Champions St. Mary's are determined to retain the A.I.B. Championship title they won so convincingly last season. But club skipper Victor Costello knows it's going to be a battle royal.

"We open our campaign with a real toughie against Young Munster at Templeville Road next Saturday then we are away to Dungannon and home against Blackrock College and if we can get full points from those three we will be well on our way," he told me.

But he added: "it's always particularly difficult in the opening games when sides are settling down and trying to get a pattern up and running but I reckon having some tough games early on will help get us focused."

With the exception of Malcolm O'Kelly, the boys in blue will have a full strength squad waiting for "Munsters" and they will need it. But they have an added incentive in these opening games, a chance to impress Ireland team boss Warren Gatland.

Flying winger Denis Hickie and the brilliant Malcolm O'Kelly are solidly entrenched in the Ireland team but last year's skipper Trevor Brennan has not worn the green since that great win in Paris last March while Costello is in grave danger of becoming the forgotten man.

"I have got back into the A team squad but I'm hoping to do better " Costello admitted, "and the early All Ireland league games give anyone with ambition an opportunity to perform."But with sixteen teams in the first division its going to be a real scramble for glory with the Munster boys left out in the cold last season, anxious to re establish the stranglehold they had on the competition for years.

And Shannon who lorded it for so long have an early chance to flex their competitive muscles when they take on neighbours Garryowen at Thomond Park. There were half a dozen Munster players in the side which performed so gallantly against South Africa, so they have obviously not lost their hunger, it is a matter, I think, of the Leinster clubs in particular shaking off their inferiority complex at League level.

St. Mary's certainly did it most emphatically last season seeing off Ballymena in the semi final and a tough Lansdowne outfit in the final. Lansdowne open up with a home game against Terenure who did well to get to the semis last season.

Rory Sheriff is the skipper at Lakelands and Kevin Putt is back as coach. Between them they could conjure up some pretty spectacular performances.

Blackrock College are of course back in the first Division and bristling with ambition but they will find the going tough with the top sides and could have a thorny opener away to Old Crescent. Ballymena for whom Gary Longwell could be an inspirational corner stone won't be an easy touch, especially if they can quarry wins against DLSP (home), Blackrock College (away) and Belfast Harlequins (home).

Bonus points will again be on offer, one for a club scoring four or more tries in a game and one for a club losing by seven points or less. And the competition for a place in the top four and a semi final spot will be such that it could come down to tries scored. And anything that will give the fans fast open all handling games is to be applauded and if we ever see the day when we have a proper Championship will home and away fixtures, all the better.

But for the moment we have to settle for what we have and itís not bad by any means. The All Ireland Championship may have shoved the Provincial Cup competitions into the shade and efforts must be made to restore them to their former glory. However for the moment we can anticipate some cracking club games and we will have a series of six before the Heineken Cup returns on January 12. And that's time enough to give us a very good idea of which clubs will be in the shake up for the big money knock out stages in May.

The semi finals are scheduled for May l9 with the final at week later. But already you could round up the usual suspects with Ballymena, St. Mary's, Shannon, Blackrock, Lansdowne, perhaps Dungannon and Terenure likely to be in the thick of things when things get desperate.

Top

© Tom Keogh 2000

Back to Rugby