Balance of power returns to Cork

Normality has almost been restored for Constitution, and all is nearly right again with the world after eight years of reluctantly bowing to their Limerick superiors. The Cork side are just 80 minutes away from restoring what they see as their rightful place atop Irish rugby - just 80 minutes away from sleeping easier at nights.

The club that have had more influence in the IRFU's corridors of power than anybody else have started to regain some of their old swagger, and with good reason. This isn't just a team for 1999, this is also a team for the Millennium.

The platform for this success was undoubtedly their big pack, which went mano a mano with Shannon a week ago, and did it again with the famed Buccaneers juggernaut at Temple Hill yesterday. Though it took them awhile to hit their stride, the tackling around the fringes of their pack was awesome and kept them in the game before ultimately holding sway.

Buccaneers hit their stride earlier but were made to work harder for their scores. With the second-half wind behind them, Constitution predictably displayed a better cutting edge out wide and a brace of tries effectively sealed the outcome in an imposing third quarter.

The growing maturity of their half-backs Brian O'Meara and Ronan O'Gara, long-standing partners but still relatively young, gives Constitution more grounds for long-term optimism than anything else. O'Meara's service remains as crisp as ever, while his decision-making has predictably benefited from the tutelage of Constitution's co-coach Michael Bradley.

Given time and space to display his talents, O'Gara ran the show with aplomb for the second week running and was probably a more deserving winner of the man-of-the-match award.

Though his place-kicking was a little awry, it was his break which set up his opening penalty in first-half injury time. Not alone did it kick-start a personal haul of 17 points, but it gave Cork Constitution an important pre-interval mental lift aside from eating into Buccaneers' deserved 13-5 lead.

Whereupon, the swiftness of the pack's ball and the handling of the halves created the space out wide for a couple of typically well-worked tries. Playing off Constitution's excellent restart game, O'Gara used the wind to constantly peg Buccaneers pack and then tag on the penalties. It wasn't vintage Constitution, but it was more than good enough.

Constitution will feel they are back where they belong and the League final will be contested by the two clubs who have traditionally lorded the trophies and have also given Irish more internationals than anybody else.

For Buccaneers, this was scaling dizzying heights, but they weren't afflicted with vertigo. Their supporters travelled in their thousands to swell the attendance to around the 5-6,000 mark. On a carnival-like, sunny day, they gave it a good lash and even threatened another upset.

In hindsight, however, the almost scoreless opening quarter (during which the game was waiting to be grabbed) possibly hurt Buccaneers more. The respective halves, O'Gara and Simon Allnutt, each missed a kickable penalty and drop goal apiece. But that affected Buccaneers more, not only because they had the breeze behind them but also because they were the underdogs.

Buccaneers were also unfortunate to concede a penalty from a bout of fisticuffs after it seemed Ian Murray had thrown the first punch - with Brian Rigney unleashing a flurry of retaliatory blows.

In any event, O'Gara's penalty to the corner led to one of many Jerry Murray takes and the inevitable forward rumble, with John O'Driscoll awarded the touchdown.

Buccaneers redoubled their efforts, and Martyn Steffert brilliantly stymied O'Meara's threatened breakout off a scrum to also earn a penalty for not releasing, which Allnutt landed. Robert Lee probed the blind side, Jimmy Screene and Martin Cahill hit the gain line even harder and O'Meara held the hard-working Des Rigney up short of the line.

The Constitution pack will have enjoyed shoving a Buccaneers' five-metre scrum backwards, and Brian Rigney resumed his verbal feud with Alan Lewis from the Shannon match as the penalty count went with the home side. But Buccaneers kept banging away, a typically sustained spell of forward recycling and fringe pressure yielding a tap-over penalty for Allnutt.

From the restart, Michael Devine turned Brian Walsh in the tackle in chasing a Stephen McIvor box kick, and quick-wittedly McIvor's follow-up box kick from the ruck found no one home. Screene was nearly in from this promising field position, but in any event the livewire McIvor instigated a smartly-taken try with a quick tap, Steffert providing the link for Eoin Brennan to take the offload and dive over in the same movement.

Buccaneers were on a roll, only for O'Gara to show the ball and step inside Allnutt before landing the first of two important penalties either side of the break. Having overdone the maul in the first half, finally the Constitution pack started giving their talented backs some quick ball, and the result was a decisive double whammy.

O'Gara's boot having established the foothold, first he used David Corkery up the middle before the ball was moved wide for Conor Mahony to chip ahead, the ball taking a wicked bounce as Donal Rigney covered for John Kelly to gather and score.

Better followed when O'Meara's quick pass and O'Gara's skip pass invited Conor Mahony to run onto the ball and offload deftly, Walsh providing the link for David O'Brien to score the try of the game in the corner.

That was pretty much that. The Constitution pack and O'Gara kept Buccaneers in a vice-like grip, inching further ahead with two penalties, until Buccaneers broke out and incessant pressure culminated in Michael Devine burrowing over. Even then, O'Gara had the final say in the fifth minute of injury time.

Scoring sequence: 19 mins: O'Driscoll try, 5-0; 24 mins: Allnutt penalty, 5-3; 34 mins: Allnutt penalty, 5-6; 38 mins: Brennan try, Allnutt conversion, 5-13; 40 mins: O'Gara penalty, 8-13 (half-time 8-13); 42 mins: O'Gara penalty, 11-13; 48 mins: Kelly try, 16-13; 58 mins: O'Brien try, O'Gara conversion, 23-13; 65 mins: O'Gara penalty, 26-13; 73 mins: O'Gara penalty, 29-13; 78 mins: Devine try, Allnutt conversion, 29-20; 85 mins: O'Gara penalty, 32-20.

Cork Constitution: B Walsh; J Kelly, Conor Mahony, A Byrne, D O'Brien; R O'Gara, B O'Meara; I Murray, F Sheahan, J O'Driscoll, D Sheahan, K Murphy, D Corkery, U O'Callaghan, J Murray. Replacements: A Horgan for Byrne (46 mins), J Fogarty for U O'Callaghan (58 mins), P Soden for Murray (70 mins), D O'Callaghan for Sheahan (80 mins).

Buccaneers: R Lee; M Devine, O Cobbe, C Gormley, T Stuart-Trainor; S Allnutt, S McIvor; J Screene, J McVeigh, M Cahill, B Rigney, Donal Rigney, Des Rigney, M Steffert, E Brennan. Replacements: C Rigney for B Rigney (62 mins), R Larkin for Stuart-Trainor (74 mins).

Referee: A Lewis (Leinster).