Clontarf delivered a statement performance on Saturday, sweeping aside UCD 61–15 in a nine-try demolition that showcased the full force of their potential. After weeks of flashes of brilliance, Tarf finally put it all together — and the result was something special.
Up until Saturday, watching Clontarf was a little like attending a burlesque show — you know, the feather dance, where a winsome young lady teases the audience with two large fans of feathers, which she artfully positions so imaginations run wild with anticipation about what she might be about to reveal.
Clontarf were like that …… every game had little flashes of brilliance, some sparkle to whet the appetite in anticipation, only to fall away as momentum in the game is lost. How many times have we watched Tarf build a score, overreach, lose momentum, concede scores and end up in a dog fight in the last quarter, to secure the points?
On Saturday Clontarf turned the stage lights up full, threw the feather fans away and revealed to the AIL world what we’ve all been waiting for ……. Robocop ! …. crossed with Godzilla ! What a beauty !
UCD travelled over the river with arguably a stronger side than that which dismissed Lansdowne one week ago. I’m not going to mention names but there were enough stars on their team sheet to give any rugby pundit pause. I have to admit I was a little bit nervous about this game.
What transpired was Homeric. I believe there had been some hard meetings after a lacklustre first half in Templeville. Free and frank discussions with nothing left out. It is to the credit of the squad and the coaching team that this response was the result. If ever a group got themselves onto the same page, this is the gilt edged example of the 100% result. The fact that so many of the top performers were from the younger cohort was amazing. It was some experience for Darragh Doyle, Sean Lavin, man of the match Luke Brady, petit generale Sam Owens and the runaway schoolboy Matt Brennan in the centre. They were brilliant !
Driving it on was a huge contribution from the players from the provincial professional squads. Brian Deeney, Niall Smyth, Alex Soroka and Dan Hawkshaw played like the professionals they are. Once again I have to call this out. The manner of their performance again speaks to both their relationship with the coaching team and their respect for the Club. Not an iota of self-preservation was shown and they pulverised their supposed equals on the College side.
I’m not going to review the game or list the scores ….. my thumbs would go numb. The stats speak for themselves.
Nine tries, 8 conversions to a penalty, a converted try and a try.
Probably the most complete performance from a Clontarf side in the AIL …… Ever.
The question now is where from here ?
All skilled sports people and therefore all teams have a performance ceiling. A point at which they have reached their apex and cannot improve further. Like the burlesque dancer sometimes you get little flashes of it but it is rare for a team to lift the performance to a level and hold it there. Clontarf have not reached their performance ceiling, but on Saturday they brought their game to a higher level of consistency and blew their opposition away. The challenge now is to make this level the norm and to push higher.
Peter Walsh
