The Leinster Schools' Senior Cup may contain more passion, tension and excitement in later matches but few will eclipse the entertainment value of yesterday's fare at Donnybrook. Gonzaga College were expected to sweep past the challenge of their opponents with minimum inconvenience, but Catholic University School proved wonderfully obdurate.
They displayed a complete irreverence for opponents who had already graced the League final this season before losing to St Andrew's College, but there was more to the CUS performance than gritty character. They were far more accomplished behind the scrum than Gonzaga, demonstrating the value of hard, straight running and intelligent timing of the pass, thereby creating space and holes to run through.
The three-quarter line and Adrian Smith deserve great credit in this respect and centres Aidan Malone and Brian D'Arcy were equally adept in defence. Despite being out-muscled in the tight, the CUS pack never lost heart and in prop James O'Rourke and excellent number eight Damien Lambert they had two of the game's outstanding performers. Lambert in particular proved a very effective ball carrier.
Completely outplayed in the opening 25 minutes and trailing 12-0, CUS finally managed some continuity to their play, culminating in a try for O'Rourke after out-half Paul Brady's neat short pass sent his burly team-mate careering through a gap.
Brady added a conversion and would have enjoyed another opportunity to post the extra points if O'Rourke had noticed the two-man overlap 10 metres from the line minutes later. Instead he was tackled in possession and the opportunity was lost. Gonzaga steadied themselves and notched up a second try from right wing David Berkery before the interval.
Berkery's brace, a try from fullback Ronan Davy and two conversions from out-half and captain Brian McCloskey, his only successful attempts of the afternoon, helped Gonzaga ease clear. It was fitting that scrum-half Brian O'Riordan should effectively ensure victory with two tries after the interval, as he was his team's outstanding performer. Brady's penalty was all CUS could muster in that period.
Leading 29-10, Gonzaga added a further try from Niall Bevan who ran 45 metres after latching on to a loose ball close to the halfway line. CUS rallied gallantly, scoring tries through Neil Byrne and D'Arcy but some brittle defence on the fringes saw them concede two to Daire Stewart and McCloskey.
Gonzaga coach Bobby Byrne will be aware that a considerable improvement behind the scrum is required if they are to trouble Roscrea in the next round. CUS should be proud of all 22 players who contributed handsomely to yesterday's game.
Scoring sequence: 11 mins: Davy try, McCloskey conversion, 7-0; 21: Berkery try, 12-0; 26: O'Rourke try, Brady conversion, 12-7; 36: Berkery try, Mc Closkey conversion, 19-7. 37: Brady penalty, 19-10; 40: O'Riordan try, 24-10; 51: O'Riordan try, 29-10; 56: Bevan try, 34-10; 63: Byrne try, 34-15; 67: Stewart try, 39-15; 70: D'Arcy try, Casey conversion 39-22; 73: McCloskey try, 44-22 .
CUS: A Smith; S Watters, A Malone, B D'Arcy, E Gantly; P Brady, D O'Keeffe; P Flannery, M Griffin, J O'Rourke; P Maher, G Carty; N Byrne, D Lambert (capt), M Brogan. Replacements: G Keegan for Watters (33 mins), D Givens for Griffin (40 mins), G Pitcher for A Smith (49 mins), A Duffy for A Malone (57 mins), D Casey for P Brady (57 mins), C Brehony for Flannery (57 mins), A O'Shea for E Gantly (63 mins).
Gonzaga: R Davy; D Berkery, S McCarron, A Butterly, D Marah; B McCloskey (capt), B O'Riordan; M Conlon, A Feeney; G Dalton; P Mohr, J Egan; L Kehoe, C Gahan, C Ellis. Replacements: J Brennan for Egan (half-time), M Fanning for Marah (half-time), N Bevan for Butterly (45 mins), D Stewart for Berkery (52 mins), P Grant for G Dalton (63 mins), G Hillery for O'Riordan (68 mins), S Lyons for Gahan (69 mins).
Referee: D Tyndall (Leinster).
The Wesley College number eight in the Leinster Schools' Senior Cup match against High School at Kilternan on Monday was Stephen Wallace and not Hugh Hogan as reported.
