Shannon flow with vigour

All-Ireland League: Shannon never seem to notice the turmoil in Irish club rugby. As Saturday's comprehensive defeat of Lansdowne showed, they just keep moving forward. The old guard may be gone but a new crop, in much the same mould, have taken their place.

However, the leader of that great team of the 1990s has stayed behind. In his first season as coach, Mick Galwey is attempting to bring the same influence to the new generation he had on the old. It's more difficult though from the line.

"Sometimes it's frustrating but I'm enjoying it," said Galwey. "Sometimes you got to take the good with the bad. Particularly when you are coaching from the sideline. You see things happen and can do nothing about them but that's a thing we all have to learn. We learn from each other. I have to learn from the players and hopefully they can pick up something from me."

The contest in Lansdowne wasn't exhilarating stuff but, for 20 minutes after the break, Shannon sucked the life out of the home side. A three-try blitz from Tom Cregan, Padraig O'Brien and Fiach O'Loughlin added to debutant Mark Tuohy's earlier effort to secure a bonus point.

"The good thing we can take out of the game is that when we play rugby, we play to a good standard but we still have a bit to do," he continued.

Galwey is striving to maintain the high levels of commitment that have been the hallmark of Shannon teams in the past. The high number of provincial players in the squad helps.

"They bring back a standard to the club they would be used to with Munster. We will not be up to the same standard as Munster but we want to be as professional as we can."

In the only other game over the weekend Cork Constitution beat Ballymena 30-20 at Temple Hill. However, Con were unable to add the extra point with just three tries from Cronan Healy (two) and Rory Kenneally.

The result means the Ulster club have had the worst possible start to the season. They will be keen to give incoming coach Steph Nel, when he arrives in a couple of weeks, a decent base to work with by beating Co Carlow next Saturday.