Clongowes forwards primed to supply power surge to crown

LEINSTER SCHOOLS SENIOR CUP : HERE WE go again: clear eyes, full hearts, can’t lose!

LEINSTER SCHOOLS SENIOR CUP: HERE WE go again: clear eyes, full hearts, can't lose!

You can’t knock The ’Rock nor can you chop The Wood.

The Flaming Sword is back too, along with The Gick,

The Green Machine and, eh, CBC Monkstown.

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Please Lord don’t let us freeze to death in the Donnybrook stand.

At least all the family Christmas presents were of a thermal ilk.

Schools rugby must be heeded if only for one reason. It continues to mimic the professional game (as well as providing a direct route into it – but only for a tiny percentage of special ones). If some nasty trait creeps into the professional ranks, sure as night follows day, it will be replicated by the schoolboys.

Same applies with the good stuff. For example, last season’s games were riddled with side-door offloads à la Sonny Bill Williams.

Referees will be castigated, of course. And some may even be hung out to dry if they make the correct decision at the wrong time. The Leinster Branch understandably use the senior cup as a training ground for young whistle blowers. The benefit of this is a decent crop of them have been at it for a good while now.

So, blaming the officials, while sometimes a valid option, and sometimes just because you can, is not really an option this year.

Okay, down to the serious business. Contenders? A very distinct pattern has evolved in recent times.

Yet again it will be all about stopping the latest mighty offering from off the Clane road. Clongowes Wood College come in search of a third successive title with St Michael’s and Terenure in their slipstream while it remains very quiet out Williamstown way at Blackrock.

Two of last year’s powerhouse Clongowes backrow, Conor Gilsenan and Jordan Coghlan, have already been integrated into the Leinster Academy (both should be coming on a television screen near you this spring as members of the Ireland under-20s) but there are seven returning from the squad that pulverised Cistercians, Roscrea, to the tune of 46-15, in last year’s showpiece (the RDS final has been switched to Sunday, March 18th as Ireland are in Twickenham on St Patrick’s Day).

It was a shock to learn the Byrne twins had another campaign in them. These hardy players mean Clongowes have merely transferred the power surge from backrow to frontrow. When last we checked Bryan was a hooker and Edward, the captain, scrummed down at tighthead.

Their “friendly” results make it clear why the bookmakers have priced them at 13 to 8 (St Michael’s are actually favourites at 6 to 4 but that’s down to a safer route to the final). First-round opponents Belvedere were already brutishly dispensed, 38-3. Blackrock, currently experiencing a dip in collective quality, were flipped and tickled 36-0. They even went down to Cork and battered CBC, 31-11.

Clongowes make up a top-heavy gathering that includes all the major players, besides St Michael’s and league champions Kilkenny College.

St Michael’s are at it again this year – representing the best of the rest. Five Junior Cup final defeats in a row still hurts but they have been the closest team to the purple and white in both 2010 and 2011. They boast nine representative players across the Leinster under-18 and under-19 squads. One of them is Dan Leavy who has been wreaking havoc from blindside flank for two years now. He is so good he made a sustained impact in the 2010 final – as a 15-year-old. He arrives this season armed with the natural power of a sixth year so expect a mean streak right from the off against Roscrea in Maynooth.

A huge Kilkenny pack will prove troublesome but it looks like another winner-takes-all showdown with Clongowes.

Terenure won’t be best pleased by all this talk. Junior Cup champions in 2009 and 2010, they arrive with a gang of Leinster under-18s, including Harrison Brewer, son of former All Black flanker and Leinster coach Mike. Captained by Niall Lalor, they also have Joe Schmidt’s son Tim in their squad. They face Blackrock in the tournament opener on Sunday, January 29th at Donnybrook.

If there is going to be a surprise it will probably come from Peter Smyth’s under-rated ’Rock side. But Terenure should make the semi-final, where Clongowes should be waiting. That fixture is where things might get really interesting.

St Michael’s also must be sick to death of losing both finals and to Clongowes. It has to end some time.

But we’re sticking with the defending champions to become the first three-in-a-row team since Blackrock in 1964. That would be some going by the Byrne twins and friends.

Leinster Schools Junior Cup

(Round One)

Feb 7th –

Clongowes Wood College v CBC Monkstown, Donnybrook, 2.30pm; The King’s Hospital v Gonzaga College, Lakelands, 2.30pm.

Feb 9th –Belvedere College v Blackrock College, Donnybrook, 2.30pm; Pres Bray v Wesley College, Kilternan, 2.30pm; Qualifier 1 v St Mary's College, Stradbrook, 2.30pm; Terenure College v Qualifier 2, Sydney Parade, 2.30pm.

Feb 12th: Castleknock College v St Michael's College, Donnybrook, 2.30pm