‘They Went Out Boys And Came Back Men’

Head Coach Mark Butler was full of praise for his Munster Under 18 Schools side, sponsored by Trend Micro, after they beat Leinster 19-10 in Cork last Saturday to claim the Interprovincial title for the first time in 11 years.

“It was a great win and we’re absolutely delighted to come out on the right side of the result,” said Butler.

“It was a very tough game, Leinster brought a lot of intensity, especially in the second half when they bounced back.

“It’s really a testament to our guys, we worked very hard last week in getting our heads in the right place and I think that going into the game our fellas certainly got the mental aspects of it right.”

It was also the first time since 1973 that Munster have won the four-province Schools Interpro Series after Connacht's absence between 1979 and 2006.

Munster enjoyed away wins over Connacht and Ulster to set up the decider with Leinster and made a superb start to race into a 19-0 half-time lead.

Crescent College winger Billy O'Hora scored the Munster try in the right corner after a period of pressure as captain Bill Johnston (below) added the touchline conversion and four penalties.

Leinster fought back to score two second-half tries but Munster held out for the win and the Championship.

Before the Interpro Series, the side travelled to France where they were beaten 22-11 by Aquitane and, despite the defeat, Butler believes the trip played a huge part in the side’s success.

“I suppose, in hindsight, looking back at the French trip it really did gel us as a group,” he said. “We played Aquitane who were the French national champions and they had a quality side out. We encountered your typical French environment in the south-west of France and it’s never an easy place to play. There was a bit of a hometown referee and a couple of decisions went against us and I think it really tested our character and I truly believe that we came back a lot stronger from that experience.”

Assistant Coach Ken O’Connell, who enjoyed a spell in France with Castres as a player, agreed that the side came of age in France.

“They went out boys and came back men in my estimation. The physicality over there stood to us, I think the boys really stood up to them. We gained a real hard edge over there and it was good for us. It really helped us mature as a team and we really bonded over there.”

The campaign started with a 24-3 win over Connacht at the Sportground with tries in the final ten minutes from Alex McHenry and Calvin Nash sealing the win.

“We started slowly enough to be honest,” said O’Connell. ”But I think we got into our stride in the second half. It took a while to break them down but in the end we did and it was great credit to the lads scoring two late tries.

"The scoreboard was a bit flattering but we deserved to win, no doubt. Our fitness was definitely a key factor to our success this year. In all three games we finished strongly,” O’Connell added.

Next up was the formidable challenge posed by Ulster in Belfast but they were brushed aside on a 22-7 score line in what O’Connell believes was the side’s best performance.

“Ravenhill is such a fortress of Ulster Rugby and in my experience I lost a lot more than I won up there truth be known,” said the former Irish international.

“It’s great to be driving back down the motorway after winning in Ravenhill because not many Munster teams win up there.

“That was our best performance and John Foley really stood out for me in that match, he was outstanding.”

Then came last week’s decider against Leinster in CBC.

“It was a great occasion,” said O’Connell. “The whole day was fantastic and we tore into them from the start and the game was nearly over by half-time.

“It was great that Christians hosted us. The pitch was incredible, the surface up there is probably the best surface I have ever seen.

“Like all Irish teams, I can’t understand why we backed off when we had enough scores on the board. They came back well but we hung in there and the work had been done in the first half,” the Assistant Coach added.

Butler has led the side to the Interpro crown in his second season as Head Coach after assisting in previous years and he is well aware of the amount of effort and talent it takes to win the Series.

“Every year an unbelievable amount of work goes into it,” said Butler. “This group just seemed to have that X-factor from the start. When we started to get a couple of wins and score a lot of tries in our pre-Interprovincial games you could just see the belief growing.

“In other years, Munster teams haven’t been as lucky but, as I said, we’re just very happy coming out of the campaign having achieved our goal,” he added.