Club Notes: Week Ending 28.02.16

24th February 2016 By Munster Rugby

This week’s club notes come from Bantry Bay, Newcastle West, Thurles and Waterford City RFC.

Click here for Newcastle West club notes

Click here for Waterford City club notes

Bantry Bay RFC

Courtesy of:- Damien Hicks, Bantry Bay RFC

Match report from Bantry Bay Ladies v Youghal.

Our Senior ladies played their 3^rdhome game of the season and with a 100% home win record there was a lot to play for. We lost to Youghal 31-10 on our trip to their home grounds about 2 months ago. So we wanted to see how far we have come since.

We were starting with a full bench which in itself was fantastic considering this is our first season playing. BBRFC took control from the start and with quickness of hands the backs spread the ball wide and Christine saw a gap and was gone. Rachel C converted and with an early lead BBRFC settled fast and soon piled on the pressure. Our pack were playing only their 2^nd game of contested scrums there was a lot of pressure on them but they rose to the occasion. Again with a quick ball out of the ruck Rachel backed herself and crossed the whitewash. It was all BBRFC for the next 10 minutes and our backs really looked for space with first Yvonne crossing followed quickly by Rachel crossing again. BBRFC now led 24-0.

Lots of credit to Rachels accurate kicking for the conversions . BBRFC were well and truly in the driving seat and just on HT Christine crossed again and Rachel converted. Not once did Youghal drop the heads and even though they had a mammoth deficit to overcome they kept fighting. BBRFC got into their stride quickest and Aileen was gone after a lot of ground was won by the forwards. Again Rachel converted. Again the ball came out wide to Christine and she was gone, crossing the try line and again converted by Rachel. The forwards were not letting the backs get all the scores and from a quick penalty Moz crossed the whitewash and Rachel converted. Brid got in on the action and took the ball on and scored her first competitive try.

Youghal came back and with some great teamwork crossed to bring the score to 57-7. Yvonne went on one more run with Christine on her shoulder. Yvonne crossed and that brought a close to the game 62-7. We would like to thank Youghal for travelling. Even though there are only a few names mentioned it was a team effort and brought the boost in spirits the girls needed. They keep their 100% unbeaten record at home. Congratulations to Yvonne and Liana making their debut for the Senior ladies today. It is great to see new members coming every week and we are always looking for more members. Next up is Richmond Rabbits on Sunday 28^th away.

Newcastle West RFC

Courtesy of:- Martin O’Sullivan, Club PRO

Junior Plate

Newcastle West RFC – 11 Presentation RFC – 5
A much needed win was picked up on Sunday last in the Munster Junior Plate. A mix match team put in a good performance to grind out the win.

Scorers – Bryan McAuliffe Try. Sean Herlihy and Tommy Kelliher 1 Pen each.

Fixture:

Sunday Feb 28^th Waterpak RFC v Newcastle West RFC in Waterpark @ 2.30

Mini fixtures for next weekend
All mini teams from u6 to u12 incl training in Kilelline from 10:30am to 11:30 am.

Date	Age	Host	Teams
28-Feb-2016	U9	Shannon	Newcastle West	Bruff-Bulls	Bruff-Bears	St. Mary’s	Old Crescent

Youth fixtures for next weekend

Date	Time	Fixture	Team 1	V	Team 2	Pitch
27-Feb-2016	12:00	U20 DIV 2	Kanturk	V	Newcastle West/Estuary	Kanturk
28-Feb-2016	12:00	U18 BOI QTR Final	Newcastle West/Estuary	V	Waterpark	Cullinagh
28-Feb-2016	14:00	U16 BOI QTR Final	Newcastle West/Estuary	V	Waterpark	Cullinagh
28-Feb-2016	11:30	U13 Conference	St Mary’s	V	Newcastle West/Estuary	St Mary’s
28-Feb-2016	11:30	U15 LEAGUE	Newcastle West/Estuary	V	Richmond/Presentation	Killeline

Lotto

Results from Friday Feb 19^th Lotto Draw

Numbers Drawn 2, 8, 17 & 27 – NO WINNER

Lucky Dip Winners
Seamus Harrold, c/o Eoin Cahill
Niamh Kelly, c/ Brendan Burke
Stephen Hurley, Castlemahon
Mary McCarthy, Athea
Ciara & Lauren Sweeney, c/o F McEnery
Michael Collins, Strand Bar
Paul Dore, Camas, NCW
Promotors Prize – Liam O’Connor

Next week’s draw will be in Tommy K’s Bar on Friday 26^th Feb The jackpot stands at €15,000

Thurles RFC

Courtesy of:- Brian Scanlon, Club PRO

Thurles RFC vs. Young Munster RFC – Munster Junior Cup

Thurles RFC 17 – 23 Young Munster

Thurles welcomed Young Munster to Loughtagalla on Sunday last for what was a highly anticipated Munster Junior Cup clash. The home side were looking to extend their unbeaten run to 12 games on the trot but were not going to find it easy against a side steeped with players who have lined out in the AIL this season.

The Limerick side kicked the game off on what was a wet and windy day that you felt would play havoc with keeping the ball in hand. In the opening quarter, it was Thurles trying to play all the rugby but found themselves on the tail end of extremely harsh refereeing decisions at ruck and scrum time in spite of the travelling team being the root of problem.

Young Munster made full use of their advantages, and through the power of their pack, forced their way over the Thurles line to open the scoring with their Out-Half adding the extras for the full complement after the 10 minute mark, 0-7. Thurles continued to battle on from the kick-off but a series of inconsistent penalty decisions especially against the Thurles front row who seemed to be well on top of their opponents, saw Young Munster bring play within the Thurles 22 again.

Thurles were becoming wise to the Limerick sides tactics and were excellent in defence when called upon but just as it seemed that the home side had turned the ball over through the hard work of Shane Moloney coming through the middle of the ruck and driving the opposition off the ball, there was a loud blast of the whistle and with that a yellow card flashed to the Thurles centre, much to the bemusement of the large crowd in attendance.

Following more great defensive play from this Thurles side, Young Munster eventually made use of their numerical advantage, crashing in under the posts to bring the score to 0-14 to this senior second’s side. Despite this setback, Thurles didn’t let the heads drop, they continued to bring the fight to the opposition, with Adrian Bourke on the wing and pack members Colm Skehan and Phil Kelly making great yards into the black & amber territory.

Young Munster were awarded a scrum following a knock on from a Thurles player, but it was from here that the home side started to lay their marker down, the front row of McCormack, Dave Kelly & Skehan did what they have done to sides all season and drove their opposite numbers off the ball and won the scrum against the head, Joey Kelly at Number 8 picked from the back of the back and ploughed through the Young Munster Out-half as he made his into the red zone.

The pack came rushing around the corner to the aid of Kelly and after a number of phases in tight, the backs showed great hands with Eoghan O’Dwyer battling his way over in the corner, John Lillis slotted the conversion excellently from the corner for the maximum, 7-14. Thurles came close to reigning in the score just before half time but were unlucky, when contact was made the bar slid out of a Thurles players grasp like a bar of soap when about to set up another attack, the ball landed into a grateful Young Munster players hands who booted the ball to touch to bring an end to a fiery half of play.

The second half kicked with a similar pattern to the first, Thurles looking to play all the rugby but the lopsided penalty count continued to favour the men in black and amber, in the proceeding 20 minutes, they added three kickable penalties through the boot of the Out-half to extend their lead to 7-23.

At this stage of the game and with tempers boiling over on both sides on a number of occasions it would have been very easy for Thurles to drop the heads and lose focus, but huge credit must go to this team who kept fighting and kept trying to play the game that has brought them so much success so far this season. After a long period of dominance and pressure in the opposition 22, Thurles were awarded a scrum, with great support from the back 5, the Thurles front continued to do a number of their opposite numbers to set a platform for Joey Kelly and Nicky Irwin to send Adrian Bourke in over the corner, the difficult conversion was missed but Thurles were back in with a shout with 10 minutes left to play, 12-23.

Thurles received the ball back from the kick off with Skehan powering his way back up the field towards the Clubhouse end, the ball reached Joey Kelly who in turn popped to Aidan Dwyer who spotted a gap and raced down the field before placing a grubber kick in behind the cover, which forced the Full back to kick it out 2 metres from the line or risk picking and been driving back over the try line by the oncoming Thurles chasers.

Thurles secured their own lineout and continued to put pressure on the Young Munster defence, making their way closer the posts, as Dave Kelly, Paddy Phelan and Larry O’Gorman made good headway in attack. Thurles were awarded a scrum inside the 22 and as play developed, Nicky Irwin was dangerously dump tackled much to the anger of his team mates and large home support, the Referee initially flashed a deserved red card to the offending player but shockingly downgraded the card to yellow before the player had left the field.

Thurles once again took this decision on the chin and concentrated on the job in hand and were awarded for their patience again as Eoghan O’Dwyer found his way over for his second try of the game but unfortunately for Thurles as the conversion was taken by wind, the clock had run down and this was to be the final play of the game.

Thurles can take great heart from this display and be very proud of their efforts, they produced a brand of rugby that was a pleasure to witness on a wet and windy day with a lot of elements against them throughout.

This result now ends Thurles progress in the Junior Cup as they now turn their attention back to the League, as we welcome Ballincollig to Loughtagalla next Sunday 28^th February in what is one of our last four League games as the promotion push continues.

The players and management would like to extend its thanks to all those who turned up to support the team on Sunday, it was great to see so many past players adding to the occasion and giving great encouragement when events were going against us on the field, we hope to see everyone again this Sunday, the support as always is greatly appreciated.

Thurles Scorers: Eoghan O’Dwyer (2 Tries), Adrian Bourke (1 Try), John Lillis (1 Conversion).
Thurles Squad vs Young Munster: 1. Ger McCormack 2. Dave Kelly 3. Colm Skehan 4. Phil Kelly 5. Luke Kelly 6. Ciaran Ryan 7. Paddy Phelan 8. Joey Kelly 9. Nicky Irwin 10. John Lillis 11. Peter Coman 12. Shane Moloney 13. Aidan Dwyer 14. Adrian Bourke 15. Eoghan O’Dwyer 16. Shane Nugent 17. Rory O’Dwyer 18. Dwayne Stanley 19. Larry O’Gorman 20. Ross Crystal.

Senior Women

Thurles Womens RFC had a narrow 5-0 victory over visitors St. Senans on Sunday in Thurles. Senans were on the attack early in the game and their kicking and speed looked threatening but Thurles were very strong in defence and the visitors failed to make any real ground. Conditions were very tough under foot and it was not the usual nice passing game Thurles like. The first attack form Thurles was an impressive one. A Thurles lineout was won confidently by joanneHarrison and Thurles set up their attacking maul which was massively impressive all day.

However just as Thurles made ground, Senans managed to turn over position and kick the ball down field with the wind in the first half and this ment Thurles at to re start their attack from well inside their own half. Thurles were the better side in the ensuing minutes of the game with both the forwards and backs impressive. Aisling O’ Hagan with wonderful support play from Aisling Byrne were particularly impressive for the backs. Aisling picked up a knock in one of the first attacks but managed to play on. Forwards Joanne Harrison and Maria Whelan were both solid in attack. In the dying moments of the first half Thurles got some great go forward ball from their line out which was excellent all day. a superb run from kirstyharris and wonderful support play from the forwards gave Thurles a real opportunity to put points on the board. However the wet heavy ground and tough conditions allowed senans to turn over the ball just metres away from the try line. Thurles denied any points at half time even though they had a lot of possession. 0-0 at half time.

The second half started well for the home side. They carried strong and made ground gradually around the fringes. However the wet slippy ball really didn’t suit the Thurles women and handling errors along with senans rock solid defence ment Thurles found it hard to make serious ground. Thurles dug deep and players such as Linda Ryan, Jean Ryan and Angie Kelly showed composure carrying strong and putting in great tackles. Time seemed to be slipping by but some strong characters stepped up most notably Maria Woodlock, Ruth Purcell and Megan Callanan and put senanson the back foot. A little chip kick from Gemma Dunican on the wing put pressure on senans in the last 10 minutes. The line out was won by joanne Harrison and Thurles started off mauling inside the senans 22. Maria Whelan broke off the back of the maul and touched down. 5-0 to the home side.

Thurles defended well in the closing minutes of the game and at full time a well deserved 5-0 victory over strong opponents St. Senans. The women go on to play Tralee in the league decider. They play Clonmel next week in the plate final.

U14 Boys

Thurles U14s played an unbeaten Clonmel side , Thurles were under the pump in the first ten minutes when Clonmel scored a converted try and penalty . Thurles put huge pressure on Clonmel in there twenty two area but couldn’t get in . The second half started with Thurles yet again applying all the pressure on Clonmel and getting a converted try , Clonmel rallied with a quick try of there own . Thurles set the tone again by winning scrums against the head and scored from the huge pressure put on Clonmel . The game ended Clonmel 15 Thurles 14 . Hard luck boys, but keep up the good work .

Lotto 15 Feb 2016

12. 14, 19: 25 last night 15 Feb 16,
lotto numbers , no winner 3 lucky dip winners. We wish to thank all involved in our club lotto

Waterford City RFC

Courtesy of:- Deirdre Barry, Club PRO

Skibereen 37 v Waterford City RFC 0

MOM: Simon O’Hara

10 months ago City faced the same opposition in Kilbarry and ended up with a well deserved 14-5 win in favorable conditions. With this result in the locker, and with City being unbeaten so far in 2016, it was with confidence we made the long journey to Skibereen. However, as the day unfolded this we sot be one of cities darkest days under the stewardship of head coach Peter Jones.

The result, of which City can have no complaints, will test the resolve of this city squad. As coaches said in the post match debrief, an avalanche begins with a snowflake, positively or negatively and unfortunately for us, a number of small things which are essential to optimize the physical and psychological state of players were not adhered to on Sunday.

Playing with a gale force wind in the first half, City started brightly and utilised the conditions to ensure we spent the first 15 minutes deep in Skibereen territory. However, with City’s lineout uncharacteristically misfiring, we didn’t capitalize on one of our most potent weapons and made mistakes giving Skibereen the ball. To Skibbereen’s credit, they played the conditions superbly in the first half, running the ball quickly and working quick ball around the fringes with some very safe but effective rugby which City did not react to. This forced city into conceding penalties at ruck time, and with Skibereen possessing a high quality place kicker, City ended the first half 6-0 behind on the scoreboard in a half where neither side looked like scoring a try.

The second half required city to blitz more in defence and begin to put some phases together to work our way into positions to exploit overlaps. Unfortunately, due to handling errors and problems at scrum time, these opportunities never materialised. Skibereen to their credit scored tries from well worked mauls and pick and goes for inside the 22. City uncharacteristically tired in the last fifteen minutes and conceded four tries and with the Skibereen kicker giving a master class in how to place kick in poor conditions, this signaled a heavy defeat on the scoreboard.

However, as a humorous sketch in the lion king once said ‘the past can hurt, but you can either run from it, or learn from it’. This is something City need to address for next weeks league fixture against Dungarvan as players will need to train like demons to ensure we put some pride back in the jersey.

Karl Reade, Dave O’Connor Andrew Condron, Ben Duggan, Alex Fitzmaurice, Cian Foskin, Tom Bowe, Simon O’Hara, Darren Walsh, Aaron Foskin, Stephen Walsh, Connor Power, Aidan Power, James Halligan, Michael Hayes, Brian Walsh, Liam Hayes, Connor White, Mark Hayes

WCRFC vs. Shandon – George O’Connell Cup

For the second week in succession, City’s J3 side where left with no game as Shandon followed dunmanways example from last week and conceded the fixture due to being unable to field a team. This is extremely frustrating for the 20 players who sacrificed their Saturday evenings in addition to training hard on Tuesday and Thursday. Luckily next week we are away to Iveragh so can count on finally playing a match.
As always, a huge thank you to our sponsors, Done Deal and the Kingfisher club.

Mini’s Rugby – Blitz

Waterford City minis took part in a blitz in Ballinakill today where the opposing teams were the hosts Waterpark RFC and along with Carrick. After some miserable weather this winter, the sunshine and favourable pitch conditions were a welcome change.
We fielded teams in all the age groups and here are some of the highlights that were in at time of going to press!

The U8s played well today passing the ball like Johnny Sexton. Good fun had by all and a really good effort. Wins in both games.

U 10s had another good morning of rugby played 3 matches in good conditions getting stronger every week improving their decision making abilities and understanding of the game by being able to move the ball passing and running support lines well done to all
The U11s had a cracking game against Carrick. In the first half the Tipp men were strong but in the second half City made some great tackles and got the ball out wide and scored.
Finally a word of thanks to our hosts for a well-organised blitz and for the providing plenty of refreshments afterwards. Thanks also to Carrick for their sporting play.

Finally, news just in: we have been invited to an U7s,8s and 9s blitz in Kilkenny RFC on the afternoon of Sat. April 30th. Looking forward to it!