Under 18 Clubs Fall At Final Hurdle

The Munster Under 18 Clubs, sponsored by Trend Micro, missed out on the Interprovincial title after a 25-6 loss to Leinster at Waterpark on Saturday afternoon.

Skibbereen’s Liam Coombes kicked Munster’s two penalties but excellent Leinster defence kept their line intact with tries from Darragh Sweeney, Jack Regan and Conor Nash securing the win.

Both teams went into this Interprovincial decider after impressive wins over Ulster and Connacht and it was Leinster who started stronger.

The visitors took the lead on six minutes when Munster were pinged for going off their feet at the breakdown and Ciaran Frawley landed the penalty to make it 3-0.

Munster out-half Liam Coombes moved Munster level just three minutes later with a very well-struck penalty from the left.

It was an action-packed opening quarter with both sides playing some good rugby.

Munster full-back Seán Ivess made a great break out on the left wing after captain Dylan Reeves Wasik and Ross O’Neill turned over Leinster ball but his pass didn’t go to hands and the chance was gone.

Leinster were excellent in the scrum and line-out and the opening try came from this platform as they won a penalty off a scrum, kicked to the corner and moved the ball left from the slick line-out with scrum-half Sweeney eventually diving over.

Frawley missed the conversion and Munster nearly struck back shortly afterwards when Reeves Wasik charged down an attempted clearance five metres out from the Leinster line but he couldn’t gather the loose ball and Leinster were off the hook.

And the visitors touched down again on 36 minutes with the line-out pivotal once again.

This time Sweeney was the provider as he passed it inside to Paul Boyle after another well-executed line-out move.

Boyle was hauled down just short of the line but Regan forced his way over from short-range with Frawley adding the conversion for a commanding 15-3 half-time lead.

Munster came out for the second half keen to reduce the deficit and they did just that on 44 minutes when Leinster went offside in their own ‘22’ after early Munster pressure and Coombes kicked his second penalty to narrow the gap to nine.

The momentum was Munster’s and Coombes was handed another opportunity when Jack Quilter ‘s excellent tackle on Nash forced the turnover. Leinster illegally halted the move but Coombes was just off target with the penalty that would have moved his side to within a score.

The hill for Munster became a mountain on the hour when O’Regan was adjudged to have tackled Chris Maloney dangerously under the shadow of his own posts with referee Jonny Erskine awarding a penalty and sending O’Regan to the sin-bin.

Substitute Seán O’Brien kicked the penalty to restore Leinster’s12-point lead.

The win was sealed with 15 minutes to go when Leinster caught Munster out with a quick line-out on the left flank with Nash running in under the posts and O’Brien adding the conversion.

Munster fought back gamely with David McCarthy releasing his centre partner Quilter to break through a gap in midfield but the Leinster defence stood firm.

Tadhg McElroy was sent to the sin-bin late on for not retreating after Cork Con’s Ross O’Neill took a quick tap close to the Leinster line but it was the visitors celebrating at the final whistle after a deserved victory.

Munster Clubs: Seán Ivess (Newcastle West RFC); Seán Gray (Crosshaven RFC), Jack Quilter (Tralee RFC), David McCarthy (Skibbereen RFC), David Gleeson (Newport RFC); Liam Coombes (Skibbereen RFC), Jordan O’Regan (Waterpark RFC); Peter Kelleher (Ballincollig RFC), Tom Darcy (Newcastle West RFC), Ian McCarthy (Highfield RFC); Robert Carey (Midleton RFC), Dylan Reeves Wasik (Capt.)(Bruff RFC); Robbie Walsh (Waterpark RFC), Ross O’Neill (Cork Constitution FC), Alan Fitzgerald (Shannon RFC).

Replacements: Shane Bushe (Crosshaven RFC), Luke Jordan (Dolphin RFC), Darragh Joyce (Garryowen FC), David Flynn (Ennis RFC), Seán Murphy (Newcastle West RFC), Finn Rhys Thomas (Dungarvan RFC), Eoin Lacey (Fermoy RFC), Kieran Coughlan (Young Munster RFC).

Leinster Clubs: Conor Nash (Navan RFC); Ben McEntagart (Navan RFC), Peter Howard (Cill Dara RFC), Aiden McDonald (Kilkenny RFC), Chris Maloney (Birr RFC); Ciaran Frawley (Skerries RFC), Darragh Sweeney (Malahide RFC); Greg McGrath (Wexford RFC), Ben Devlin (Kilkenny RFC), Jack Aungier (Suttonians RFC); Joe Carley (Enniscorthy RFC), Jack Regan (Birr RFC); Conor Hand (Navan RFC), Conor Farrell (Capt.)(Navan RFC), Paul Boyle (Gorey RFC).

Replacements: Tadgh McElroy (Dundalk RFC), Eoin Corcoran (Longford RFC), Stephen McGivern (Dundalk RFC), Sean Masterson (Portlaoise RFC), Kevin Dolan (De La Salle Palmerston FC), Niall O'Neill (Naas RFC), Sean O’Brien (Mullingar RFC), Christian Byrne (Navan RFC).