Colours Match: UCD 25 Dublin University 18Dublin University celebrated their 150th birthday as the world's oldest continuously playing rugby club with their eighth straight loss to arch-rivals UCD in the 52nd annual Colours Match at Donnybrook yesterday.
Trinity started with gusto. Centre Brian Hastings timed a pass to set John Quigley away, but full back Thomas Horner's delivery was a fraction too far for left wing Stephen McGee; then outhalf Pierre Lazies shot a bullet pass through the hands of right wing Francis Keane.
Given UCD's superior divisional status, they were always likely to make Trinity pay for wasted opportunities. When they infringed twice, Niall McNamara converted the second penalty.
Inevitably, UCD took charge as full back Philip Bredin drew in Trinity left wing and last man Stephen McGee. The rest was done with schoolboy simplicity. The pass was taken and touched down by Gareth Hayes.
Shortly after, second row Simon Crawford popped up in midfield to execute the slickest short pass, and though everyone believed Darren McKenna had knocked on, the full back picked up and raced over.
Lazies knocked over a penalty before the break and Horner soon dropped a goal to leave it 15-6 in the 46th minute.
At the end of the third quarter, McNamara tried to take number eight Jamie Heaslip on the outside only to have the ball shaken free from his grasp. College had to be content with a second McNamara penalty.
In the 68th minute, left wing Darren McKenna latched onto a loose ball, veered infield, took the tackle of replacement Ruairi Kerr, and offloaded for Philip Bredin to finish from a long way out.
It was game set and colours. That didn't stop Trinity from working to the end and centre Brian Hastings accelerated over on the right, literally one minute after his twin brother, Michael, had come on for UCD.
Hastings wasn't finished. He strolled to the line in injury-time just before UCD's Connacht professional Tom Carter was announced as the man of the match.
UCD: P Bredin (Newpark); G Hayes (Clongowes), K Kennedy (St Michael's), P Hickey-Dwyer (Rockwell), D McKenna (CBC Monkstown); N McNamara (Ard Scoil Ris), D Geraghty (Blackrock); J A Lee (Terenure), David Blaney (Terenure), I Lynam (Glenstal), C Davis (Blackrock), S Crawford (Castleknock), K Croke (CPC Kilcullen), T Carter (Terenure), Dermot Blaney (Terenure, capt). Replacements: P Callanan (Clongowes) for Dermot Blaney (14 mins); J Moran (Clongowes) for Lee (53 mins); C Geoghegan (Blackrock) for David Blaney (75 mins); M Hastings (Wesley) for Hickey-Dwyer; S McCarron (Gonzaga) for Bredin; L Burke (St Mary's) for Carter; J Moroney (King's Hospital) for Geraghty (76 mins).
DUBLIN UNIVERSITY: T Horner (Campbell); F Keane (Clongowes), J Quigley (Blackrock), B Hastings (Wesley), S McGee (Clongowes); P Lazies (Universite Paul Sabatier), C McShane (Blackrock); N Conlon (RBAI), M Crokett (Brynteg CS, Wales), F Gainer (CCSD, Victoria Canada), M Garvey (Belvedere, capt), M Warburton (Wesley), H Hogan (High School), R White (Wellington College, UK), J Heaslip (Newbridge). Replacements: E Molloy (Ard Scoil Ris) for White (46 mins); R Kerr (Blackrock) for McGee (62 mins); G Byron (St Michael's) for Quigley (67 mins); D Rowe (Wesley) for Gainer; C Queenan (St Mary's) for Hogan; D Sisam (Scotts College, Wellington) for McShane; J Musgrave (Wesley) for Crokett.
Referee: D Woods (Leinster Branch).
