Weekend Club Preview

It’s a huge weekend in junior rugby with a number of finals taking place. The highlight of this weekend’s action will undoubtedly be the Munster Junior Cup Final between holders Clonmel and Shannon on Sunday at 5pm.

Click here for the full fixture list.

The final goes ahead at Thomond Park with Clonmel aiming to complete the treble having won the Munster Junior League and Munster Junior Clubs’ Challenge Cup titles for the first time this season.

Last week they had to withstand a late rally by Young Munster before booking their place in the final with a 25-22 victory. In the earlier rounds they saw off the challenge of Presentation 36-6 and St. Mary’s 34-10 as well as receiving walkovers from Crosshaven and Bandon.

They have been scoring tries regularly with Ronan Crosse, Greg Carroll and Darragh Foley being some of the players Shannon will have to watch out for.

Shannon will be aiming for their eleventh title. They began their campaign with an easy 69-13 home win over Killorglin. They received a walk over from Old Christians and had two difficult ties against St. Senan’s and Kilfeacle before booking their place in the decider.

James Ryan, Shaun Horgan and Kelvin Brown have been some of the players that have helped Shannon get over the line in their recent games.

It should be a very close game with the kickers, Clonmel’s Conor Cooney and Shannon’s Ronan McKenna, probably the players that will decide this final.

Clonakilty and Skibbereen contest the Cork County Cup Final at Bandon, with Skibb’ aiming to bridge a three-year gap by reclaiming the trophy that was won by Kanturk for the last two years.

Highfield and Cobh Pirates will contest the Junior Two Cup South final at Irish Independent Park on Friday evening.

Thomond will be aiming for the Junior Two double in Limerick when they face St. Mary’s in the Gleeson League final on the back pitch in Thomond Park on Monday afternoon. The winners of this will travel to Highfield the week after in the Munster Junior 2 Final.