Clongowes Wood College 43 Belvedere College 10:KEEP MARCH 18th free as these young men will be playing at the RDS Showgrounds that day.
There’s a way to go yet, but Clongowes Wood College seem immediately comparable to their recent predecessors.
Everyone close to the schools game knows the Jesuit college near Clane in Co Kildare are on the cusp of a historic three-in-a-row.
The 2010 crop achieved their success via a well-balanced backrow and hard-running backline; the 2011 version saw that same awesome backrow attain underage maturity – two of which, Conor Gilsenan and Jordan Coughlan, are part of the Ireland under-20s squad that faces Wales tonight, with the other, Nick McCarthy, providing a valuable voice on the touchline yesterday.
The core strength in 2012 is their frontrow. Plenty has already been printed about the immensely powerful Byrne brothers; Edward the captain and a loosehead prop, the likes of which we have not seen since Cian Healy in 2005, while identical twin and hooker Bryan may be a few kilos lighter but has an similar corrosive approach.
However, all eyes switched to Clongowes tighthead Daniel O’Byrne when he barrelled through four defenders for the first of five tries.
Granted, this wasn’t a Belvedere side to compare with Healy’s or Tom Sexton’s 2008 winners but they did come to play.
They were not let, that is, until Clongowes were done mauling them.
It would be an insult to the defending champions’ backline to focus solely on the pack, mainly because so many of them are built like forwards. Conor McQuaid is an all-action scrumhalf who muscled his way over for two tries while inside centre Sebastien Fromm looks to have been carved from granite.
This may seem over-complimentary, but there is an undeniable slickness to their attacking style.
Max McFarland wore number 11 yet constantly ran from fullback. Belvedere defenders paid a heavy toll for allowing him glide out of his own half for the second try, eventually taken by Ciarán O’Hanrahan after some clever link play by Conor Mahony and McQuaid.
Mahony deserves a mention as well, kicking four penalties and three conversions for an 18-point return.
Each penalty came from Belvedere’s defensive line drifting offside whenever Clongowes entered their 22. It was the only way to deny a try, but referee Eanna O’Dowd eventually ran out of patience, sin-binning Ivan Soroka on 53 minutes. There had been plenty of warnings.
Speaking of defensive alignments, Clongowes’ was airtight until an inconsequential, yet well-taken, late try by Belvedere centre Cillian O’Sullivan. Before that chink in the armour there were some thunderous hits by Fromm and Edward Byrne in particular.
The score of the day was something to behold. The ball had the smoothest of 60-metre journey’s down the right touchline, feeling five pairs of hands as O’Hanrahan and Bryan Byrne showcased a deftness that has emanated from Clongowes these past few years – the skills coaching at the Wood must be applauded – to give McQuaid a glimpse of the try-line. That was all he needed.
The last try, while soft to concede, was well executed as a backrow move down the blindside resulted in Stephen Kealan diving over.
Mahony atoned for his earlier missed touchline conversion.
Before Belvedere’s pride-fuelled late riposte, there was some minor controversy. O’Dowd erred on the side of common sense in disallowing a sixth try by Cian O’Donoghue as Clongowes had 16 on the pitch. An honest mistake, they would probably win this competition with 14 players.
Castleknock are before the Clongownian inquisition on February 21st.
It’s a Tuesday. If you won’t be missed in the office, go see them. You’ll be glad you did.
SCORING SEQUENCE – 4 mins: C Mahony pen, 3-0; 8: D O’Byrne try, 8-0; C Mahony conv, 10-0; 11: C O’Hanrahan try, 15-0; 24: C Mahony pen, 18-0; 29: C McQuaid try, 23-0; C Mahony conv, 25-0; 32: D Kennedy pen, 25-3; 37: C Mahony pen, 28-3. half-time. 43: C McQuaid try, 33-3; 48: C Mahony pen, 36-3; 57: S Kealan try, 41-3; C Mahony conv, 43-3; 68: C O’Sullivan try, 43-8; D Kennedy conv, 43-10.
CLONGOWES WOOD COLLEGE: M McFarland; C Mahony, C O’Hanrahan, S Fromm, N Rhatigan; M Nicholson, C McQuaid; E Byrne (capt), B Byrne, D O’Byrne; J Paul, R Daly; J Wallace, S Kealan, P Timmons. Replacements: J Sullivan for C McQuaid, G McVerry for M Nicholson (both 50 mins), S Mullholland for P Timmons (54 mins), C O’Donoghue for M McFarland (57 mins), D Donnellon for J Wallace (61 mins), R Collins for E Byrne (65 mins), D Garty for B Byrne (66 mins).
BELVEDERE COLLEGE: D Kennedy; N Hubbard, C O’Sullivan, F Sullivan, A Larkin; S Baird, C O’Leary; T O’Hara, G Doyle, E Lysaght; S Gaine, D Fernee; I Guiran, T Gibbons, R Mullen (capt). Replacements: M Kelly for S Baird (half-time), I Soroka for G Doyle, S McDonnell for T O’Hara (both 39 mins), E Heneghan for I Guiran (52 mins), O Waldron for S Gaine (67 mins).
Referee: E O’Dowd (ARLB).
