In times past, the AIB League finale might have been considered a last-ditch passport to far-flung southern destinations with a touring Irish squad. But even that carrot has been removed from this weekend's semi-finalists and if the participants in the play-offs are entitled to feel a little out-of-sight and out-of-mind, then no one more so than Reggie Corrigan.

In the 1997-98 season, Corrigan was a regular at loose-head in the Irish team, losing his place for much of an injury-plagued campaign last season, making a couple of appearances as a replacement for Peter Clohessy on the tour of Australia, but only appearing once in the World Cup, against Argentina, his most recent of ten caps.

There was the consolation of some bit parts in the A campaign, most noticeably when impressively replacing Marcus Horan in the first-half of the win over England in Franklin's Gardens, but just a couple of late ones subsequently. Hence, he's been out of mind so much lately that no one was surprised at his absence from the squad to tour the Americas, least of all himself.

"The season hasn't gone the way I'd like it to have," admits the 29year-old, though quite why is a different matter. "It's hard to know. I can't put my finger on it. I've been trying to, but there's no easy answer to that question.

"The likes of the Claw and Marcus Horan have gone from strength to strength, and Munster have been on a bit of a roll whereas earlier on things didn't go too well for Leinster. After the Munster defeat at Donnybrook Mike Ruddock dropped the entire front-row, in trying to make a point, so I suppose that didn't help my cause. I did well in the England A game and had hopes for the Scottish A game, but did the cartilage which ruled me out against the Scots."

At 29, he's far from resigned to a non-international future. "I'm not down in the mouth. I'm going to have a cut at it, and train really hard over the summer, and put in a good Leinster campaign next season to get back in. You know the provincial teams that are doing well, as Munster have shown, get players into squads."

And he always has Peter Clohessy for inspiration. "Look at the The Claw, he's 33 or 34, so he has four to five years on me, and he's done fantastic this season. I'm never seen him play so well."

While the spotlight has shone on Clohessy and Munster, in point of fact Corrigan's form has held up well of late along with his Lansdowne team-mates, and it's interesting to note that he's only been on a losing side in three of his last 16 games. Club insiders say he's been working very hard, and playing well.

Lansdowne also come into Sunday's semi-final against Terenure on a roll of three wins, their best run over the last two seasons, though it needed some navel contemplation after the Garryowen home defeat to kickstart the improved form.

"There weren't any teacups thrown but there was some straight talking done. We got to the stage where we knew we were in danger of letting things slide and wasting an awful lot of hard work. Basically, it was time to do something and the players decided that we'd give it a real go. We don't want to be considered another shower of Dublin 4 also-rans."

He attributes the turnaround to improved concentration and luck. That said, they're all conscious of a particularly poor record in the league against Terenure, including a flattering 25-24 defeat at home this season. "We've a tough match ahead. They're the toughest opposition that we could have got," claims Corrigan.

The Terenure front-row of Steve Barretto, James Blaney and John Campbell may be the youngest in the top flight, but in several estimations, they've also been rated as the best. "They're a great young frontrow," concedes Corrigan. "They're strong in the second-row as well. In fact, the whole scrum is tight."

Lansdowne will need to be at their best, and for them, it seems, it's a case of mind more than body. "Our defence has been fantastic. We've been able to stop teams and disrupt them. We've been very good against the big teams but have dropped off against lower opposition. I think concentration is the byword for us."