Conor PIerce of St. Mary's College is tackled by Terenure College lock Sean Rigney during the sides' derby clash at Lakelands Park in November ©David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile
Mick O’Gara and Hubert Gilvarry went into the Christmas break as the leading points and try scorers in Energia All-Ireland League Men’s Division 1A, respectively. The 2026 action begins this weekend with a series of crunch round 10 fixtures.
St. Mary’s College centre O’Gara set the pace for most of the first half of the regular season. With 96 points scored. he played a big part in Mary’s topping the table until they suffered a 14-point home defeat to Lansdowne last time out.
He still holds a 30-point lead over Conor Kelly, last season’s leading scorer in the top flight. Out-half Kelly took his tally for the current campaign to 66 points as Clontarf hit the summit, and also lifted the Energia Bateman Cup, by beating Ballynahinch 21-16.
Close behind Kelly are Old Belvedere’s David Wilkinson (64 points) and UCD out-half Paddy Clancy (60). Clancy, who recently lined out with Leinster ‘A’, has an 81% kicking success rate, and has made a division-high 2012 metres from 64 kicks.
The battle to be crowned Division 1A’s top try scorer is sure to intensify over the coming weeks, with Young Munster winger Hubert Gilvarry top of the charts currently with nine tries.
Three players come into the new year on seven tries each – Gilvarry’s fellow Cookie Shay McCarthy, Clontarf captain Dylan Donnellan, and Cork Constitution’s Jack Kelleher, who has played all 720 minutes of their campaign to date.
Kelleher leads the way for dominant tackles (22), but the division’s top tackler is Mary’s New Zealand recruit Josh Gimblett, who has amassed 131 successful tackles, including 20 dominant hits.
Sligo man Gilvarry (pictured below) continues to catch the eye in attack, topping the rankings for running metres (843.6), line breaks (14 – tied with Ballynahinch speedster Aaron Sexton), and tackle breaks (48).
The Opta statistics, collected each week by Stats Perform, also reflect the hard work and impact of some of the players involved with teams currently in the lower reaches of the table.
Old Belvedere may be third-from-bottom, but Will McDonald has stood out as the division’s leading ball carrier (115), and fellow forward Hugo O’Malley is first on the list for breakdown steals (8).
Belvedere’s summer signing and ever-present full-back, Morgan Meredith, has impressed too, notably scoring their match-winning try against Terenure College before Christmas.
Bottom side Nenagh Ormond have some strong runners in their back-line – centre Angus Blackmore has made 10 line breaks, 41 tackle breaks, and 12 offloads – and UCD captain Dan Barron has shown his leadership at set-piece time, claiming 67 lineout takes, a full fifteen more than Clontarf’s Fionn Gilbert.
POINTS –
Mick O’Gara (St. Mary’s College) 96
Conor Kelly (Clontarf) 66
David Wilkinson (Old Belvedere) 64
Paddy Clancy (UCD) 60
James Tarrant (Lansdowne) 55
Shane O’Leary (Young Munster) 50
Hubert Gilvarry (Young Munster) 45
Conor Rankin (Ballynahinch) 42
Dylan Hicks (Cork Constitution) 38
Conor McMahon (Nenagh Ormond) 36
TRIES –
Hubert Gilvarry (Young Munster) 9
Dylan Donnellan (Clontarf) 7
Jack Kelleher (Cork Constitution) 7
Shay McCarthy (Young Munster) 7
Dan Martin (Terenure College) 6
Ethan Graham (Ballynahinch) 6
Andy Marks (Lansdowne) 5
Aran Egan (Terenure College) 5
Bobby Sheehan (Lansdowne) 5
Danny Sheahan (Cork Constitution) 5
KICKING ACCURACY (Minimum five attempts) –
Julian Leszczynski (Terenure College) 6/6 – 100%
Stephen Madigan (Lansdowne) 5/5 – 100%
Mick O’Gara (St. Mary’s College) 35/42 – 83%
Aran Egan (Terenure College) 5/6 – 83%
Caspar Gabriel (Terenure College) 14/17 – 82%
James Tarrant (Lansdowne) 22/27 – 81%
Charlie Tector (Lansdowne) 13/16 – 81%
Paddy Clancy (UCD) 25/31 – 81%
Kelvin Langan (Young Munster) 8/10 – 80%
David Wilkinson (Old Belvedere) 26/34 – 76%
SUCCESSFUL TACKLES –
Josh Gimblett (St. Mary’s College) 131
Max Russell (Terenure College) 123
Leo Langbridge (Young Munster) 105
Will McDonald (Old Belvedere) 104
Declan Horrox (Ballynahinch) 100
Claytan Milligan (Ballynahinch) 96
Jack Kelleher (Cork Constitution) 96
Sean Rigney (Terenure College) 96
Peter Hyland (Cork Constitution) 92
Matt Healy (Lansdowne) 90
DOMINANT TACKLES –
Jack Kelleher (Cork Constitution) 22
Josh Gimblett (St. Mary’s College) 20
Luke Masters (Cork Constitution) 12
Ronan Watters (St. Mary’s College) 12
Bradley Luney (Ballynahinch) 11
David Hyland (Cork Constitution) 11
Paul Deeny (Clontarf) 11
Tom McAllister (Ballynahinch) 11
Zack McCall (Ballynahinch) 11
Bailey Faloon (Young Munster) 10
Danny Sheahan (Cork Constitution) 10
Greg Jones (St. Mary’s College) 10
Jayden Beckett (Old Belvedere) 10
Michael Foy (Cork Constitution) 10
Sean Condon (Cork Constitution) 10
Will McDonald (Old Belvedere) 10
CARRIES –
Will McDonald (Old Belvedere) 115
Jack Kelleher (Cork Constitution) 106
Dan Goggin (St. Mary’s College) 101
Harrison Brewer (Terenure College) 100
Alan Kennedy (Young Munster) 89
Sean Rigney (Terenure College) 84
Willie Coffey (Nenagh Ormond) 84
Dylan Donnellan (Clontarf) 78
Ryan McMahon (Old Belvedere) 76
Hugo McLaughlin (Lansdowne) 74
Ronan Watters (St. Mary’s College) 74
RUNNING METRES –
Hubert Gilvarry (Young Munster) 843.6
Shay McCarthy (Young Munster) 789.4
Hugo McLaughlin (Lansdowne) 695.8
Adam La Grue (Terenure College) 633.5
Andy Marks (Lansdowne) 624.9
Aaron O’Sullivan (St. Mary’s College) 600.7
Aaron Sexton (Ballynahinch) 582.7
Angus Blackmore (Nenagh Ormond) 570.1
Dan Goggin (St. Mary’s College) 559.7
Dan Martin (Terenure College) 543.4
KICKS –
Adam Maher (Cork Constitution) 82
Sam Owens (Clontarf) 67
Paddy Clancy (UCD) 64
Jack Matthews (Lansdowne) 61
David Wilkinson (Old Belvedere) 56
Conor Dean (St. Mary’s College) 53
Conor Kelly (Clontarf) 50
Morgan Meredith (Old Belvedere) 50
Rob Gilsenan (St. Mary’s College) 48
Thomas Quinn (UCD) 46
KICKING METRES –
Paddy Clancy (UCD) 2012
Adam Maher (Cork Constitution) 1770.2
Morgan Meredith (Old Belvedere) 1706.6
David Wilkinson (Old Belvedere) 1596.8
Conor Dean (St. Mary’s College) 1459.1
Sam Owens (Clontarf) 1399.9
Conor Kelly (Clontarf) 1356.7
Rob Gilsenan (St. Mary’s College) 1214.5
Jack Matthews (Lansdowne) 1196.1
Kelvin Langan (Young Munster) 1137.7
OFFLOADS –
Harrison Brewer (Terenure College) 19
Kelvin Langan (Young Munster) 16
Angus Blackmore (Nenagh Ormond) 12
Derek Corcoran (Nenagh Ormond) 12
Max Russell (Terenure College) 11
Adam Maher (Cork Constitution) 9
Andy Marks (Lansdowne) 9
Aran Egan (Terenure College) 9
Connor Fahy (Clontarf) 9
Dan Goggin (St. Mary’s College) 9
Hubert Gilvarry (Young Munster) 9
Leandro Ramirez (St. Mary’s College) 9
Sean Rigney (Terenure College) 9
Will McDonald (Old Belvedere) 9
LINE BREAKS –
Aaron Sexton (Ballynahinch) 14
Hubert Gilvarry (Young Munster) 14
Andy Marks (Lansdowne) 11
Angus Blackmore (Nenagh Ormond) 10
Craig Adams (Terenure College) 9
Shay McCarthy (Young Munster) 9
Aaron O’Sullivan (St. Mary’s College) 8
Ethan Graham (Ballynahinch) 8
Myles Carey (St. Mary’s College) 8
Leandro Ramirez (St. Mary’s College) 8
TACKLE BREAKS –
Hubert Gilvarry (Young Munster) 48
Willie Coffey (Nenagh Ormond) 42
Angus Blackmore (Nenagh Ormond) 41
Shay McCarthy (Young Munster) 35
Jayden Beckett (Old Belvedere) 32
Andy Marks (Lansdowne) 28
Todd Lawlor (Lansdowne) 27
Dylan O’Grady (Clontarf) 26
Jack Kelleher (Cork Constitution) 26
Charlie Molony (UCD) 23
BREAKDOWN STEALS –
Hugo O’Malley (Old Belvedere) 8
Danny Sheahan (Cork Constitution) 7
Jack Kelleher (Cork Constitution) 7
Leo Langbridge (Young Munster) 7
Marcus Rea (Ballynahinch) 7
Angus Blackmore ((Nenagh Ormond) 5
Conor Tonge (UCD) 5
Dylan Donnellan (Clontarf) 5
Harrison Brewer (Terenure College) 5
Aaron Coleman (Clontarf) 4
Dan Goggin (St. Mary’s College) 4
Luke Clohessy (Terenure College) 4
Luke McCready (Young Munster) 4
Oran Walsh (Clontarf) 4
Ryan McMahon (Old Belvedere) 4
Willie Coffey (Nenagh Ormond) 4
LINEOUT TAKES –
Dan Barron (UCD) 67
Fionn Gilbert (Clontarf) 52
Paddy Dowling (Old Belvedere) 50
Jack Kelleher (Cork Constitution) 47
Greg Jones (St. Mary’s College) 37
Declan Horrox (Ballynahinch) 36
Sean Rigney (Terenure College) 34
Bradley Luney (Ballynahinch) 30
David Hyland (Cork Constitution) 30
John O’Flaherty (Nenagh Ormond) 29
LINEOUT STEALS –
Greg Jones (St. Mary’s College) 8
Fionn Gilbert (Clontarf) 7
John O’Flaherty (Nenagh Ormond) 6
Bradley Luney (Ballynahinch) 5
Jack Kelleher (Cork Constitution) 5
Matt Healy (Lansdowne) 5
Conor O’Tighearnaigh (UCD) 4
Daniel Leane (St. Mary’s College) 4
Paul Deeny (Clontarf) 4
Ronan Watters (St. Mary’s College) 4
Ruairi Clarke (Lansdowne) 4
Sean Rigney (Terenure College) 4
MINUTES PLAYED –
Aaron Sexton (Ballynahinch) 720
Andy Marks (Lansdowne) 720
Conor Kelly (Clontarf) 720
Harrison Brewer (Terenure College) 720
Jack Kelleher (Cork Constitution) 720
Morgan Meredith (Old Belvedere) 720
Dan Barron (UCD) 716
Josh Gimblett (St. Mary’s College) 715
Mark Fogarty (St. Mary’s College) 711
Alan Kennedy (Young Munster) 707
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