 and jumped from fourth to second behind Old Belvedere after UL Bohs and Bective had lost to Young Munster and DLSP.

At half-time on the last day against Sunday's Well they were told Old Belvedere were being well beaten away to UL Bohemians, and Heaslip's bonus-procuring try in a 32-3 win in front of a big crowd at College Park nailed promotion.

"The funny thing about it was that our coach was telling us not to be worried about what was going on in Limerick. But sure the first thing he told us at half-time was that Old Belvedere were gone and we needed a bonus point. And the scenes when we scored that fourth try to get promoted were something to behold. That's the reason you play rugby basically, for moments like that and the scenes in the changing-room afterwards."

It was the first time Trinity had topped the table all season. Timing is everything. UL Bohs, who finished second, two points adrift, feel they were robbed and Garvey admits they'd more than hold their own in Division One.

"They've several players in the Munster set-up and their back line has got some talent," he says of opponents who've scored 35 of their 48 tries through their backs.

On the face of it, UL Bohs would seem to have an awful lot more to play for on Saturday, but Garvey maintains: "It's very important to put down a marker to show that we do deserve a place in the first division and that we were the best team in the second division."