Munster Schools U18 Off to a Winning Start

The Munster Schools U18’s kick started their season with a comprehensive victory over their Gloucestershire U18 counterparts last Saturday at Crescent College, Dooradoyle.

In front of a large crowd Munster started the stronger and on 15 mins, following a free flowing backline move, Simon Zebo finished under the posts. Gloucestershire replied with a cheeky try from their no. 9 with a blind side break on 21 mins to bring the game to 5 – 5. Munster’s reply was immediate and from the restart they gained possession and centre Diarmuid McCarthy made a line break and offloaded to Zebo who fed first centre Brian Smith to score in the corner. Just before the end of the half the Gloucestershire 10 converted a penalty kick to leave the score at the break 10-8 to Munster.

The second half saw the Munster boys step up the pressure on their opponents, particularly in defense. Man of the match, open side flanker Johnny McCarthy provided Munster with a turnover 5 mins in and a swift backline move saw Simon Zebo go over in the corner for his brace. As the match progressed the fitness levels of the Munster players (a direct result of a 10 week conditioning/ development course run by the Munster Branch) began to really stretch the opposition and 3 tries followed from McCarthy (57mins), Ger Burke (68mins) and Darren Loftus (70mins). Michael Kelleher kicked a penalty to bring the final score to 33-8.

This was a good start to the season but Munster can rest assured that when they meet Leinster on the 3rd of October, that they will meet a far stiffer challenge.

Team
Duncan Casey, Gerard Horan, Brendan Cullinan, Brian Hayes, David O’Callaghan (Capt), Patrick Butler, John McCarthy, Ger Burke, David O’Driscoll, Craig O’Hanlon, Robert Guerin, Brian Smith, Diarmuid McCarthy, Simon Zebo, Gavin Nugent, Darren Loftus.
Subs. Jerry O’Brien, Finbarr Kearney, Daniel Lucey, Brian O’Hara, Eoin O’Toole, Declan Browne, Jack Flannery, Brian Downey Pat Tobin, Michael Kelleher.

Head Coach Dudley Herbert
Assistant Coach Peter Scott
Assisting Coach Tony Trehy
Doctor Larry Martin
Physio Paula Kearns
Kit Man, Joe Sheehan
Manager Declan English