Club News: Leinster Round-Up

TERENURE ON TOP IN U-13 METRO CUP FINAL: Terenure College came out on top in last Sunday’s Leinster Under-13 Metropolitan Cup final, played at De La Salle Palmerston’s Kilternan ground. ‘Nure emerged as 14-12 winners over Greystones.

It was ‘Nure’s tenth trophy in seven years at U-13 level, but they had to fight hard for it after trailing 7-0 at the break. Good work from Fiachra Bagnall saw Colin Jones get over for the Dublin club’s first try, soon after the resumption.

Jones converted and also add the extras to a great try from lock Stephen Ryan who ran in a score from 35 yards out. ‘Stones did sneak in for a late try, but unfortunately the conversion kick, that would have levelled the game, was missed and Terenure thrillingly held on.

Terenure College U-13s: Colin Jones, Fiachra Bagnall, Andrew Donohoe, Darragh Henry (capt), Steven Alexander, Oliver Barrett, Ross McGowan, Brian Lincoln, Cathal Owens, James Lawlor, Simon Keogh, Adam Somerville, Jack Kirwan, Steven Ryan, Niall Lalor.

DUNDALK WIN PROVINCIAL 3RD XV CUP: Congratulations to Dundalk RFC who won the Provincial 3rd XV Cup for the first time in their history last weekend, beating Enniscorthy 17-15 at Cill Dara RFC.

In what was the 37th Anderson Cup final, neither finalist had previously won the title. The Anderson Cup was presented to the Leinster Branch by Frank and Leslie Anderson of Athy rugby club and fittingly the first winners of the competition was Athy RFC in 1971.

Dundalk are the 17th club to have won the Provincial 3rd XV Cup – Athy, Naas and Tullamore have each won it on four occasions.

DUNNE CUP GOES TO COUNTY KILDARE: County Offaly lost their grip on the Dave ‘Pa’ Dunne Cup on Wednesday night as County Kildare beat their neighbours 24-5 in a well-contested final at Portlaoise RFC.

Rory McCann scored a hat-trick of tries for the victorious Kildare men, while replacement Johnny Downey, a noted Interpro, also touched down. The County Kildare team were captained by Wayne Midleton and coached by Dave Doran.

The Dunne decider, refereed by Leinster’s Peter Dennehy, was the final of the AIB Leinster Counties rugby tournament, which was started last year to allow elite players of the Junior rugby clubs to represent their counties and has quickly caught the imagination of players and supporters alike.

There are over 48 clubs in Leinster whose players are eligible to play for their county, and this year 11 counties entered – Fingal, South County Dublin, Kildare, Offaly, Laois, Louth, Meath, Carlow/Kilkenny, Longford/Westmeath, Wexford and Wicklow.

A novel initiative by the organisers is the presentation of specially commissioned Leinster county ties and jerseys kindly sponsored by AIB.

UCD PLAYERS TO THE FORE AT BRISTOL TENS: A Colin McEntee-coached Leinster side won the prestigious Bristol Tens tournament last Sunday, with four UCD playera playing prominent roles in the success.

Former Ireland Schools and Under-19 international Vasily Artemiev, the fleet-footed winger who came to Blackrock College from Moscow, certainly left his mark on the tournament as he finished as the top try scorer. Artemiev is a first year Law student and a member of the Leinster Academy.

Former Ireland U-19 and U-21 international Fergus McFadden, who is studying Arts at Belfield and also a member of the Leinster Academy, picked up the Player of the tournament award for some eye-catching displays. UCD triumphed 45-0 over hosts Bristol in an excellent showing in the final.

The other UCD players in the squad were Sean O’Brien, who was part of the Irish U-20 Grand Slam-winning side this season, and Ross McCarron, who has collected three Magners League this season with Leinster.

COOLMINE CRUSADERS HEAD FOR CORK: The Coolmine Crusaders will be venturing to the Heineken-sponsored Kinsale Sevens tournament this Bank Holiday weekend.

Every year across the May Bank Holiday weekend, Kinsale RFC plays host to over 90 teams – both male and female – of varying abilities for a festival of 7-a-side rugby. Played across five pitches, with full hospitality on-site at the event, over 150 matches are staged.

This year, the Coolmine Crusaders will be represented in the Junior section by 10 of Coolmine’s elite Sevens players including Stephen Boyle, Harley Murray, David Stone and Oliver Prunty.

The competition kicks off for Coolmine on Saturday morning at 10.25am against the Ben Todd Guns on Pitch 5. All support is welcome.

Coolmine Crusaders squad: David Stone, Stephen Boyle, Oliver Prunty, Andrew Nuzum, Thomas Sharkey, David Geraghty, Ruairi Farrell, Andrew Barry, Sean Mullen, Harley Murray.