Barnhall U-18s They would take most school teams

[bluerugbyrules]

On form Barnhall should win the final. They are unbeaten this season. They have a huge pack and decent backs who can work great in counter attack. I have seen them play once and have heard several reports from their club members. Unless Wicklow cop on to stand off the massive Barnhall pack at the line out so as a "maul" cannot form (no oppsoition players bound) then Barnhall will maul them up the park and win - no question. Their pack is just much stronger than Wicklow's.

[bluerugbyrules]

On form, Barnhall should win this. I've seen them once and they do have a massive pack. I've spoken to their club members and the team seems confident and has no injuries. However the Wicklow team are a cute outfit. If they have the cop on to stand off the Barnhall line-out, it would be the only way to stop their maul. I believe that no team can compete with Barnhall (including the Gick) at their own line out and they often maul it 20 or 30m. Why teams just don't stand off is beond me. (No opposition bound = no maul, therefore they cannot move or it is obstruction). Still, we'll see how Wicklow respond. If Earls is kicking position well they'll have some hope. Loose ball and the Barnhall back three will counter at any chance.

[bluerugbyrules]

On form Barnhall should win this.

[Dublinner]

I think Barnhall should win . 90% of thie Wicklow side were U16 last year so on paper they shouldnt have a chance against a massive (And bearded) Barnhall tpack. Wicklow are a class side who won every competition they played in at U16's last year. Not sure if any other side has achieved this. They dont have the sheer size and bulk of Barnhall and this is what will be their undoing. Next year they will go all the way. I think next years Wicklow side would do the current Barnhall side.
One thing they wont lack is balls! Barnhall to win but expect a very hard fought game from a gustsy Wicklow outfit.

[Jibbly]

Another side has achieved an undefeated season at U-16's and that was the current Barnhall team the year before Wicklow did it! It's going to be a very close match, like it always is between these two sides. Donnybrook 9th of March if anybody is interested!

[silly punt]

Wicklow 9 Barnhall 3, they were not that invincible after all.....

[jaybyrne]

z

[Dublinner]

This was an unbelieveable game. I have never seen anything like it. Barnhall were far superior in terms of size and strength. If you lined the two packs up beside each other it looked like boys versus men. Barnhall were all over Wicklow for the first 15 mins. Wicklow tackled like demons and hung in there.
Wicklow won 2 lineouts the entire game!!! They had no posession except when they forced a turn over.
Their defence was unbelievable. They didnt miss a tackle all day. This was a performance with so much balls, guts, heart. It had to be seen to be believed. Barnhall could only maul it up the pitch. Any time they moved the ball wide they were nailed by Wicklow tackles.
Barnhall spurned several kicks at goal in the belief that their maul would see them through. In the end Wicklow were too good for them. This was the sort of game that makes sport so incredible. It was David and Goliath and and Goliath got his arse kicked because he underestimated the opposition.
Wicklow are a year younger and a year less developed than Barnhall. They have only 3 squad members who will be overage next year. They were missing 2 guys thru injury who were Irish squad certainties.

[vagga]

Barnhall should play CBC Monkstown for the 'talked up on the internet' trophy!

[Jibbly]

I've never seen a team dominate possession so much and not win. Barnhall just could'nt score and that is testament to this Wicklow side. Unbelievable defence and balls got them through this game. Hopefully they fly the flag for Leinster clubs and win the All Ireland series now. I think both sides would do well against schools teams which is brilliant for club rugby and with players like that on display yesterday it can only be good for Leinster rugby too.

[jaybyrne]

anyone know who's through from munster to the all irelands
????

ballynahinch are through in ulster and corinthians from connacht

[bluerugbyrules]

Result of the leinster Premier Final:
Niall Earls 9 - Poor decision makers 3.

Great tackling from the underdogs who wanted it more. Poor poor decisions from a team who thought they didn't need to take points with penalties in front of the posts.

Wicklow stopped the Barnhall maul in the second half and Barnhall had no plan B.

Niall Earls. man of the match by far.

[Durkah Durkah]

This is another case where "in the bag" or similar comments is the kiss of death for any team. Didn't care who won this until Barnhall were built up to an "Everest like" peak, then the natural go for the underdog feelings kicked in. Brilliant for Wicklow.
You'd have thought we all would have learnt from the World Cup. When the hype is high there is only one direction the team is going to go...

[Mustapha]

And, re:the thread of the title, they wouldn't. They would take SOME schools' teams, but nothing above top half section B. Naas CBS is basically Naas RFC, and would be very close to Wicklow and Barnhall's level.

It's great to see the level improving, but the worst thing is seeing these kids, who believe they're as good as schools players, playing u20s and becoming majorly disillusioned. I'm not saying they're not as talented, far from it, but they're not at the same stage of development as those coming out of the top tier schools system. The balance is being redressed, but it's not quite there yet.

[oh no where do we go!]

So True,

I got the truth about the gick game - only 7 of their starting sct team played the full game and it was viewed as nothing more than a useful training match

If belvo or CBC got a hold of Barnhall they would put 40+ points on them.

[Mustapha]

In comparison to Conleths, Stanford, etc, yeah, Barnhall would do well - very well. But those schools would get thumped by any of the bigger boys.

And as for CBC, maybe this year, but I remeber when they were in the same bracket as wesley and high school and the like...

[oh no where do we go!]

Wesley and High School have both won the cup once

[Mustapha]

FINE.

Gonzaga then.

[bunty85]

In comparison to Conleths, Stanford, etc, yeah, Barnhall would do well - very well. But those schools would get thumped by any of the bigger boys.

And as for CBC, maybe this year, but I remeber when they were in the same bracket as wesley and high school and the like...

Ah come on we were never that bad In fairness we've regularly enough got to the q finals, was that bit of extra coaching that we never had held us back. Wesley had a decent team a few years ago but have definately fallen recently. High School have never been up to much...they're both hockey schools to be fair.

I reckon Barnhall are far better than Sandford and the likes. From all accounts they'd compete fairly well with Vinny Murray teams.

[MichaelD]

I'm a huge supporter of the youths game and regularly attend big games such as the game in Donnybrook recently. If this game and this game alone showed me anything about where youths rugby is in relation to schools rugby in Leinster, its that the youths side is certainly catching up where the front 8 are concerned, but still have a fair bit to go in relation to the class thats required from 9-15. The Barnhall pack performed extremely well in this game, I couldn't begin to tell you how much they dominated. It was out wide that they really lacked that touch of class to turn possession into points. Bad decision making was also a huge factor and I can't understand why they didn't take their opportunities for penalties when they got them. I don't think Wicklow saw enough of the ball to challenge big teams, and Barnhall didn't have the finesse to challenge either. However, I do believe that if you gave that Barnhall side a backline capable of scoring like the top schools sides have had over the years, the pack most certainly would not struggle in top tier competition and the side would be competitive. This sector of Leinster rugby is developing, it just isn't there yet.