McHugh: We’ve Played Some Good Rugby, But There’s A Long Way To Go

They may be leading the race for the play-offs nearly halfway through the regular season, but St. Mary’s College head coach Mark McHugh is mindful of how much rugby there is still to be played over the next four months.

The four Energia All-Ireland League Men’s Division 1A semi-finalists will not be confirmed until April 4, and there will no doubt be plenty of twists and turns in the top flight before then.

With one final match before the Christmas break, at home to Lansdowne next Saturday, St. Mary’s are seeking an eighth win in nine outings and another positive performance to keep them sitting pretty at the top of the table.

Mary’s are known as one of the division’s best attacking forces at present, but it was their defence and their scrum which proved crucial away to Ballynahinch at the weekend. They held ‘Hinch scoreless at a wet and windy Ballymacarn Park, emerging as 14-0 winners.

Two tries from stand-in captain Ronan Watters – the first of them a superb solo run through the middle – got the job done, and McHugh was happy with how his charges closed out the result after having a first-half wind advantage.

“Look, we knew coming up here was going to be a really tough ask,” he told Hinch TV afterwards. “It’s a tough place to come and play, and we know that ‘Hinch have been going well this season, and maybe haven’t got a couple of results that they maybe deserved.

“We’re absolutely delighted to get out of here with a win, and really to control probably the second 40 (minutes) out there today was really pleasing.”

When they last visited Ballymacarn Park in October of last year, St. Mary’s scored 33 points and four tries in all, but still lost to the County Down outfit by three points. The elements meant that the rematch was always going to be a low-scoring affair.

McHugh’s men have already shown their ability to win tight tussles in just their second season back in Division 1A. The only one that eluded them was the recent local derby against Terenure College, but they have won close battles with Young Munster and Cork Constitution.

The impressive form of Mick O’Gara, the division’s leading points scorer with 96 points so far, has been a key factor, along with consistently strong performances from some established names, like Dan Goggin and captain Conor Dean, and newcomers Aaron O’Sullivan and Josh Gimblett.

Their forwards led them home against a battling Ballynahinch side, with McHugh reflecting: “The first half was maybe a little bit loose, a little bit chaotic. I thought ‘Hinch defended extremely, extremely well. We threw everything at them, and I suppose only got the seven points.

“Certainly there was probably a little bit of anxiety, and a bit of nervousness on our part, heading into a 40 minutes in the second half that was going to be into the elements.

“But I felt we probably controlled it very well, and controlled aspects of the game that we maybe hadn’t controlled as well as we could have in the first half. Areas around scrum and maul, and maybe around the breakdown, we just controlled a little bit better.”

It is no surprise that the scrum was influential for the Dubliners. Coming into the eighth round, four of their tries had originated from scrums – the joint-most of the ten teams – and they had only conceded six scrum penalties, the fewest across the division.

Their lineout has also been a reliable launchpad, winning 87% of their own throws (67/77) before last weekend. Only Clontarf, who are level on 33 points with them, have a better lineout record, while Mary’s had stolen the most lineouts (18).

Greg Jones, the former Ulster back rower, has stood out in that regard with a division-high eight steals so far. Two years ago he made his Ballynahinch debut during his final season at Ulster, and he knows very well how difficult it is for visiting teams to win at Ballymacarn Park.

“It was a good win, conditions were pretty tough,” he said. “There wasn’t a massive amount of rugby played, and I think in the second half our scrum was just quite dominant which really helped us win a lot of penalties through that.

“I think Ballynahinch in the first half defended really well in patches. Made it really hard for us, but yeah, thankfully we could just hold them out and hang onto the win.

“To be fair when I got off the bus, I actually said that I thought it (the weather) was going to be worse. The wind wasn’t blowing too much, and then the minute we started warming up, the rain started coming and it kind of turned a bit.

“The conditions weren’t actually too bad. But I just think, in the end, there just really wasn’t a massive amount of rugby played. They weren’t easy conditions, but I’ve definitely played in a lot trickier in Ballynahinch.

“We just played in the right areas of the pitch, and then once we got the dominance in the scrum, and started getting penalties through that, it made our lives a lot easier. The second half was very stop-start. We were really happy to win, it’s a hard place to come and win.”

Jones played the full 80 minutes, packing down in the second row alongside Daniel Leane, and scrummaging behind Leinster Academy prop Andrew Sparrow, and then Mick McCormack, as the tighthead lock.

With a clever rugby brain and an athletic presence around the field, the 6ft 5in Jones is a canny operator both in the tight and the loose, and his lineout ability is renowned. He is certainly one of Mary’s most influential players as they bid to reach the semi-finals for the second year running.

The Dubliner joined St. Mary’s in the summer of 2024, after they had won the Division 1B title and he had just come out of the professional game. He made 18 starts for them on their return to the top fight, including in that heartbreaking 16-8 home semi-final loss to Cork Con.

He would love to get the Templeogue-based club back to that stage in the spring and go one step further, having them compete on the big day at the Aviva Stadium for their first Division 1A crown since 2012.

Asked how much he is relishing lining out in Mary’s blue, he replied: “It’s great. Mary’s is a brilliant club. I think in general it’s just a really good community club.

“Like, there’s so many people coming to games, people hanging around in the bars after games all evening. Just a really good atmosphere in the place.

“In general we’re just playing good rugby, and it’s a really enjoyable club to be a part of at the moment.”

Jones and his team-mates have their feet firmly planted on the ground, and McHugh and his fellow coaches are ensuring the players remain focused on their next challenge ahead, entertaining a Lansdowne team that is hurting from a surprise defeat at home to UCD.

Mary’s and Clontarf have opened up a seven-point gap on Lansdowne in third place, with Terenure a further point back and fifth-placed Con three more back. They know they cannot get too tied up in league positions and points midway through the campaign.

“We’ve a tough game against Lansdowne next weekend. I mean every game in the league is pretty tough and you never really bank on winning any game,” admitted Jones.

“We’re in a good position at the moment. We started pretty well, haven’t had too many slip ups. So, looking forward to next week and seeing what happens, hopefully we get a win and stay on top of the table.”

McHugh added: “Another game to go next week. Yeah, look, nothing is won in December or January, February. It is a marathon, not a sprint, as they say, and we have a long way to go and a lot of rugby to play.

“We’re delighted to be in the position that we’re in. We’ve played some good rugby to get there, and it is very pleasing. But as I say, a long, long way to go and lots of rugby to play yet.”

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