Full credit to schools like St Peters and St Edmunds for the big strides made in their rugby programmes. This has certainly led to a lift in the standard of AIC rugby which is a very good thing. The other notable feature however, has been the very significant drop in the standard and performance of Ashgrove 1st XVs. It is only a few years ago when they went 5 or 6 seasons without a loss. During this period those teams were very disciplined and composed and often just pressured excellent teams from other schools into errors and always seemed to be able to come away with the wins. For the past few seasons Ashgrove teams now often get very rattled and fall apart when the pressure is on. It does not seem to be so much about talent but about "presence" or "composure". I would be interested to hear what others think?
Saecom there was a fair bit of discussion on lasts years AIC rugby thread about ahsgrove "demise" from people close to the ash system you can still find that thread.
IMO I still have not seen a ASH 1st 15 team go down or in fact be place under any sustain pressure, so I have not witness them getting rattled.
You can only learn how to deal with pressure via experiencing it in games, trying to recreate it at training doesn't cut it. I guess that Ash might be a victim of their own success over the years and in all age groups.
Having a comp which is dominated by one team for soooooo long is obviously no good for anyone including the dominating team.
Therefore I, as you think its great to see the improvements that teams like Padua last year, eddies this year/last year, and now it seem peters.
I think that the standards lifting in the AIC comp will only benefit all teams and I look forward to some competitive rugby in the future.