'I've thought about it for my whole life' - Family at the heart of Clontarf and Terenure's novel AIL final

In the last decade, a 'Big Three' have dominated the Irish club rugby scene.

Between them Lansdowne, Cork Constitution and Clontarf have lifted the last seven titles dating back to 2013, while since the reintroduction of the play-offs in 2015, each final has been contested by two of the trio.

Enter Terenure College; the Lakelands club are the first side since St Mary's in 2012 to muscle in on the business end of the season, their dramatic semi-final win against Lansdowne last Saturday securing their place in a first ever Division 1A final.

With Covid-19 having cut short the 2019/20 season, and the second wave of the pandemic seeing the following campaign culled, tomorrow's final between Clontarf and Terenure (Aviva Stadium, 3pm) is a first men's AIL showpiece since 2019.

In that final three years ago, tomorrow's favourites Clontarf were beaten by Cork Con, with the Munster side having been runaway leaders when the league was shelved in March 2020.

One would assume that righting the wrongs of their previous final defeat would be a motivator for Clontarf tomorrow. Their captain Matt D'Arcy disagrees. Given the chaotic nature of the two abandoned campaigns, the 2019 final feels like a lifetime ago.

"It's a funny one, honestly, hand on heart, I haven’t thought of that final at all, with everything that’s gone on," the Clontarf skipper laughs.

"It was so long ago now, the squad has massively changed, a lot of new young players have come through, and a few of the older fellas called it quits with the gap of Covid.

"It feels like that was ancient history, which is interesting.

"I know someone was mentioning that Cork Con were the holders, some people around the club didn’t even realise because it was so long ago. I barely remembered