Difficult task for injury-hit Cork side

Time was when a meeting between Cork Constitution and Shannon was as heavyweight a contest as the AIB League was capable of throwing up. Granted, it's seven long years now since Constitution claimed the inaugural AIL and Shannon have ruled the roost for the last three years but this clash of former winners still has a certain allure.

Boosted by a strong contingent from Limerick, it still should be the biggest league game of the season at Temple Hill. Rain clouds continue to hover over the AIB All-Ireland League - the Garryowen-Terenure fixture was postponed yesterday - but Temple Hill passed a pitch inspection yesterday, as was Musgrave Park for the Dolphin-Blackrock tie.

The Division Two game between Skerries and Sunday's Well has also been called off, but given a reasonably encouraging overnight forecast, the hope is that there won't be further disruptions.

On the surface, as it were, Constitution might have been better off had Shannon been deferred for another day. Then again, with Shannon, that's probably the norm. They haven't beaten the champions for three years and in an injury plagued season have been further unhinged by the loss of Kenny Murphy, John Kelly and Ultan O'Callaghan.

Their coach, Ray Coughlan, was part of the Shannon coaching team for the first two of those wins before guiding Constitution through a tricky transitional year last season. Coughlan believes the champions are now an even stronger team.

"They're better. They've shorn up a number of deficiencies since then. After Paddy Kenny's departure, Mark McDermott came to solve a problem at hooker, and although Pat Murray was a loss, Billy O'Shea is experienced and they can move him to full-back comforted in the knowledge that they have a Munster flier (John Lacey) on the wing."

"Of course, they won the lottery with that little so-and-so from down under," added Coughlan, who clearly coveted the immensely strong Rhys Ellison, "and since my days there, Alan Quinlan has emerged as a great performer. They're a powerful outfit."

Long gone are the days when the Cork side would have the tight five firepower to perhaps expose the one potential flaw in Shannon's armoury, a point Coughlan accepts. He partly attributes the relative trough to the greater number of schools playing rugby in Limerick and so providing a conveyor belt of talent to the clubs.

Yet he believes they are turning the corner after a difficult few years which saw the retirement of key personnel such as Michael Bradley and Ralph Keyes compounded by the leakage to England of Gabriel Fulcher, David Corkery, Paul Burke, Brian Roche and, this year, Brian Walsh and David Lee.

Evidence of this was the recent Munster League success, not only the club's first trophy in six years but also a manifestation of their improved strength in depth. That is the product of the work which has been done by the likes of Keyes, who is now working with the senior backs, and Bradley, who has succeeded Donal Lenihan as coach to the under-20s.

"Con were always known for having an excellent second team. The back-up had been very poor in recent years but this year our firsts and seconds squads having been training together. There's a much more positive attitude throughout the club. We now have reasonable resources although against Shannon more than anybody else, you'd need to be at full tilt."

However, earning a place in the top four play-offs still looks a tall enough order.

The venue for the youth international between Ireland and Italy has been changed from Aer Lingus RFC to Wanderers RFC on the Merrion Road (kick-off 12.30).