Bad Day For Munster Rep Sides

It was a double defeat for Munster as both the U18 Schools and Under 19 sides lost their opening games in this season’s Inter Provincials.

Leinster U18 Schools 28, Munster U18 Schools 14

A deserving win at Donnybrook for Leinster against Munster in this opening game of the Newstalk Under 18 School Interprovincial Championship.

An early penalty by Matthew Gilsenan helped settle Leinster into the game, James Ryan extended their advantage with a try in the corner despite the best effort of Munster winger Willie Coffey.

Just before half-time, an audacious break by out-half Jimmy O’Brien setup a second try with winger Con Callan touching down to give his side a 13-0 interval lead.

Callan got in on the scoring act again in the second half and full back Jack Power was set up by O’Brien for his side’s fourth try. Gilsenan also added an earlier penalty that helped them open up a 28 point gap.

After a very disappointing hour of play, Munster finally came strong in the final ten minutes. Full-back Dave O’Mahony was pivotal in the mini-comeback with his initial break giving the pack the position to hammer away at the line, with Kelvin Browne eventually touching down.

O’Mahony then got over himself just before the final whistle and the conversions from Bill Johnston helped put a more respectable gloss on the score-line for the Munster boys.

Leinster: J Power (Blackrock College); C Callan (St Gerard’s), C Mulcahy (Clongowes Wood College), M Gilsenan (St Michael’s College), T Carroll (Cistercian College Roscrea); D Duggan (Newbridge College), D Duggan (St Michael’s College); E Byrne (Gonzago College), J Moloney (Clongowes Wood College), S O’Hare (Castleknock College); R Lawlor (Terenure College), J Ryan (St Michael’s College ) (c); C Cregan (do), W Connors (Clongowes Wood College), G Jones (St Andrew’s College).
Replacements: M Deegan (St Michael’s College) for Jones and H Keane (Blackrock College) for Moloney both 52, J Lappin (Clongowes Wood College) for Callan and M Mulhall (Kilkenny College) for Byrne both 55, M Melia (Terenure College) for Connors 57, Lavelle (Cistercian College Roscrea) for Duggan 61, T Foley (Cistercian College Roscrea) for O’Brien 68.

Munster: D O’Mahony (Ard Scoil Rís); A McMahon (Rockwell College), O Nash (Crescent Comprehensive), P Kiernan (PBC) (c), W Coffey (Rockwell College); B Johnston (do), B Riley (do); J Ring (PBC), S Fenton (Ard Scoil Rís), G Roche (CBC); C Barry (do), S O’Connor (Rockwell College); R Murphy (Castletroy College), T Anglim (Rockwell College), K Browne (Ard Scoil Rís).
Replacements: J Poland (PBC) for Murphy and S Fitzgerald (Crescent Comprehensive) for Riley both 45, E Mintern (CBC) for Barry and G O’Sullivan (Crescent Comprehensive) for McMahon both 54, P Meyer (St Munchin’s College) for Roche, S O’Hanlon (CBC) for Ring and R Hogan (Rockwell College) for Nash all 66

Referee: M Patton (USRFR)

Ulster U19s 13, Munster U19s 10

Munster lost for the second time at Ravenhill this weekend, when the Ulster Under 19 side defeated them with an impressive second half display.

A try by Steve McMahon and a conversion and a penalty by Thomas Quinlan gave the visitors a 10-5 half time lead. Rory Bell scored Ulster’s try.

A second try by Steve Weir and a penalty by Jack Mulligan earned the home side the spoils.

Munster: Stephen Fitzgerald (Ard Scoil Ris); Brion Moriarity (Ard Scoil Ris), Steven McMahon (Rockwell College) Capt., JJ O'Neill (Crescent College Comprehensive), Eathon Moloney (Garryowen); Tomas Quinlan (CBC), Jack Cullen (Academy); Liam O'Connor (CBC), Sean McNulty (Rockwell College), Mike O'Donnell (Crescent College Comprehensive); Jonathon Keane (Crescent College Comprehensive), Darragh Power (Waterpark); Jack Boland (Glenstal Abbey School), Luke O'Leary (Sundays Well), Ben Kilkenny (St Munchin’s).
Replacements: Denis O'Connell (Rockwell College), Jack O'Halloran (Ard Scoil Ris), Brendan Quinlan (Rockwell College), Dylan Lane (PBC), Cormac Blake (Crescent College Comprehensive), David O'Mahony (Rockwell College), Dylan Horgan (Highfield), Eoin O'Carroll (Tralee).