AT LAST a game to set the pulse racing. In a subdued year for the Leinster Schools' Senior Cup, the quarter-final clash between Clongowes Wood and Cistercian College, Roscrea, at Donnybrook yesterday encompassed all the ingredients that best illustrate the magic of schools rugby.
Forget the final score. This was a mammoth collision of body and mind, as Clongowes' greater all-round strength and know-how were just too much for an inspired Roscrea side.
With Leinster schoolboy Brian Dineen (pelvis) and full-back Conor Murray (collar bone) out through injury, one might have been forgiven for thinking this was a foregone conclusion. It was anything but.
Twelve minutes in, Clongowes scrum-half Bobby Quigley slipped the attentions of the Roscrea back row. His quickness took him deep into the 22, where his only difficulty was in deciding whether to pass to right wing Nat Lacy or full back Gordon Darcy for the try. Darcy went over, and left wing David Hourihane converted.
Undaunted, Roscrea shook off this setback. In the 31st minute they produced the try of the cup so far. From a scrum in midfield, out-half Shane Garvey acted as a decoy going left while scrum-half David Meseal fed left wing Michael Finn going right on a diagonal run, a ploy that pulled the Clongowes defence out of position.
Finn found full-back Thomas Sheehy on halfway and he injected pace and direction into the movement. Sheehy then had the strength to brush off Darcy's desperate tackle before going over. Garvey missed the conversion, and Clongowes led 7-5 at the interval.
The Kildare school came out with renewed vigour in the second half. A sustained period of controlled forward play, in which second row Peter Callanan's line-out play was so important, presented Hourihane with three penalties, and he kicked two - in the 52nd and 56th minutes.
However, Dermot O'Loughlin was an influential figure in the Roscrea pack. His line-out work, along with partner Justin Kelly, denied Clongowes the platform to dominate from an early stage. Further still, his deployment at the base of the scrum paid dividends in a powerful second-half performance.
But Clongowes had their own key players. Half-backs Bobby Quigley and Finane wasted precious little while flanker Ian Sheehy and number eight Greg Lynch were vigilant around the park, forcing turnovers and knocking over countless bodies in a rush for possession.
Their presence was vital towards the end as Clongetwes tackled their way into a semi-final meeting with Blackrock.
The Connacht Schools' Senior Cup match between St Muiredach's College, Ballina and Sligo Grammar School, scheduled to be played today, has been postponed until Monday March 3rd at Ballina (3.0).
