Schools Rugby Leinster Senior Cup final/ Blackrock College 24; Clongowes Wood 9: The history books won't chronicle the minutiae of the occasion; they will simply confirm Blackrock College's 64th Leinster Schools Senior Cup title. The scoreline suggests an emphatic victory but it's misleading.
There were four minutes remaining of normal time, with the match poised at 10-9, when the champions made the breakthrough. Clongowes, as happens when desperation clouds decision making, were trying to force the issue in chasing the game.
A chip-and-chase just outside their own 22 carried a little too much weight, Blackrock full back David Nyhan gathered, and after the pack had made telling inroads for the umpteenth time during the afternoon, the ball was moved to the short side.
Clongowes had the numbers defensively but pursued the ball in a cluster rather than fanning out. Daniel Barnett, Luke Fitzgerald and finally Conor O'Daly demonstrated the value of swift, assured handling to release right wing Michael Kavanagh. Even playing on one leg he had enough pace to cover the 15 metres to the line. Barnett added the conversion, the result effectively decided at 17-9.
The final flourish came from centre Fitzgerald, who, five minutes into injury time at the end of the game, scooped up a loose ball and raced 35 metres. Barnett's conversion maintained a faultless afternoon with the placed ball.
It was ironic that two of Blackrock's three tries came from backs for it was in the pack that they won this game. Diarmuid Laffan led by example and the rest followed, former Clongowes schoolboy Darren O'Reilly and loosehead prop Gary Walsh particularly effective ball carriers.
As Newbridge demonstrated in the semi-final, the best way to counteract Clongowes is to employ the pick and drive and this Blackrock did to good effect, as was to be expected given their advantage in physique.
They also shunted Clongowes about in the set-pieces and disrupted them out of touch.
The extent of Blackrock's superiority up front merely underlines the commitment and character of Clongowes. Their pack took a buffeting but never once took a voluntary step backwards and in this respect the back row of Brian Coyle, Peter Lennon and the excellent Paddy O'Meara was especially eye-catching.
Ted Shiels and Doug Fagan worked tirelessly in the loose while hooker Mark Jacobs was a dynamo in human form.
The Kildare school's best chance of winning was to adopt a fast-and-loose approach and in the opening 20 minutes they could have grabbed two tries.
They broke through Blackrock on several occasions, centres Fergus McFadden and Dan O'Connor prominent - wing Killian Stafford defended well - but their real game-breaker, and the contest's and competition's outstanding talent, was full back Robert Kearney. There was one marvellous cameo minutes from the end of the game when he was being pursued by five Blackrock players and managed to elude them all.
Clongowes might have won the match if his team-mates had run good lines off Kearney: he invariably attracted several tacklers and was usually in a position to offload despite the attention.
The match had barely started when Clongowes right wing Richard McElwee made a superb break down the touchline. Faced by Nyhan he elected to take the contact, failing to spot the unmarked McFadden running an inside support line for what would have been a certain try.
Kearney's two well-struck penalties were the least his side deserved as they took a 6-0 advantage to the interval. Barnett kicked a penalty soon after the restart and when Laffan was driven over, with the outhalf converting, there was a sense of inevitability about the result.
Clongowes outhalf Pierce Casey had dropped a fine goal in between Blackrock's two bouts of scoring. As they had done throughout the competition, Blackrock demonstrated poise and precision when it mattered most.
Worthy champions.
SCORING SEQUENCE: 11 mins: Kearney penalty, 3-0; 16: Kearney penalty, 6-0. Half-time: 6-0. 37: Barnett penalty, 6-3; 51: Casey drop goal, 9-3; 57: Laffan try, Barnett con, 9-10; 66: Kavanagh try, Barnett con, 9-17; 75: Fitzgerald try, Barnett con, 24-9.
BLACKROCK COLLEGE: D Nyhan; M Kavanagh, C O'Daly, L Fitzgerald, V Artemiev; D Barnett, D Madigan; G Walsh, C Culliton, S Snell, M Cantrell, R O'Hara, D Laffan (capt), D O'Reilly, G Flanagan. Replacement: S Creavin for Snell (50 mins).
CLONGOWES WOOD COLLEGE: R Kearney; R McElwee, F McFadden, D O'Connor, K Stafford; P Casey, L Ronan; D Halpin, M Jacobs, P Crilly, T Shiels, D Fagan, B Coyle, P O'Meara (capt), P Lennon. Replacements: J Rooney for Coyle (56 mins); E Mahony for Crilly (69 mins); S Kelly for Fagan (69 mins); H Hackett for Ronan (70 mins).
Referee: A Lewis (IRFU).
