A much more experienced Blackrock College side proved much too strong for Shannon at Thomond Park yesterday and the only regret they could have had at the end of a potentially tricky fixture was that they failed to score a fourth try and so forfeited a bonus point.
Both teams were seriously understrength but Shannon suffered most in this regard and it ultimately told against them.
Even though a delightful kick ahead by the talented young centre, Mossy Lawler, set up a ninth-minute lead try for Melvyn McNamara that Tom Cregan converted from just inside the touchline, they were always struggling to stay with a stronger and tougher Blackrock side.
Sensing that Shannon's tackling might not have been as committed as once would have been the case, the Blackrock backs ran whenever space allowed and duly claimed three tries of the highest calibre, through Nathan Turner, Gary Browne and Andrew O'Neill.
Two of the tries were converted by Conor Kilroy and only the accurate boot of Cregan, who put over a couple of well-struck penalties kept Shannon in touch at 19-13 at the interval.
The second half, however, turned out to be a a big disappointment with neither side proving capable of managing a single try.
The gap remained at six points all the way to the end as Kilroy landed two more penalties for Blackrock and Cregan knocked over a penalty and a drop goal for Shannon which, of course, left the home team with the consolation of gaining a bonus point.
Scoring sequence: 9 mins: M McNamara try 5-0; T Cregan con 7-0; 15 mins: N Turner try, C Kilroy con 7-7; 25 mins: B Browne try, Kilroy con 7-14; 35 mins: Cregan pen 10-14; 38 mins: A O'Neill try 10-19; Cregan pen 13-19; Half-time - 13-19; 50 mins: Kilroy pen 13-22; 52 mins: Cregan dp gl 16-22; 56 mins: Cregan pen 19-22; 70 mins: Kilroy pen 19-25.
BLACKROCK: N Turner; A O'Neill, G Browne, A Grealey, C Kilroy; J Corry, B Willis; A McSweeney, G McEvoy, N Treston, J Fitzgerald, T Hogan, D O'Brien, R Woods, G McCarthy. Replacements: R Rogers for McCarthy; J Ferris for O'Neill; M Carroll for Hogan.
SHANNON: T Cregan; M McNamara, J Davis, M Lawler, N McNamara; D Delaney, C O'Loughlin; F Roche, J Blaney, G McNamara, B Buckley, N Burgess, T Hayes, R Collins, D Quinlan. Replacements: P O'Brien for Collins; F O'Loughlin for C O'Loughlin; M Hayes for McNamara; P O'Brien for Collins.
Referee: B Smith (Munster).
There was no room for full-back Christian Cullen or star winger Jeff Wilson on the 30-man New Zealand squad picked for the tour to Ireland, Scotland and Argentina.
Cullen's omission was widely predicted after he missed three months with a knee injury, while Wilson suffered a concussion and collapsed after being replaced for Otago in the domestic final.
NEW ZEALAND SQUAD: L McDonald, B Blair, J Lomu, D Howlett, C Ralph, R Randall, T Umaga, N Mauger, A Mauger, P Alatini, A Mehrtens, D Hill, B Kelleher, J Marshall, S Robertson, P Miller, M Holah, R McCaw, R Thorne, J Collins, N Maxwell, C Jack, S Maling, B Thorn, G Somerville, K Meeuws, G Feek, D Hewlett, A Oliver (capt), T Willis
