Sporting gesture leaves final mark

All-Ireland League Division Two FinalIn rugby's professional era St Mary's College captain David Clare prefers to dwell upon and celebrate more Corinthian values while looking forward to Saturday's AIB League Division Two final against UL Bohemian.

Last weekend St Mary's were due to play UCC in the semi-final but the Cork students couldn't field a team due to exam commitments and the Dublin club were given a walkover. It was a situation that saddened Clare because it was UCC's innate sense of sporting fairness earlier in the season that struck a cord with the tighthead prop.

He explained: "I really felt sorry for UCC last week in the light of what they did for us. They came up at the start of the season (for a league match) and we had 13 players out with food poisoning or the winter vomiting bug.

"Fellas were literally getting sick in the doorway (of the dressingroom) as they were coming in. They (UCC) agreed to postpone the game. If they had actually played that game and taken the points (and they would have) because we had only four fit players, they would actually have been promoted.

"The sportsmanship that they showed that day is something that I will take to the grave. I wanted to tell them that last weekend."

Clare will be on the bench this Saturday, his six-month sabbatical on the sidelines because of injury brought to an end last week.

"I fractured a leg and dislocated an ankle in two places but haven't been missed because guys like Cillian O'Byrne have really come on. (Coaches) Peter Smyth and Steve Hennessy have done a great job with the side. The team is well drilled, the lads know what they are doing from every ruck and there's a pattern and style that might have been lacking in the last few years. We have a quick rucking game and a good maul off the lineout. The scrum has been strong the whole season."

Clare pays tribute to underage international outhalf Jonathan Sexton "an old head on young shoulders," but points out that Sexton has benefited from the quality of player around him.

He also praises Smyth's contribution on and off the pitch and suggests that "he'll go a lot further, too, in coaching circles." St Mary's resisted the temptation to bolster their team with all the contracted players available to them, preferring to stick them on the bench and put faith in the players who have got them to this point in the season.

In terms of morale it sits better with all concerned. Clare is in no doubt about the difficulty of the task facing the club on Saturday. "They (UL Bohemian) are a huge side physically and have great strength in depth. They can play the game out wide or take it straight up. We'll have to be fairly clinical and that will be the challenge but one that we're all looking forward to."