Change of Colours Not Needed To Distinguish These Teams

Add another name to the roll-call of top couturiers. Dior, Lagerfield, St. Laurent are all excellent in their own way but none has achieved success of any kind on a rugby field. P. C. DENNY put a simply stunning collection of his leisurewear creations on the catwalk at Rockalyoke on Sunday afternoon. All his top models were in action - BURKE with a fetching off-the-shoulder arrangement, HIGGINS coyly resplendent in matching jock-strap, HORAN opting for the frankly décolleté. The occasion was the unveiling of Skerries new change strip, designed to distinguish the players readily from their Lansdowne opponents. In the event the change was superfluous. Even if they had worn identical gear the spectator would have had a simple task in distinguishing one side from the other. The team that wanted to play rugby was Skerries. The team dealing solely in negatives was Lansdowne.

Put in its simplest terms, Skerries were intent on moving the ball away from the congestion on a regular basis. The headquarters side, as if afflicted with an advance form of agro phobia, persisted in taking the ball back towards the populated areas. Can anyone recall a Lansdowne pass that went much further than arms length? If referees have a flaw in common it is that they never take account of such a fundamental difference in emphasis, never weight their arbitration in favour of the constructive approach. Thus, on Sunday, Lansdowne in general and No.6 ROONEY in particular went through the entire gamut of professional fouling without ever incurring a sanction of real consequence. A penalty is often a poor recompense to a team in search of fluency - a bit like being offered a cigarette when you are hungry.

A feature of the opening half was DUFF's lightning intercept on half-way, said to be the fruit of assiduous video-viewing of the previous match between the sides. Video-viewing of the present match might disclose the reasons for sluggish back-row support of the scrum-half. DUFF did find QUIRKE streaming up on his outside but the cover sealed off access to the line. Skerries managed some promising three-quarter forays, one of which almost set full-back SCANLON free, but all of which perished ultimately on the reef of lateral movement. When the home side won a free on the opposition 22 they opted for the clichéd punt to the corner. The resultant line-out was the prelude to a prolonged siege of the Lansdowne line but nothing transpired to disturb the reverie of the score-board boys. Has the short penalty move - a gilt edged opportunity to decoy the defense - joined the toe-kick and the footrush in rugby's stock of discontinued lines?

Given the staccato whistling the number of kicks at goal was relatively low, WOODS had kicked four out of five for the visitors and BRADY had achieved a hundred per cent record with his three kicks for Skerries when the pivotal score came early in the second half, BRADY, deep in defense, uncharacteristically hoofed a ball into the path of Lansdowne winger O'CONNELL whose acceleration took him to the line for the only try of the afternoon. Unappreciative, Lansdowne continued with their particular version of the Eton Wall Game. Skerries comfortably contained the incessant buffeting, the pack en bloc displaying the type of resilience that will be required in the upcoming series of AIL matches. The scrum, so patently rickety against the same opposition in September, never lost its equilibrium - an accolade to the durable props HORAN and BURKE.

The Old Gold, Cerise and Blue trailed by only 8 points when the dank afternoon was illuminated by a phase of high class rugby. DUNNE, who had come on for the hamstrung QUIRKE was put in possession by a floated pass from CARRAGHER. The winger avidly accepted the gift of a yard start and rounded his opposite number before tumbling to a desperation tackle as he tried to go inside the full-back. Recycling was swift and the ball travelled through five pairs of hands to give LAWLESS sight of glory. Only a minuscule trespass on the touchline prevented a memorable score. KEANE still had time to make one of his trademark perforations up the middle but the liaison with DUNNE was flawed. WOODS' late penalty was of academic interest only.

As the season goes on many things will conspire to frustrate the undoubted rugby instincts of this Skerries team. In dement skies, treacherous underfoot conditions, inadvertent arbitration, repressive opposition, all will be throwing spanners. It promises to be a severe test of faith.