SCOOLS RUGBY LEINSTER SENIOR CUP: Terenure College 17 Gonzaga College 3:SOME DAYS it all just goes horribly wrong. This quickly became Gonzaga's nightmare scenario.
For six full minutes they were in total control. They owned the ball. They were camped in the Terenure 22. Everyone present sensed the top half of the draw was about to be torn wide open.
Then, without warning, Gonzaga were filleted. Two tries from two Terenure attacks – 14 minutes on the clock.
After that jolt they began to force everything. The expansive approach that characterised their impressive league form disintegrated into a litany of handling errors. The play-makers and strike runners failed to generate any rhythm. They lost all composure and, when that goes, the result becomes inevitable.
The second half seemed like death by a thousand cuts. Or make that death by a thousand knock-ons.
Let’s go back to the beginning, when big forwards like Hugo Mays and Alex Deeney thundered towards the Terenure line. Eventually the pressure yielded a penalty just left of the uprights. Captain Stephen Murphy went for the jugular, tapping and stretching for the line. The powerful centre was held up, just shy, but outhalf Conor McKeon wasn’t long slotting a penalty. Six minutes. 3-0.
The Terenure riposte was immediate and definitive. After the pack made initial yardage up the left flank, Danny McCormack ghosted over for the perfect outhalf try. A show-and-go before the parting of the Gonzaga waters.
Gonzaga regrouped and drove back at their opponents. But a turnover in possession saw Terenure counter-attack, this time down the right, with winger Seanie O’Loughlin profiting from some ill-advised defensive decisions to sprint over at the corner flag.
The third try came after more weak defending allowed McCormack exploit another hole. Ryan Roopnarinesingh’s conversion was true and, at 17-3, there seemed no way back unless Gonzaga could grab a try before half-time.
They had eight minutes to do so. However, poor decision-making proved their undoing again. Off three attacking scrums, Deeney picked from the base but the Terenure defence held firm.
The first of these assaults saw Deeney and scrumhalf Andy McEvoy combine to catapult Irish schools fullback Jack Fitzpatrick down the short side. One more pass might have got them over.
The half ended with Gonzaga kicking the ball out on the full.
Murphy was eventually shifted from centre to outhalf, and while he combined well with Fitzpatrick, the team were unable to make it to third phase without committing a handling error.
Credit must go to the Terenure blitz; winners of the last two Junior Cups, this is a coming team that knows how to maintain a lead.
When Gonzaga eventually gained a foothold in enemy territory, their lineout was pilfered by last season’s JCT captain Robert Somerville. Just one of those forgettable days that, for Gonzaga, will be so hard to forget.
SCORING SEQUENCE – 6 mins:C McKeon pen, 0-3; 7: D McCormack try, 5-3; 14: S O'Loughlin try, 10-3; 27: D McCormack try, 15-3; R Roopnarinesingh conv, 17-3.
TERENURE COLLEGE:R Roopnarinesingh; S O'Loughlin, C Quigley, D Olin, P Smith; D McCormack, R Barry; P O'Reilly, J Carroll, S Borza; R Malone, R Somerville; B Twomey, N Lalor, G Furlong. Replacements:C Owens for S Borza (53 mins), J Kirwan for R Malone, E Kelly for B Twomey (both 59 mins), D Hynes for J Carroll, R Rumley for R Barry, C Jones for D McCormack, R Manning for P Smith (all 70 mins).
GONZAGA COLLEGE:J Fitzpatrick; R Lenehan, S Murphy, C O'Brolchain, B Daly; C McKeon, A McEvoy; M Lowe, C McDowell, J McDowell; M Lenahan, H Mays; J Curtin, A O'Reilly, A Deeney. Replacements:A Clarke for A O'Reilly, P Hollywood for C McKeon (both 59 mins), N McNelis for C McDowell, C Costigan for J McDowell, R Byrne for M Lowe, D Lavelle for A McEvoy, R Cooke for R Lenehan (all 70 mins).
Referee:P Dennehy.
