After 19 weeks of rugby, played through every weather imaginable, two of Irish Rugby's blue bloods are left standing.
For the fourth time in the last 10 years, Cork Constitution and Clontarf will contest the men’s Energia All-Ireland League final, emerging from the fog of what has been the most competitive Division 1A season in recent memory.
Ten titles between them, the pair have been standard bearers in the league in the last decade. In 2016, a Joey Carbery-inspired Tarf got the better of Con in the final at the Aviva, only for the Cork side to gain revenge the following year, and they would go on to win again when the pair met in the 2019 final.
It’s 19 years since a team have last retained the Division 1A title, dating back to Shannon’s three-in-a-row between 2004 and 2006. In 2015 and 2023 Clontarf saw their back-to-back bids fall short in the final, while Con lost to Lansdowne in 2018 when they were looking to retain their crown. Twelve months ago, Jonny Holland’s side inflicted the same fate on then-defending champions Terenure.
"You can't shy away from that aspect of it. And we’re definitely aware of it," Cork Con captain Dave Hyland told RTE Sport this week of their bid to break that losing run of defending champions in the final.
"It has been mentioned, but the focus for us is just winning this one in front of us."
When Con won their seventh AIL title last year, they did so in remarkable fashion against Terenure, in front of a record Aviva finals crowd of just under 8,000 people, surviving a red card for second row John Forde, and two other yellow cards to win 33-22.
"We were down to 12 players at one stage for around five minutes or so.
"You’re looking around wondering, 'Jesus, how are we going to come out of this?’. I think everyone dug deep and there were massive performances across the board to get over the line.
"Obviously it felt amazing. Such a buzz coming down on the bus and then coming back to the bar and it was packed.
"You’re up on the lads shoulders with the cup in your hands. It was definitely a really special moment, and one I’ll never forget. A really, really special moment."
Getting back to the final this year has been no easy feat.
Through seven games of this season, Con had won just three matches but six wins in a row in the middle third of the campaign saw them stay in contention for the play-offs.
Even after getting to the final four, the odds were still stacked against them with an away semi-final against this season’s surprise package St Mary’s.
In tough weather conditions, Con held Mary’s to just one try to win an arm-wrestle 16-8, becoming the first side to win an away semi-final since they had done so in 2018.
"It really was a proper cup game.
"It was a really tough game, they’re such a good attacking side with so many threats, and I thought we dealt with that really well and contained them as much as we could.
"Them only scoring one try, and that was off a maul, I’m really proud of the lads in terms of the defence," Hyland says of last Saturday’s win at Templeville Road.
In recent years, there has generally been a breakaway group of two of three clubs leading the way, but the table has been far more congested this season.
Terenure College, who had been in each of the last three finals, beat both Clontarf and Con in the regular season but missed out on the play-offs altogether.
Just over the road, their near neighbours Mary’s muscled in on the play-offs, scoring a league-high 549 points in the regular season, a remarkable feat in itself for the Dublin side who were newly promoted from 1B.
Add in Lansdowne’s brilliant for in the second half of the season, and Ballynahinch, six of the league’s 10 teams were in the play-off mix heading into the final two or three weeks.
"I think with the calibre of coaches and recent professionals who are coaching in the AIL, it is certainly raising the standard," Clontarf head coach Andy Wood says of the current state of the club game.
Wood, who has coached the Dublin side to all three of their titles, has been involved in the AIL as a player and coach for close to 25 years, and says the quality of the product has never been better.
"All of the games are shared on Opta, so you can see any game from any squad across AIL 1A and I think that’s certainly helped raise standards.
"We've got Cian Healy in leading our forwards and a bit of work in contact and the scrum, so the understanding, the mechanics and technicalities behind it, that’s certainly benefited us. The coaching standard has definitely, at a performance level, risen the performances off the back of it.
"Improvements have been pretty constant but I guess the stage we’re at now it that it’s as good as it’s been, I would suggest.
"It doesn’t get boring for me. It’s pretty exciting and I’m privileged to be at it for as long as I have been."
Having lost away to Con in the semi-finals last season, Tarf have come back stronger, despite losing veterans Matt D’Arcy and Tony Ryan, as well as Josh Murphy, who returned to professional rugby with Connacht.
Even in what’s arguably been the most competitive season in recent history, Wood’s [below] side topped the regular season with 14 wins, although that does undersell what’s been a dramatic campaign.
Including their nail-biting semi-final win against Lansdowne last week, seven of Tarf’s wins this season have been by seven or fewer points, two of which came against this week's opponents.
On five occasions they've won by scoring with the final play of the game.
"I think the league has been pretty tight this year. We grew confidence with a few of those tight results that went our way and it sort of built.
"As always, there’s a bit of good fortune that has to go your way. A little bit of belief, that collective understanding that's built up through some of those close encounters.
"I guess that belief and understanding stood to us towards the end. The experience of coming on top in a few tight games, expecting it to be a tight game, I would suggest that stood to us," Wood added.
And the New Zealander is prepared for an equally close game on Sunday, as he looks to bring a fourth title back to Castle Avenue.
"We’ve got a huge amount of respect for Con and what they do year after year. Certainly, physicality is probably their DNA. They’re going to come for a scrap, come for a fight and we’ll be ready for that.
"With James Taylor at 10, they can play. The run-kick-pass; they have an array of options from 10, and allied to a bit of physicality both sides of the ball.
"Physicality and craft, is how I would describe Con."
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