Return of St Mary's reignites classic tale

All-Ireland League: It's a marquee pairing, one that encapsulates the long standing rivalry of two clubs, two cities and a confrontation that historically has embellished the AIB All-Ireland League with some classic encounters. When Shannon cross the whitewash at Templeville Road against St Mary's College to open hostilities on another season, they will once again do so as champions.

They are the benchmark for their 15 Division One rivals and also house the blueprint for success. They invested in and cultivated a youth policy, and have been rewarded with oodles of silverware to line a bulging trophy cabinet.

Yet for all their prowess, they will be wary of Saturday's opponents. St Mary's have never kowtowed to any Limerick rivals and perhaps that is why they are regarded as the prized scalp among the Treaty City clubs. In 15 matches between Saturday's combatants, the scale is balanced beautifully with seven wins apiece and one draw.

St Mary's have clambered back to the elite following a 12-month sojourn in Division Two where they performed a little internal housekeeping, identifying and stream lining young, talented players into the requisite teams. Steve Hennessy and this year's rugby coaching co-ordinator, Peter Smyth, have overseen the rejuvenation of club fortunes.

They have modest ambitions for the season ahead. On Saturday Shannon may be able to call upon a handful of provincially-contracted players - Munster have the weekend off - and that could mean a place in the starting line-up for Frankie Roche, Jerry Flannery, Trevor Hogan, Stephen Keogh and Ian Dowling among others.

St Mary's, in contrast, will have one third of their team playing their first Division One match.

The IRFU is currently in the process of charging a working party with looking into several recommendations for the season 2006-2007, one of which is to limit the number of provincially contracted players that a club may play in any match to three. Smyth though has no quibble with Shannon arriving mob handed.

"It's just the luck of the draw in terms of the fixtures. They are the benchmark and we've nothing but respect for what they have achieved over the years. They have produced a lot of good young players and are a progressive club that have worked hard to achieve their success.

"We'll have a nice blend of youth and experience and might be able to sneak in a couple of surprises. We have to be realistic about what we are capable of doing this season."

Smyth is regarded as one of the country's brightest young coaches - he's still playing and will wear the number two jersey on Saturday - and is not afraid of looking outside the sport for inspiration.

He recently invited Armagh corner back Enda McNulty to address the first-team squad.

"He was very impressive, passionate about as he saw it 'being more professional than the professionals themselves'. He pointed out that the Armagh players put in 25 to 30 hours a week training and playing, and that's on top of their jobs.

"In the All-Ireland League that'd be about 10 to 15 hours. Players in either sport don't do it for the reward. Club rugby still retains that sense of loyalty and friendship and they're great qualities.

"There is still a social side where supporters can walk up and talk to players in the bar afterwards."

Smyth smiles when mentioning his official title at the club, one that sounds a little more glamorous than it transpires. His responsibilities extend beyond on pitch matters.

Today he'll head for Roche's on Meath Street where he'll pick up the fruit for after training, stop off at the local deli in Rathgar for sandwiches, and, if required, go and sweep out the changing-rooms.

He enjoys the variety, the challenges and is a passionate advocate of the club game. He cites one vignette that highlights the endearing nature of the club struggle. Last week when playing UCD, St Mary's lost their place-kicker through injury.

They scored a try and up stepped tighthead prop Brian Moran at 12-13 to take on the conversion, a little to the left of the posts for the left-footed kicker. Smyth laughs: "He just trots back in this little semi-circle and with no preamble thumps the ball, which dipped violently having cleared the crossbar. He was devastated first when we scored another try in injury time and secondly that the papers didn't record his conversion.

"This is the same guy whose debut I remember came against a Young Munster team that included among others Peter Clohessy. We gave him a new nickname, 'Nails' because we felt that 'Teddy' as he was known, wouldn't cut the mustard with the boys from Munsters."

Saturday represents a new chapter in St Mary's history and it's appropriate that AIB kingpins Shannon provide the opposition.