Connacht rugby received another great boost when one of the most promising young sides to emerge from the province defeated Munster in the U-18 Schools Inter-pro Championship.
The fact that the victory was notched in Munster’s fortress of Thomond Park only added to the significance of the achievement by Tony Dolan’s side.
This is the side which completed Connacht’s first ever grand slam against the other three provinces in the Youths Championship and they have taken that form into the schools competition.
Connacht adapted better to the difficult wet conditions in Limerick on Tuesday, even though they had to fight back from an early try from Munster centre Ian Cross.
But Connacht were rewarded for some fine play and took the lead by the interval as good possession presented a couple of penalty opportunities to Sean Joyce and the Clifden fly-half found the range.
Connacht continued to dominate in the second-half and extended their lead after 41 minutes when captain John O’Brien from Garbally broke through for a superb try after taking a pass from Joyce.
But Munster did not give up easily and the margin was reduced to three points when Andrew Burke landed a penalty for the home side.
However, Connacht were not to be denied and with their pack continuing to dictate matters, Connacht deservedly held on for a superb victory.
Munster: R. O’Mahony (Castletroy); D. McCarthy (Castletroy), M. Kelleher (St Munchins), I. Cross (Crescent), P. Gleeson (Ard Scoil Ris); A. Burke (Crescent), C. Nolan (CBC); D. Kavanagh (St Munchins), P. Kelleher (PBC), J. Bransfield (CBC), K. O’Dwyer (CBC), I. Duffy (Rockwell), B. O’Callaghan (CBC), B. O’Hara (PBC), J. Ryan (Rockwell).
Replacements: D. Toomey (Ard Scoil Ris) for Kavanagh and P. O’Mahony (PBC) for Duffy 46 mins; B. Sheehan (Ard Scoil Ris) and M. Doyle (Crescent) for O’Callaghan and Cross, 50 mins.
Connacht: L. Keegan (Rice Westport); K. Russell (Col Iognaid Galway), J. O’Brien (Garbally), C. Moyles (Col Iognaid), B. Henshaw (Marist Athlone); S. Joyce (Clifden SC); A. Kennedy (Marist); J. East (Sligo GS), J. Barrett (Calascantius Oranmore), C. Higgins (Gallen SC Ferbane), M. Seeley (Scoil Muire & Padraig Swinford), F. Moyles (Col Iognaid), L. Carpenter (Rice College), D. Murphy (Col Iognaid), D. Ott (Yates Colleges Galway).
Replacements: J. Robinson (Gort CS) for East, S. Conneely (St Josephs) for Ott, both 51 mins.
Referee: K. Imbush (IRFU).
Only a man who knows what it is like to be defeated can reach down to the bottom of his soul and come up with the extra ounce of power it takes to win when the match is even.Muhammad Ali
Connacht rugby received another great boost when one of the most promising young sides to emerge from the province defeated Munster in the U-18 Schools Inter-pro Championship.
The fact that the victory was notched in Munster’s fortress of Thomond Park only added to the significance of the achievement by Tony Dolan’s side.
This is the side which completed Connacht’s first ever grand slam against the other three provinces in the Youths Championship and they have taken that form into the schools competition.
Connacht adapted better to the difficult wet conditions in Limerick on Tuesday, even though they had to fight back from an early try from Munster centre Ian Cross.
But Connacht were rewarded for some fine play and took the lead by the interval as good possession presented a couple of penalty opportunities to Sean Joyce and the Clifden fly-half found the range.
Connacht continued to dominate in the second-half and extended their lead after 41 minutes when captain John O’Brien from Garbally broke through for a superb try after taking a pass from Joyce.
But Munster did not give up easily and the margin was reduced to three points when Andrew Burke landed a penalty for the home side.
However, Connacht were not to be denied and with their pack continuing to dictate matters, Connacht deservedly held on for a superb victory.
Munster: R. O’Mahony (Castletroy); D. McCarthy (Castletroy), M. Kelleher (St Munchins), I. Cross (Crescent), P. Gleeson (Ard Scoil Ris); A. Burke (Crescent), C. Nolan (CBC); D. Kavanagh (St Munchins), P. Kelleher (PBC), J. Bransfield (CBC), K. O’Dwyer (CBC), I. Duffy (Rockwell), B. O’Callaghan (CBC), B. O’Hara (PBC), J. Ryan (Rockwell).
Replacements: D. Toomey (Ard Scoil Ris) for Kavanagh and P. O’Mahony (PBC) for Duffy 46 mins; B. Sheehan (Ard Scoil Ris) and M. Doyle (Crescent) for O’Callaghan and Cross, 50 mins.
Connacht: L. Keegan (Rice Westport); K. Russell (Col Iognaid Galway), J. O’Brien (Garbally), C. Moyles (Col Iognaid), B. Henshaw (Marist Athlone); S. Joyce (Clifden SC); A. Kennedy (Marist); J. East (Sligo GS), J. Barrett (Calascantius Oranmore), C. Higgins (Gallen SC Ferbane), M. Seeley (Scoil Muire & Padraig Swinford), F. Moyles (Col Iognaid), L. Carpenter (Rice College), D. Murphy (Col Iognaid), D. Ott (Yates Colleges Galway).
Replacements: J. Robinson (Gort CS) for East, S. Conneely (St Josephs) for Ott, both 51 mins.
Referee: K. Imbush (IRFU).
Fair play to them!
Disco tells it as it is:
“I’ve always been a Leinster player. My dad [Tony] played for Leinster, my uncle [Denis] played for Leinster, my cousin [Gavin] played for Leinster. I’m a Leinster guy. I don’t make any apologies for it. That’s my team."
Playing with a few lads who have come through the Connacht's schools system and i have to say that they are better players than a lot of the lads who have played for Leinster
Pissing rain in thomond!! Munster played absolutely sh!t!! Got mauled off the pitch all match and had nothing in the backline!!! Con 9 and 10 played v good in the conditions!! Munster 10, greedy, cr@p passer, good kicker but overall played sh!t!!! Con deserved 2 win!!!!
