Clongowes pack provide platform

Clongowes Wood 38 Blackrock College 20:AFTER THIS astonishingly comfortable dismissal of Blackrock, one must presume the seven returnees from last year's Senior Cup winning Clongowes Wood team decided, perhaps in the early hours of last year's St Patrick's Day celebrations, to finish the job.

On this ruthless display, they look poised to become the first group from the school to retain the trophy.

Granted, the impressive St Michael’s are up next and they will put up far greater resistance than Blackrock, who after two disappointing campaigns in succession are deep in the valleys of a rare trough in their proud history.

In stark contrast, this Clongowes team are on the cusp of being confirmed as the greatest ever to be produced by the rugby nursery on the outskirts of Clane. Not since Des Dillon’s all-conquering 1998 vintage (when Gordon D’Arcy was dismantling teams from fullback) have they so comprehensively picked Blackrock apart.

It could have been more. Conor Gilsenan’s band of brothers – literally, as there are three Byrnes in the pack – appeared to ease up having banked three tries after the Ireland Under-19 captain highlighted some questionable Blackrock defending on 41 minutes.

That made it 23-6, building upon a two-try blitz before half-time when centre Conor Joyce and left wing Conor Mahony profited from turnover ball – a feature of the contest. The three-quarters may have put an exclamation mark after the result but this victory belongs to the pack.

Awesome defence and clever, short passing to edge them away from the ruck and on to the soft shoulder of smaller defenders delivered the yardage here. More often than not it was number eight Jordan Coghlan (a fast bowling cricketer by trade) or Gilsenan who burst over the gainline, although their barrelling hooker Bryan Byrne deserves a mention.

Byrne’s twin brother Edward was the only unused substitute, which was a shame as the prop is one of the most promising underage frontrows in the country. His ankle is expected to have fully recovered to join siblings Bryan and Thomas in the semi-final line-up on March 4th.

The major concern now for Clongowes is the availability of Nick McCarthy after the excellent flanker was forced off with a shoulder injury just before half-time. A natural link man and general nuisance, McCarthy’s loss would be significant as he was directly responsible for creating both first-half tries. That said, big Diarmuid Kennedy made an impressive impact on his arrival off the bench.

Despite the eagerness of Blackrock forwards Richard Marsh, Tom Austin, Pierce Dargan and centre Mark Roche to make a breakthrough, there was a constant gaggle of defenders driving them back into the dirt.

Roche’s second penalty early in the second half made it 18-6, which allowed the healthy four-figure attendance at Donnybrook brace themselves for an epic ’Rock comeback to rival the great battles between these schools down through the years.

Gilsenan had other ideas. What makes him a good leader is his team-mates are all striving to impersonate him. Brian Phelan drove hard towards the Blackrock try-line. Held up. Tom Collis was next to test the defensive pillars before Kennedy was stalled inches shy of a five-pointer. With bodies strewn everywhere, Gilsenan waded in, plucking the ball from the ground to stretch over.

That made it 23-6 and no way back for Blackrock. On his stroll back to half-way, Gilsenan sought out replacement scrumhalf Max McFarland with a friendly slap for the manner in which he co-ordinated the game’s pivotal assault.

Blackrock coach Peter Smyth responded with a fresh half-back combination – he eventually emptied the whole bench with the departure of injured captain Cormac McGuire, after a ferocious hit by Phelan, ensuring uncontested scrums. It mattered little. Blackrock’s desperation to minimise the damage was always going to force some change out of the Clongowes defence; Dargan eventually crawling under a wall of tacklers for a try on 51 minutes that briefly suggested an exciting finale.

The Clongowes response was calculated and devastating. Some nifty footwork from outhalf David Quirke, the only non-forward of the back-to-back chasing seven, created daylight down the blindside before he released Kennedy. It required three bodies to halt his rampage and when play was cleverly switched cross-field, Quirke reappeared to put right wing Gareth Murray over in the corner.

Blackrock pounded into Clongowes for the next 10 minutes before the umpteenth turnover of the afternoon allowed Murray race over for his second try. We initially presumed McCarthy or Gilsenan were responsible for most of these steals but they were all at it.

Discipline and aggression perfectly meshed together, Clongowes are a fine side. So too are St Michael’s, who will surely attack them out wide, presuming they get enough clean possession.

It’s going to take something truly special to stop them from achieving what no other Clongowes side has managed before. Motivation in itself.

SCORING SEQUENCE – 6 mins: C Mahony pen, 3-0; 19: M Roche pen, 3-3; 22: C Mahony pen, 6-3; 31: C Joyce try, 11-3; C Mahony conv, 13-3; 34: C Mahony try, 18-3. Half-time. 39: M Roche pen, 18-6; 41: C Gilsenan try, 23-6; 48: C Mahony pen, 26-6; 51: P Dargan try, 26-11; M Roche conv, 26-13; 57: G Murray try, 31-13; 67: G Murray try, 36-13; C Mahony conv, 38-13; 70: L Leonard try, 38-18; M Roche conv, 38-20.

CLONGOWES WOOD COLLEGE: H Burns; G Murray, J Glynn, C Joyce, C Mahony; D Quirke, C McQuaid; G Freyne, B Byrne, T Collis; B Phelan, T Byrne; N McCarthy, C Gilsenan (capt), J Coghlan. Replacements: M McFarland for C McQuaid (5 mins), D Kennedy for N McCarthy (half-time), D O’Byrne for T Collis, P Timmins for B Phelan (both 59 mins), R Scanlon for H Burns (63 mins), S Fromm for C Joyce (67 mins).

BLACKROCK COLLEGE: S Barron; D Lunn, C McEllin, M Roche, K O’Leary; J Dempsey, C Rock; A Boland, D Hogan, C McGuire (capt); P Dargan, G Thornbury; M Connolly, T Austin, R Marsh. Replacements: A Lloyd for C Rock, A Walsh for J Dempsey (both 42 mins), M Carroll for A Boland (44 mins), F Bolger for C McGuire (53 mins), L Leonard for M Connolly (55 mins), C Duff for G Thornbury (58 mins), C McCrory for D Lunn (66 mins).

Referee: K Beggs (ARLB).