The pressure can bring him down.

In the sport of rugby, the greatest boost a young player can have is a hero in his home. It is not just Nigel Carr's height that Ben and Jamie look up to. The same goes for Trevor Ringland's son Michael.

Ards openside Carr and Ballymena wing Ringland were ever-present in Ireland's Triple Crown-winning team of 1985. Twenty-one years later, 12-year-olds Michael and Ben scurry about the green fields together at Sullivan Upper on the outskirts of Belfast.

"Ben is a fearless openside like his father, Nigel. He will put his head where others wouldn't put their boots.

Jamie, two years older, is an intelligent and brave footballer at number 10, " says the school's coach Mike Rodgers.

"Trevor's Michael is a strong tackler and, also like his father, he would run through you with the Maori sidestep."

These are young boys on the beginning of a journey that could well take them away from the game before they leave school, towards the dying light of club rugby or maybe, just maybe, onto a much bigger stage .

It seems as though former Lansdowne and Ireland prop Des Fitzgerald, a one-time international colleague of Ringland and Carr, will have to endure the same natural anxiety of a parent as his son Luke . . . a student in Blackrock . . . has already been painted in green, white and gold as the next big thing in Irish rugby.

The pressure is already on every time he crosses the whitewash for his school, province or country. However, having already walked the line of father's footsteps himself, admittedly in a different era, Des will doubtless have advice for Luke.

The old chestnut that always falls from the tree is the degree to which fathers should be involved in the growth and development of their children.

Crescent Comprehensive College coach Dudley Herbert has seen all types of parents . . . good and bad . . . come and go in over 25 years in schools rugby. There are those that chase dreams through the limbs of their young boys. It can be an uncomfortable sight.

"It depends on two factors . . . the parent and the child.

There can be conflict, " he says.

Dudley's eldest son, Rory, was at flanker in Crescent's 11-10 victory over Ard Scoil Ris in the Avonmore Munster Schools Senior Cup quarter-final at Thomond Park on Wednesday.

"I didn't put my boys into rugby. They could have played mini-rugby at Old Crescent. I left it to them and they only came to the game at 12 years of age, " says Herbert. Rory is certainly not doing it to please me. He is very self-critical. We don't sit down every night and analyse his game and I don't discuss the other players with him.

That would not be right.

"In fact, I would have a closer rugby relationship with the captain of the team, Ronan O'Sullivan, as it is sometimes his responsibility to get my point across to rest of the players".

Herbert does run the risk of being accused of favouritism. "Everyone is an expert on rugby. I have been in the game since 1980 and I have been involved with Munster and Ireland Schools. You could say I have been around the block. I trust people to respect my past record and my judgement, " he says.

"It can be tricky. But the first duty is to the students, to the process of their development. It is a way of carrying on the role of the teacher outside the classroom, " he says.

"It is not about the ability to identify the good player, but to see the good in a player. That brings on other qualities like the contribution an individual makes to the team, to think of the unit not just the self. In other words, to be a team player.

"The trouble is that young kids these days don't take instruction too easily. They are a lot more questioning of authority".

There is no stronger bond than between a father and son. The key is for a father to know when to take a step back and when to step in.

And for a son to know when to listen.