Irish Rugby TV: All-Ireland League Final – 2016 Rewind

Clontarf and Cork Constitution will meet for the third time in four years in the All-Ireland League Division 1A decider on Sunday. Today we look back at the Joey Carbery-inspired final win for the north Dubliners in 2016.

Click here to read the 2016 All-Ireland League final match report.

The sun-splashed clash three years ago featured two soon-to-be Ireland internationals with man-of-the-match Carbery steering Clontarf to the second title from out-half, while Cork Constitution’s Darren Sweetnam showed the pace that would earn him a call-up to the national team in 2017.

Speaking about the experience, Carbery, who was only 20 back then, said: “It was such a good atmosphere. You could feel when we arrived (at the Aviva Stadium) and got off the bus, there was such a buzz around the place and it just lifted the spirits.

“It was a tough game, very warm conditions and then in the second half it was almost impossible to stop Con at some stages. I was just delighted and relieved to get through it.”

‘Tarf looked odds-on for their win at the halfway stage in the contest, having developed a 21-3 advantage. However, the Leesiders stormed back into contention after the restart, and Carbery, who scored 13 points, felt that there were parts of the game when Con held the edge, adding:

We won the first half, they won the second half and then towards the end we just edged it. There were parts of the game we were better, parts when they were better. It was so close, it was so hard to call.”

Tickets

ALL-IRELAND LEAGUE DIVISION 1A FINAL: Sunday, May 5

CLONTARF v CORK CONSTITUTION, Aviva Stadium, 3pm

Tickets are on sale from Ticketmaster.ie at 10 euro for adults and free for children when purchased with an adult ticket – click here to buy now. The game will be live on RTÉ 2with coverage starting at 2.45pm.