AIL Division 1A final: St Mary’s College v Clontarf, Aviva Stadium, Sunday, 4pm – Live on TG4
The All-Ireland League final has the pairing and the weather it deserves. And, as the top two over the last two seasons, Irish club rugby will have the champions it deserves too.
St Mary’s completed a double over their final opponents three weeks ago but head coach Mark McHugh says that will “sharpen Clontarf’s focus”.
Tom O’Reilly and Oisin Michel will rotate at loosehead as Mary’s seek to add to their titles from 2000 and 2012. The first was their last final in Lansdowne Road, when McHugh was outhalf, where they beat Lansdowne to break Munster’s nine-year stranglehold.
“Don’t let it pass you by,” has been the Mary’s motto, according to McHugh. “Be present in every single moment and enjoy it, and when you look back at six o’clock on Sunday evening, make sure that we can say ‘we gave it everything we had’.”
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Clontarf are looking to become the first back-to-back champions since Shannon 20 years ago.
“It’s one of those things, that’s how it’s washed up,” says head coach Andy Wood. “A lot of the guys might be aware of that, but they are just chasing this singular title.”
Peter Maher (hamstring) is replaced by the fit-again Max O’Grady, brother of Dylan, on the wing.
That St Mary’s are the final obstacle is, Wood says, “no surprise when you look at Mark McHugh, Jamie Cornett and their coaching staff”.
“Their playing roster is littered with quality and they’ve some old warhorses like Ronan Watters who could have been pros at a different time. Just looking forward to the challenge now. And if the weather’s [fine] like this, it could be a cracking game.”
This game will follow the Women’s Division final, which kicks off at 1.30pm, when UL Bohemian will seek a third successive title against Blackrock College.
A Munster derby in The Mardyke sees UCC and Shannon battle it out for a place in Division 1B next season, while UL Bohemian host Sligo in the 2A playoffs.
ST MARY’S COLLEGE: Ruairi Shields; Aaron O’Sullivan, Myles Carey, Mick O’Gara, Leandro Ramirez; Conor Dean (capt), Rob Gilsenan; Oisin Michel, Jack Nelson Murray, Mick McCormack, Greg Jones, Daniel Leane, Josh Gimblett, Ronan Watters, Dan Goggin. Replacements: Richie Bergin, Tom O’Reilly, Andrew Sparrow, Conor Pierce, Finn Burke, Ethan Baxter, Mark Fogarty, Steven Kilgallen.
CLONTARF: Tadhg Bird; Dylan O’Grady, Hugh Cooney, Daniel Hawkshaw, Max O’Grady; Conor Kelly, Sam Owens; Ivan Soroka, Dylan Donnellan (capt), Charlie Ward, Fionn Gilbert, Jim Peters, Paul Deeny, Aaron Coleman, Jordan Coghlan. Replacements: Declan Adamson, Conor Bateman, Richie Whelan, Michael Moloney, Dan Magner, Conor Gibney, Darragh Doyle, Alvin Amaniampong.
