The current dominance of Leinster clubs on the island shows no sign of ending, and in fact there are many arguments to show that the province's strength is improving. The Hills finally got their season started last weekend, beating North County and Railway Union, to nove back to 4th place. Instonians lost to CIYMS in the NCU Challenge Cup, dropping them down to 6th in the process.
It means that there are now four LCU clubs in the top 5, a postion that has never been matched at the end of a season. 2013 was the best year for Leinster in this regard, with four in the Top 6 (The Hills, YMCA, Merrion and Clontarf), whilst in 2009 and 2010, there were four in the Top 7.
It would seem that the NCU renaissance, that seemed to be under way in 2012, has ground to a halt. At the end of 2012, Leinster CC were the only LCU club in the top 6, with Waringstown, North Down, Instonians and Brigade comprising the Top 4.
That may be an over simplistic way of looking the the NCU clubs though. If the table were to stay the same until the end of the season, it would be the first time there have been four NCU clubs in the top 10 since 2002, when North Down, Waringstown Carrickfergus & Cliftonville were at the top.
There were plenty of big movers across the three main unions (Cork County, the sole Munster representative, stayed in 29th). Malahide beat Leinster and Phoenix, and jumped five places to 16th in the process. Ardmore's excellent win over Fox Lodge saw them move three places towards the top (now at 28th), whilst Holywood's win over Woodvale moved them up three to 42nd.
The biggest movers of the week were Balbriggan, who beat Phoenix, and moved up five places, over taking Rush in the Leinster pecking order in the process.
Irish Senior Cup and National Cup Quarter Finals take place on Sunday, and the ranking's predictions are below
Irish Senior Cup
Clontarf (5th) to beat St Johnston (32nd)
Pembroke (11th) to lose to Merrion (1st)
Coleraine (8th) to lose to North Down (7th)
Railway Union (20th) to lose to The Hills (4th)
National Cup
Carrickfergus (31st) to beat County Galway (no ranking)
Killyclooney (49th) to lose to Cliftonville (37th)
Woodvale (33rd) to beat Laois (no ranking)
Limerick Raiders (no ranking) vs Dundrum (LCU) (no ranking)