St Michael's College prop Andrew Pollard went in to make a tackle he had made a thousand times. He set his sturdy body. He planted his foot into the ground and bent his torso towards the carrier.

It all went wrong from there.

"I got my foot caught. It twisted and did a complete 180� spin. It dislocated. I didn't feel any pain. The nerves cut out. My first reaction was that I wouldn't be able to play.

I knew that immediately, " he recalls.

The shock of the situation spread through the squad. It was something that will stay with coach Greg McWilliams long after this afternoon. Pollard was removed to the hospital where the gravity of the accident was given medical confirmation. His season was over before it had begun.

"It was tough, very tough.

The pain started to come through when my socks and boots were removed in the hospital. I had my operation within 24 hours and was kept in for three days, " says Pollard.

The Leinster Schools tighthead was one of those rare breed of young men that was all set for a third year as an SCT player. It is even more unusual for a front-row player to achieve such an honour.

The record books will now show him absent from 2007.

He will be with his friends in mind, if not body, when St Michael's cross the whitewash in an effort to win their first ever Leinster Schools Senior Cup at Donnybrook. It has been this way through the wins over St Gerard's School (34-8), Belvedere College (19-10) and Kilkenny College (22-0).

"I was included in everything for the first round against St Gerard's. I sat in the stand with the subs. I wasn't supposed to be there because I was told to keep my ankle up for two weeks, but I wasn't going to miss it."

He had to sit and suffer in silence as his friends dealt with the obstacles put before them. He struggled to keep his counsel when Belvedere battered their way to a 10-0 lead in the quarter-final before St Michael's racked up 19 unanswered points.

"I got a big shock from that.

It sickened me to sit in the stand and watch it. I knew what the lads were going though out there. I still wanted to be with them, " he admits. "A lot of the players have been playing together for years. The experience of that time together and losing the final last year gives us that extra drive to achieve, " he says.

Pollard has accepted his fate to be outside the magic circle of 22 players that will represent St Michael's on the greatest day in the schools rugby calendar. Still, the cruelty of his injury has not turned him against the sport he loves so much.

"It is part and parcel of rugby. I have been working hard to get back. I got out of my cast last Monday after six weeks. I have seven screws and a plate in my ankle. I have already started my rehab in the swimming pool and the gym. I want to get back as fit as I can be for next year".

"Having played in the final last year, I see what all the lads are going through this week. I know how hard it is for them. I went through it myself, but I would rather see them win it without me than lose it with me."

It is the attitude of the quintessential team player.

CLONGOWES WOOD COLLEGE ADAM LEWIS It is a day when the man becomes a boy again, for a reunion that harks back to more innocent days when schools rugby really was the most important part of their lives.

Now, a hemisphere from home, Clongowes Wood College coach Adam Lewis will be joined by three old school chums from Marist College in Canberra.

"Three of my closest friends from school, all of whom were either best man or groomsmen at my wedding recently, are attending the final on Sunday, " says Lewis. "Stephen Brennan is currently employed as Head Physiotherapist at NEC Harlequins in London. Andrew Williams is employed as a solicitor in London. Joe Roff, married to my sister Sarah, is currently studying Philosophy and Economics at Oxford University.

"Joe and Andrew both pursued successful professional rugby careers and were foundation members in 1996 of the ACT Brumbies Super 12 Franchise, " he says.

Yes, that Joe Roff. The World Cup-winning wing that played 86 times for the Wallabies and the man who held the all-time try-scoring record in Super-14 rugby until Auckland Blue Doug Howlett equalled his 51 tries last weekend. When Roff was cutting through the best defences in the world in 2000, Lewis was settling into life at a far-away boarding school in Clane, County Kildare.

"I have been privileged to work at Clongowes for seven years and to work with seven senior cup teams over this time, " he states. "I believe that schools rugby, when balanced between the various other commitments the boys undertake, and kept in perspective, can prove an invaluable part of an individual's education.

"Certainly, the lessons of sacrifice, industry, selflessness and humility are central to what we try to achieve when we set out at the beginning of every rugby season at Clongowes. Beyond that, from personal experience, it can also have the effect of forming friendships that prove life lasting."

Lewis is perfectly placed to compare the schools systems in Ireland and Australia.

"The commitment the boys make never ceases to amaze me and, from my own experience of schools rugby, many of the values that are learned through this process are instrumental in shaping character beyond the schooling years. This is particularly true in the case of a cup competition, where there is even greater risk involved given its cut-throat nature.

"We always played in a league format when we were at school in Canberra and despite the fact that this is the second Cup final I have been involved in, I am of the firm belief that the league format is far more suitable, in an educational context.

"I am often asked what is the difference between Australian schools rugby and Irish schools rugby. They are both of an extremely high standard obviously, with differing styles though.

"Irish schoolboys are more physical and would be more technically precise in my opinion, especially at contact and set-piece. Whereas Australian schoolboys - given the climate and the Australian way of throwing yourself into every sport from a very young age - seem to be, on the whole, better skilled and able to play a more free-flowing, expansive game more naturally and comfortably.

"The nature of the Cup has to take some responsibility for this, as it leads to a certain mindset. From a coaching perspective, it is a real challenge to get the boys to 'play to win', rather than 'playing not to lose'."

It was a challenge Joe Roff the player faced down through his career. It is now the turn of Adam Lewis the coach to make that the mindset of his players