It’s colours by name and, on the basis of talent and commitment to keeping ball in hand, this should be a colourful game.
These are two excellent young teams, endowed with real quality. There are few better broken-field runners than Trinity’s 22-year-old wing Niyi Adeolukan who has been attracting interest from Connacht, centre Paddy Lavelle epitomises intelligent game management, while Australian outhalf Sam Windsor, born to Irish parents, has trained with Leinster.
There is a temptation to dwell on a list of players unavailable to UCD, high-calibre operators like Sam Coghlan Murray, Andrew Boyle, Luke McGrath, Conor Gilsenan, James Treacy, Josh van der Flier and Dan Leavy. But to do so would be unfair to those who will don the light blue tonight.
How Barry Daly does not have a provincial contract is a mystery. Paddy Dix has converted from number eight to wing, Alex Kelly is a fine footballer, Stephen Murphy is squaring off against one of his best friends while in Shane Grannell, Ed Byrne and Eoin Joyce UCD have forwards who can dominate matches.
UCD (Bobby Byrne) and Trinity (Tony Smeeth) boast coaches whose teams are not only easy on the eye but very effective to boot. UCD lead 5-4 in the last nine meetings, illustrating the tight nature of affairs between the sides and the probability of another entertaining tussle.
