Edenderry RFC Chosen To Host All-Ireland Junior Cup Final
The competition organisers have today selected Edenderry RFC as the host venue for the All-Ireland Junior Cup final on Saturday, January 26. The game will kick off at 2.30pm with defending champions Ashbourne facing either Enniscorthy or Wicklow.
This season’s All-Ireland Junior Cup decider will be an all-Leinster affair after Ashbourne ended Clonmel’s hopes with a 25-5 semi-final win at Milltown on Saturday. Tries from Ciaran Roche, Mark Rooney, Jake Wall and Matt Connolly kept their three-in-a-row dreams alive.
The other semi-final between two-time champions Enniscorthy and their Leinster League rivals Wicklow was postponed due to the bad weather brought on by Storm Deirdre. The game is set to be played this coming weekend.
Ashbourne are bidding to become the first club in the competition’s history to win three successive titles, while ‘Scorthy are looking to add to their 2014 and 2016 crowns, and George Naoupu’s Wicklow side are the surprise packets having reached the last-four at their first attempt.
The upcoming final will be held at Edenderry’s home ground in Coolavacoose, Carbury, the tenth different venue to stage an All-Ireland Junior Cup final. They follow in the footsteps of Portlaoise RFC, Old Wesley RFC, Ashbourne RFC, Portadown RFC, Coolmine RFC and Cill Dara RFC in recent years, while the earlier finals were held at Lansdowne Road, Dubarry Park (on five occasions) and Templeville Road.
If Enniscorthy win their semi-final, they would set up a repeat of the 2017 final which Ashbourne won 22-20 at Donnybrook. Whatever happens in the final two games, it will be the eighth year in a row that a Leinster club lifts the coveted Junior Cup trophy.
ALL-IRELAND JUNIOR CUP FINAL: Saturday, January 26
Ashbourne v Enniscorthy or Wicklow, Edenderry RFC, 2.30pm
PREVIOUS CHAMPIONS –
2018 – Ashbourne
2017 – Ashbourne
2016 – Enniscorthy
2015 – Dundalk
2014 – Enniscorthy
2013 – Tullamore
2012 – Tullamore
2011 – Crosshaven
2010 – City of Derry
2009 – Tullamore
2008 – Navan
2007 – Seapoint
2006 – Rainey Old Boys