Irish Rugby | #EnergiaAIL Men’s Division 1A: Round 3 Review

Mick O’Gara led the way with 19 points, including the penultimate try, as St. Mary’s College saw off Old Belvedere’s challenge to end the first block of Division 1A fixtures as unbeaten leaders.

Three rounds into the new Energia All-Ireland League season, Mark McHugh’s men are sitting pretty following a titanic top of the table clash during which captain Conor Dean, Myles Carey, and Greg Jones all stood out.

St. Mary’s had the better of the first half, with the skilful Dean involved in the build-up to tries from Rob Gilsenan (6 minutes) and Mick McCormack (24). They led by 14 points at one stage.

Justin Leonard’s opportunist effort had Old Belvedere only 17-10 behind at half-time, and it was down to a three-point game after skipper Calum Dowling’s close-range intercept try, approaching the hour mark.

However, Mary’s showed their mettle down the final stretch, Dan Goggin releasing O’Gara for a key score before Dean clinched the result – and the bonus point – by intercepting to dart clear with six minutes remaining.

Ballynahinch have broken back into the top four after dishing out a 57-19 beating to UCD. Ulster Academy winger Ethan Graham was in unstoppable form, bagging a total of six tries between the 13th and 50th minutes.

Targeting their second home win, Ballynahinch were stung by an early concession. Daniel Hurley intercepted Paul Kerr’s pass to storm clear from just outside UCD’s 22, evading the clutches of both Graham and the chasing Pierce Crowe.

With Paddy Clancy also converting, Emmet MacMahon’s youngsters continued to lead until the latter stages of the opening quarter.

Picked out by influential centre Mark Best, Ulster’s Marcus Rea made ground before releasing the lurking Graham (pictured below) for a 40-metre run-in on the left.

The 21-year-old winger then collected Best’s inch-perfect cross-field kick without breaking stride to make it 12-7. Kerr converted and also added the extras to Bryn Ward’s pacy 22nd-minute finish out wide.

UCD, who were impressive bonus point winners over Nenagh Ormond last Saturday, replied on the half-hour mark, their hooker Duinn Maguire piling over from a maul for his third try in two games.

Graham snapped back with his hat-trick score just before half-time. Openside Zack McCall won a penalty at the breakdown, the pack pressing from a lineout drive before deft hands from Rea and Best put the back-three talent over in the corner.

It got even better for Graham with another trio of tries inside the second half’s opening 10 minutes. He climbed highest to bring down a steepling Best kick and beat the cover with a brilliant burst of pace from outside UCD’s 22.

Just minutes later, full-back Crowe covered a Thomas Quinn kick and gave a well-timed offload to Graham. He broke from inside ‘Hinch’s half, slaloming in between two attempted tackles to find his way to the try-line yet again.

Kerr converted on both occasions, stretching the lead out to 38-12. The home crowd could hardly believe it when Adam Craig’s side created another opening for Graham, who flew down the left wing to complete his six-try tally.

UCD replacement scrum half Andrew O’Mahony twisted his way over the line in the 54th minute, following an initial Maguire-controlled maul.

Clancy converted and it gave them a shot at gaining a try-scoring bonus point at 43-19 down. Nonetheless, after Oran Handley and McCall had traded turnover penalties, Ballynahinch added some late gloss to the scoreline.

Replacement Matthew Booth (pictured below) bounced off a couple of tackles for a classy counter-attacking effort, before Aaron Sexton got to the bounce of a Booth kick for try number nine.

Third-quarter tries from Joe O’Leary and Danny Sheahan – his second of the afternoon – steered Cork Constitution past Nenagh Ormond on a 25-17 scoreline. With Jack Kelleher also touching down in Lisatunny, Con are now second in the standings.

Number 8 Kelleher struck in the fourth minute, lurking on the left wing for Adam Maher to put him over in the corner. Sheahan had broken down the short side of a maul before that, with Nenagh having conceded two early penalties.

Dylan Hicks knocked over a central penalty for an 8-0 lead, before Nenagh got off the mark in the 17th minute. A smart back-line move off a lineout gave Under-21 winger Sam Cusack the chance to cut inside Sean Condon for a try on his All-Ireland League debut.

Conor McMahon converted and tagged on a late penalty, in response to Sheahan’s maul score just past the half-hour mark. It left just five points in it at the interval, with Cork Con leading 15-10.

Nonetheless, the visitors showed their experience to open up a significant cushion inside 12 minutes of the restart. Angus Blackmore’s sin-binning for a high tackle was swiftly taken advantage of, as Con worked the ball wide for O’Leary to touch down.

The Tipperary men suffered a further setback when Nicky Irwin saw yellow for not releasing after a Condon run down the left touchline. The Con pack immediately capitalised, a well-executed lineout drive seeing Sheahan bag the bonus point.

Munster prop Roman Salanoa made his long-awaited return from injury as a replacement for Nenagh, watched by some of his provincial team-mates from the sidelines.

Trailing 25-10, Nenagh began to force the issue, their maul causing problems and centre Willie Coffey also making a break. Con leaked a series of penalties, landing full-back George Coomber in the bin, and Blackmore brilliantly bulldozed his way over in the 69th minute.

Despite McMahon adding the extras to reduce the arrears down to eight points again, Nenagh’s first league point of the new season remained frustratingly out of reach.

Winger Condon won an important high ball for Con close to their try-line, and McMahon missed two long-range penalty attempts, either side of Billy Scannell’s yellow card for a deliberate knock-on.

Old Belvedere, whose winning start to the campaign ended in Templeogue, complete the top four, but Terenure College and defending champions Clontarf are just behind them following their second victories.

Big number 8 Jordan Coghlan barged over for a try on his All-Ireland League debut for Clontarf, who claimed a maximum haul with a 28-26 triumph over Young Munster at Castle Avenue.

Andy Wood’s charges led 21-0 at half-time, with Sam Owens, ever-reliable captain Dylan Donnellan, and Coghlan all crossing before Munsters fought back hard during the final quarter.

By that stage, Conor Kelly had dotted down to make it 28-7. A brace from Shay McCarthy gave the Cookies the momentum late on, and Shane O’Leary converted his own try right at the death for a pair of bonus points.

Meanwhile, teenagers Caspar Gabriel (pictured above) and Ben Blaney played leading roles as Terenure College beat Lansdowne 34-13, following up on their recent Bank of Ireland Leinster Senior Cup final victory over the same opposition.

In the first Friday Night Lights clash of the new season, Lansdowne led early on through the boot of James Tarrant, having started strongly on the Aviva Stadium’s back pitch.

Terenure came alive during the second quarter, as converted tries from Aran Egan (27 minutes) and Ireland Under-19 international Blaney (35) opened up a 14-6 half-time lead.

Leinster Academy out-half Gabriel kicked a crisp 14 points on the night, including a brace of second-half penalties which were crucial as Lansdowne briefly cut the gap to 17-13 thanks to replacement Ruairi Clarke’s maul effort.

However, Carlos Spencer’s ‘Nure side, stung by a heavy defeat at Cork Con last week, came with a final flourish. Craig Adams and the 19-year-old Blaney, bagging his brace in fine style with a 40-metre break, made it a bonus point success.

It was a significant result for the 2023 champions to end this opening run of league matches with, especially given it was their third successive away game due to redevelopment work at Lakelands Park.

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