Weekend Rugby Roundup

Thomond have qualified for the All Ireland Round Robin final, as both Old Crescent and Shannon booked their places in the semi-final of the Bank of Ireland Munster Junior Cup.

Thomond’s hopes of a return to Senior status received a big boost after they defeated Ulster champions Dromore 17-10 in a closely fought encounter at Cill Darra RFC  ground. Thomond raced into an early lead with a try by Eoghan Sherlock which Jason Kiely converted. Dromore hit back with an unconverted try. Kiely extended Thomond’s lead but a second try by Dromore, left Thomond leading 12-10 at the interval. Jamie McGarry extended Thomond’s lead with a third try early in the second half and they held on for a great win and a meeting with Bective Rangers in the final next weekend.

In the Bank of Ireland Munster Junior Cup Shannon defeated Muskerry 31-29 at Coonagh to advance to the last four. Muskerry dominated the forward exchanges, but it was a blistering Shannon back line that did the damage. Shannon had tries from Darren Gavin, Ciaran Vaughan, Conall Gill, Kieran Kennedy and Tommy O’Driscoll, with Cillian O’Connor kicking four conversions. Lewis Grice, Luke Johnson, Liam Ryan and Arron Desmond replied with tries for Muskerry. Rob Cahill kicked three conversions and a penalty.

Shannon will travel to Takumi Park next Sunday to face Old Crescent, who defeated Highfield 45-17. Tomás Mahon, Conor Murphy and Brian McGovern scored tries for Highfield and Shane Buckley kicked a conversion.

Waterford City booked their place in the final of the Bank of Ireland Munster Junior Bowl after their 31-27 home win against Douglas. Darren Britt, Mikey O’Connor, Cian Foskin and Darren Kenneally were the try scorers for Waterford with O’Connor converting all four tries also added a penalty. Zach Dinan, Nathan O’Callaghan, Rory Lynch and Patrick Carey replied with tries for Douglas and Charlie Devine kicked two conversions and a penalty.