John O'Sullivan talks to Buccaneers coach John McKee about his side'sunexpected win at Garryowen
While not quite the sacrificial lambs, a young Buccaneers side with mediocre pre-season form wouldn't have been many people's favourites when the travelled to Dooradoyle on Saturday, where Garryowen would have been fancied to make a winning start to their AIB League campaign.
Buccaneers, though, defied the odds, thoroughly deserving their 19-9 victory, a remarkable opening for new coach John McKee. The New Zealand-born, Australian-schooled coach, married to a Ballina woman, arrived from Montferrand where he had been assistant coach while also responsible for the Development Academy at the French club.
McKee was approached by Connacht coach Steph Nel to become his assistant prior to arriving in Ireland, aware that a head coach's position was also available at Buccaneers. He was happy to accept both positions. "I have been to Ireland several times on holiday because my wife is originally from Ballina but when we moved to this part of the world we were looking for an opportunity here. I spoke to Matt Williams and Alan Gaffney and then Steph got in contact."
His expectations for the opening week were muted because of the inexperienced nature of the team - nine players are 23 or under - and indifferent pre-season form. "Our pre-league form was not good, disrupted by injury and commitments to the Connacht under-21 team. I knew, and so did the players, it would be a step up against Garryowen. We were making progress but I felt it would be a week or two before we developed sufficiently. The players did extremely well, stood up brilliantly.
"One sunny day doesn't make a summer but it was great for the players' confidence. There are a lot of areas in which we can improve but it has been a good start. When I look at the competition I realise that there and no easy matches."
Connacht wing Ted Robinson scored the crucial try in the match, following a great tackle by fullback Niall O'Hara, while outhalf Lee Turner kicked four penalties and a conversion. Killian Keane kicked three penalties for Garryowen.
Those who saw Carlow as potential relegation candidates might change their tune following their 24-6 defeat at Oak Park of a Terenure College side prepared by last year's Carlow coach, Kim Thurbon. The home side came close to picking up a bonus point, scoring three tries and the fact they didn't add one more for a nap hand, points-wise, will be the only disappointment.
Carlow captain and prop Padraig Brennan was low-key about the victory. "It was a good win but the fact that we scored two tries in the last 10 or 15 minutes probably put a little bit of a gloss on the performance. We know that we can, and will have to, play a lot better this season.
"We didn't set too many targets at the start of the year other than the fact that we wanted to improve upon last season's finish. You need to win your home games and we know that the Buccaneers match next Saturday is a totally different prospect."
Carlow, under new player-coach, Darren Van Zyl, had tries from Matt Cooke, Mark Buckley and Daniel Mallon, with Van Zyl kicking three conversions and fullback Billy Murphy a penalty. Richie Governey kicked two penalties for Terenure.
Elsewhere, a virtuoso performance with the boot from young Lansdowne outhalf Brian O'Mahony, a brother of former Leinster and Ireland scrumhalf David, helped Lansdowne to a 29-20 victory over UCD at Belfield. Ballymena surprised many people's outsiders for league honours, Clontarf, with a deserved 21-15 victory at Eaton Park, and there were victories for Cork Constitution and Belfast Harlequins.
