The things Irish rugby does to its young players. It's almost as if the game is programmed to build 'em up (usually too quickly) only to knock 'em down again, but even by those standards Rory Sherriff's treatment was abysmal.

Plucked from his rookie senior season and plunged straight into the development tour of 1997 in New Zealand, the then 20-yearold lasted all of 21 minutes against Bay of Plenty, returned and had all but given up on the game a year on. Indeed, after what the Gorey boy has been through, it's remarkable to think that he's still only 23 and has only been playing the game for five years.

"Too much came much too soon. Hindsight is a great thing," he recounts phlegmatically. "I'd basically been playing the game for a year-and-a-half at that stage and I wasn't prepared for that tour, either physically or mentally. You're in awe of the players you're training and playing with, and I don't think that's a good idea."

Twenty-one minutes of rugby during five weeks in New Zealand? "Sure it was great fun altogether," he quips now, laughing it off. But on a more serious note, the experience and the utter lack of helpful communication from on high scarred him for a couple of years.

"I came back and I was written off, and I was basically told so as well. Not by coaches so much, just things you hear. But being told you're finished at 20 years of age isn't very nice."

He had taken a late and circuitous route to the game, having played mostly gaelic in his native town until he was spotted at Courtown Golf Club by some Blackrock people where he worked in the pro shop. At 6ft 8in, it was hard not to spot him. "I was getting too slow for the hurling and I'd enjoyed a bit of rugby at school. I was put straight into the Blackrock under-20s and then I was invited down to Shannon the next season, where I was straight into the first squad. It all came very quickly."

On returning from New Zealand (more an arrested development tour in his case), Sherriff joined Terenure and took up a Leinster contract, but the confidence had been knocked out of him. He went back to college to do a BA in History and English, and opted for part-time involvement in the game.

"Gerry Murphy and my parents built me back up and made me believe in myself again. Murph gave me confidence in my own ability - we've a good rapport - and I basically got my hunger back. In the last two years, and especially this year, I've been playing the best rugby of my life. The captaincy (at Terenure) has helped as well and physically I've hardened up. I've lost a lot of weight, I suppose you could call it puppy fat at that stage, but I've worked hard. I gave it a big lash this season and it's come to fruition with the Leinster contract for next season."

You could have knocked him down with a feather when he was first approached about the captaincy last season, though it now looks an inspired move. "I suppose it was because of all the yapping and mouthing I did in the pack, but the lads have responded to me and I've responded to them."

So much so that insiders say he's the best club captain they've had in aeons, and part evidence came with his absence at Garryowen and Cork Constitution - Terenure lost on both occasions. Their grittiness with him there has been well documented. "I suppose it's because we're playing for each other. We're a very young side, everyone's friends with each other and none of us want to let the other fellas down."

Contrary to outside perceptions, Terenure are where they planned to be. "We've surprised everybody else but we haven't surprised ourselves. We said at the start of the season that our target was to get a home semi-final. We knew we had the talent and we knew especially that we had a pack, whereas in the past Terenure were known more for their backs. It's in the lap of the Gods now and hopefully we'll go another game."