As the Energia All-Ireland League continues to grow and grow, excitement is palpable around Dublin ahead of this Sunday's Division 1A final (4pm).
For the third time in the past five seasons, two capital clubs will go head-to-head in the decider as defending champions Clontarf take on two time winners St. Mary’s College in a game fit for the cauldron that is the Aviva Stadium.
The top two teams at the end of the regular season, separated by just a single point, few could begrudge them from battling it out under the summery sunshine this coming weekend.
It has been a period of extreme competition in the AIL in recent seasons, with the past fifteen editions giving us seven different champions, but zero successful title defences.
Usurping that weight of history is the challenge for Clontarf this year, who are looking to become the first back-to-back winners since Shannon way back in 2006.
As to whether their finals day experience proves vital or not remains to be seen according to head coach Andy Wood.
"I'd say experience would count for a lot. It certainly has value for us anyway", Wood said during the week.
"I think the environment itself is, once it's stable and everyone's contributing and comfortable within it, it certainly gives a value to those who have been there before when they see it again and follow the same steps into the final this weekend, without a doubt."
The same can be said for the weight of history that players and management will try to keep outside of their mind.
"For the wider club, I think it's just that they enjoy getting out, supporting the team, and obviously then enjoying the result that follows, whichever way it goes", Wood added.
"We're lucky to have a very supportive community and a very supportive club.
"I think the two in a row itself, or back-to-back, it's one of those things we'll probably only think about, if we get the job done on Sunday."
Clontarf have faced this battle before however. The north Dublin club were crowned champions in 2022 and made it back to the final in 2023, but were defeated by Terenure College on the day.
As fate would have it, it’s another D6W club who are standing in their way this time around as well.
St. Mary’s College, who are looking to bridge a 14 year gap between AIL titles, won back promotion to the top flight in 2024, before finishing second Division 1A a year later.
They would however come undone at the hands of Cork Con, but are back better than ever this time around. Having snatched top spot on the final day, and edged past their local rivals Terenure in front of 5,000 fans last weekend, the stars feel like they are aligning for the club.
Head coach Mark McHugh understands the challenge of taking down a kingpin club like Clontarf.
"I don't think they come any bigger than Clontarf in an AIL final. They've been the standard bearers for 12, 15 years now", he said during the week.
"I'm not sure I can even remember a time when they didn't make the top four and weren't in a semi-final or a final.
"It's a massive, massive challenge and I'm not sure we could be facing a bigger one this weekend."
A victory would be doubly special for the Templeogue club, as they look to emulate the school’s success from earlier in the season. St. Mary’s College were crowned Leinster Senior Schools Cup champions last month and McHugh is excited by the prospect of matching the feat.
"If we could match that and bring an AIL title back to the area, I think it would be a huge advert for the game in the area and just a brilliant advert for the club and the school in terms of drawing more kids into the game in both locations.
"So, I don't think it can be underestimated what it would do for rugby in the area but we've got a huge challenge in front of us on Sunday."
After a run of nail biting finales in recent years, this one is promised to match.
St. Mary’s won both fixtures between the sides in the regular season but Clontarf have experience of running out to a boisterous Lansdowne Road crowd, even if recent history has denied that intangible as being a positive.
