New kids shake up old Limerick order

LOCAL RIVALS CASTLETROY COLLEGE AND ARDSCOIL RÍS:IF MUNSTER'S Heineken Cup victory over Toulouse last May was the good news story of Irish rugby last year, then the meteoric rise of Castletroy College to the top of the schools ladder in the province was definitely the fairytale to beat them all.

Just eight years in existence, the school annexed both the senior and junior titles in Munster, becoming only the second Limerick side after St Mungret’s to achieve the feat in 99 years of competition.

When you consider that Limerick powerhouses Crescent and St Munchin’s have never achieved the double it puts Castletroy’s achievement in perspective.

The fact the school had its first Leaving Certificate class in 2005 kicks to touch the long-held assertion that schools rugby is all about tradition.

Indeed, Castletroy principal Martin Wallace believes the very lack of tradition was a key ingredient in the victory over Cork giants CBC, who were favourites to claim a 28th senior title. In contrast, the final was just the Limerick side’s fourth match at senior A level.

“We might have been a bit more relaxed than some of the more established teams. It wasn’t necessarily a do or die effort to win it. There was no fear factor in relation to our play,” said Wallace, a former Young Munster player.

“If there was any secret to it, it was that we kept a level-headed attitude to what was happening. Rugby is just another game in the school and we had a few mature players on the team that didn’t let it go to their heads,” he added.

The school was built to cater for the suburbs around Castletroy and Monaleen, the fastest growing area of population numbers in Munster at the time. An initial first-year intake of 166 pupils has now grown to over 1,000 pupils, with a 50-50 ratio of boys and girls.

And it was the girls who led the charge in terms of success on the sporting front, winning three straight All-Ireland Senior A titles in soccer and one in basketball.

In rugby terms, the signs of development were encouraging. The junior side were beaten by a strong Pres side in the 2007 Munster final, while the seniors lost a Mungret Cup final, a competition for B schools, before their promotion to A level for the 2006-7 season.

Their first taste of senior cup action ended in a quarter-final defeat to Munchin’s in 2007, before last year’s stunning victory that included wins over Rockwell and Pres on the way to beating CBC in the decider at Dooradoyle.

Although confidence was growing at the school, it still came as a surprise to Wallace that success came so quickly in a competition that is hugely competitive.

“We didn’t have expectations that last year’s team would win the senior cup. We were delighted to get to the final of the junior cup in 2007, we saw potential with that team and we knew we had some very good players but we didn’t think we had a strong enough panel to pull off three matches in such a short space of time,” he said.

Pointing to an element of beginners’ luck and a relatively injury-free run, Wallace started to believe when Castletroy knocked out holders Pres in the semi-final thanks to Irish Schools centre Diarmuid McCarthy’s try in the third minute of injury-time that sealed a 23-22 success.

“To win the match by one point with the last play of the game was the break that made us say ‘you never know’,” he remarked.

Their new-found confidence manifested itself in a storming first-half display in the final, with McCarthy and Darren Moroney going over for tries as they took an 18-0 lead into the interval. Despite a late fightback from Christians, Castletroy held on to win 21-15 and wrap up the double.

The more established schools in Limerick were delighted to see the new kids on the block defeat Cork sides, with Des Harty of Ardscoil Rís believing it shows the rude health of the game in the city.

“It was unprecedented and all credit to them for doing it, particularly as it was within four or five years of them competing for the first time,” remarked Harty, who is sports co-ordinator at the 700-student all-boys school that counts Paul O’Connell amongst its past pupils.

Although yet to make the breakthrough at senior level, Ardscoil Rís have two junior titles and have played their part in the growth of the game at schools level in the city.

“Traditionally there was always a great rivalry between Crescent and Munchin’s, but now with the arrival of Castletroy and ourselves to some extent, it augurs well for rugby in the city.”