The AIB League resumes in earnest next weekend and as Division One’s top two of Shannon and Cork Constitution face off in what could be a league decider, IrishRugby.ie takes a look at the contribution of these two clubs to Irish rugby in recent years.

Limerick’s finest in the AIB League take on Cork’s finest at Coonagh on Saturday in what could be a league decider in Division One as Shannon host Cork Constitution.

While Con have just been knocked out of the AIB Cup, their away form in the league is impressive with five wins on the road. Shannon have only lost once in their last five league outings.

Con top the table by a point and are unbeaten in the AIB League this season. Shannon’s only loss was to a resurgent St. Mary’s College last month.

The honours between the two clubs are fairly even. Ninenteen AIB League clashes have resulted in ten wins for the men from Limerick, eight for the Corkmen and one draw.

Since the start of the AIB League these two clubs have played a prominent, almost dominant role. Des Daly has chronicled the records of both clubs in serving Munster and Irish rugby since the inception of the league.

The table below lists the number of players each club has contributed to both Munster and Ireland since the 1990/91 inaugural season of the league.

SEASON	SHANNON	CORK CONSTITUTION	AIB LEAGUE TITLES
1990 / 91	( a ) MUN : 4 ( b ) IRE : 1	( a ) MUN : 7 ( b ) IRE : 2	CORK CON ( 1 )
1991 / 92	( a ) MUN : 8 ( b ) IRE : 2	( a ) MUN : 8 ( b ) IRE : 6 *
1992 / 93	( a ) MUN : 7 ( b ) IRE : 1	( a ) MUN : 7 ( b ) IRE : 3
1993 / 94	( a ) MUN : 4 ( b ) IRE : 1	( a ) MUN : 9 ( b ) IRE : 4 *
1994 / 95	( a ) MUN : 6 ( b ) IRE : 3	( a ) MUN : 6 ( b ) IRE : 6 *	SHANNON ( 1 )
1995 / 96	( a ) MUN : 6 ( b ) IRE : 0	( a ) MUN : 6 ( b ) IRE : 3 *	SHANNON ( 2)
1996 / 97	( a ) MUN : 9 ( b ) IRE : 2	( a ) MUN : 5 ( b ) IRE : 1	SHANNON ( 3 )
1997 / 98	( a ) MUN : 11 ( b ) IRE : 2	( a ) MUN : 8 ( b ) IRE : 1	SHANNON ( 4 )
1998 / 99	( a ) MUN : 12 ( b ) IRE : 1	( a ) MUN : 13 ( b ) IRE : 1	CORK CON ( 2 )
1999 / 00	( a ) MUN : 10 ( b ) IRE : 6 *	( a ) MUN : 10 ( b ) IRE : 3
2000 / 01	( a ) MUN : 9 ( b ) IRE : 5 *	( a ) MUN : 8 ( b ) IRE : 4
2001 / 02	( a ) MUN : 10 ( b ) IRE : 5 *	( a ) MUN : 10 ( b ) IRE : 3	SHANNON ( 5 )
2002 / 03	( a ) MUN : 13 ( b ) IRE : 5	( a ) MUN : 8 ( b ) IRE : 7 *
2003 / 04	( a ) MUN : 16 ( b ) IRE : 5	( a ) MUN : 8 ( b ) IRE : 6 *	SHANNON ( 6 )
2004 / 05	( a ) MUN : 13 ( b ) IRE : 5 *	( a ) MUN : 10 ( b ) IRE : 5 *	SHANNON ( 7 )
2005 / 06	( a ) MUN : 13 ( b ) IRE : 3	( a ) MUN : 10 ( b ) IRE : 5 *	SHANNON ( 8 )
2006 / 07	( a ) MUN : 11 ( b ) IRE : 6 *	( a ) MUN : 13 ( b ) IRE : 5
2007 / 08	( a ) MUN : 11 ( b ) IRE : 4	( a ) MUN : 12 ( b ) IRE : 4

*When the total number of players from a club capped by Ireland during a season above is calculated, Constitution top the list on eight occasions and Shannon on five in the seasons since the AIB League began. 

The split between the two clubs in terms of backs and forwards who have been capped is interesting. Shannon have had twelve players capped for Ireland in the lifetime of the league and all bar one was a forward. Cork Con, on the other hand, have an even split of backs and forwards in their international contingent of eighteen players.

At provincial level the breakdown is slightly different with Shannon contributing 46 players to the Munster ranks, again heavily weighted with forwards, while Con have contributed 53 players over the same period but only slightly more backs than their Limerick rivals:

 

SHANNON	Caps	Backs	Forwards
IRELAND	12	1	11
MUNSTER	46	18	28

CORK CON	Caps	Backs	Forwards
IRELAND	18	9	9
MUNSTER	53	20	33

Finally we can list the players behind the stats since the inaugural season of the league. It is plain to see that these two clubs’ strength at domestic level has been part of the backbone of successive Ireland squads since the league began.

REPRESENTATIVE PLAYERS OUT OF SHANNON RFC SINCE 1990/91

(Ireland caps highlighted)

15. Pat Murray, Brian Roche, Mossie Lawlor

14. Billy O’Shea, John Lacey, Colm McMahon, John K.O’Neill

13. Andrew Thompson, Jason Jones-Hughes

12. Rhys Ellison, Alan McGrath, Brian Tuohy

11. Ian Dowling

10 Jim Galvin, Conor Bourke

9. Oliver Kiely, Peter Stringer, Derek Hegarty

1. Marcus Horan, Frank Roche

2. Nigel Daly, Paddy Kenny, Mark McDermott, James Blaney, Jerry Flannery, Sean Cronin

3. Pat McLoughlin, James Hickey, Noel Healy, Derek Costello, John Hayes, Tony Buckley

4. Mick Moylett (Connacht), Brian Rigney (Leinster), Mick Galwey, Donnacha Ryan

5. Paddy O’Grady, John Langford, Trevor Hogan

6. Kieran Maher, Eddie Halvey, Alan Quinlan, Stephen Keogh

8. Anthony Foley, Tom Hayes

7. Mick Fitzgibbon (Connacht), John O’Connor, Tim McGann, Niall Ronan

REPRESENTATIVE PLAYERS OUT OF CORK CONSTITUTION FC SINCE 1990/91

(Ireland caps highlighted)

15. Kenny Murphy, Charlie Haly, Denis Hurley

14. John Kelly

13. Brian Walsh, Cian Mahony, Conrad O’Sullivan

12. Charlie Murphy, Conor Mahony, Tom Gleeson

11. Anthony Horgan

10 Ralph Keyes, George O’Sullivan, Paul Burke, Ronan O’Gara, Jeremy Manning

9. Michael Bradley, David O’Mahony, Brian O’Meara, Frank Murphy

1. Philip Soden, Ian Murray, Darragh Hurley

2. Paul Derham, Conor Twomey, Frank Sheahan, John Fogarty, Denis Fogarty, Jamsie O’Riordan (Connacht)

3. Paul McCarthy, John O’Driscoll, Mike Ross, Timmy Ryan

4. Donal Lenihan, Ken Murphy, Donncha O’Callaghan, David Pusey, Shane O’Connor

5. Len Dinneen, Gabriel Fulcher, Donal Sheehan, Mick O’Driscoll, Tom Bowman

6. Pat O’Hara, David Corkery, Ed Thorpe, Ross Noonan, Brendan Cutriss, Billy Holland

8. Victor Donnelly, Ultan O’Callaghan, Jim Williams, Denis Leamy

7. Jerry Murray, Brendan O’Connor (Connacht)