Munster School's Senior Cup final; PBC 13 CBC 2:Presentation Brothers College lifted the Munster Schools Senior Cup for a record-equalling 27th time at Musgrave Park yesterday.
Conditions weren't ideal, but the rugby was still handsome. An artic wind whipped in over the North Terrace and blew towards the Sunday's Well end. It stayed dry, the sun peeped out, but what emerged from the pulse and excitement of this old firm derby was an old-fashioned Munster forward battle. And the war in the trenches was won by a magnificently organised and more cohesive Pres pack.
Loosehead Peter Kelleher, lock Dan Lucey and men-of-the-match - if such words can be coined - were the backrow unit of Niall Barry, Brian O'Hara and Peter O'Mahony, all inspirational.
If the fight was won by Pres up front, then a major reason for that was the aggression exerted at the breakdown by their backrow, and when in possession the PBC pack controlled the ball magnificently.
"We went out with the attitude that every one had number 7 on their back," said winning coach Don Buckley. "Everyone was in on the tackles, everyone was trying to forage for the ball."
"When you have special players like Brian, Peter and Niall in the backrow it really helps your cause."
Their rush defence also caught Christians off guard. Too often a CBC player knocked on at the point of impact or was penalised for holding on in the tackle. It just wasn't their day.
And though playing into the capricious wind and starved of possession for long periods in the first half, PBC still managed to conjure up two superb tries, one an incredible individual effort from wing Simon Zebo, the other from the omnipresent Kelleher.
To their credit Christians never gave up when trailing by 10 points for most of the second half, but made too many unforced errors in sight of the try-line.
And it started so well for Christians with their best player, Chris Nolan, making a telling short side break from a scrum just outside the PBC 22, only to be hauled down by Gavin Nugent within metres of the line.
The first try arrived in the 11th minute. CBC's Robbie O'Donoghue was put under pressure when clearing from just inside his half, Zebo gathered and took off on a 50-metre dash, beating four tacklers to score in the corner.
Pres struck for their second try in the 18th minute, mauling to within five metres of the line from a 22-metre lineout. The ball was first switched left, then scrumhalf Dave O'Driscoll moved it the other way, finding Peter O'Mahony who off-loaded the scoring pass to Peter Kelleher. The prop's momentum carried him over the line.
Even up against such difficult forces, CBC finally got on the scoreboard in the 28th minute when Odhran Mulrooney landed a 22-metre penalty.
Scott Deasy extended Pres' lead to 13-3 in the 43rd minute, as CBC continued to struggle to make the hard yards.
On the hour mark a CBC player took possession from a lineout five metres from the line but was driven back with fury by Peter O'Mahony. That cameo alone told the story of the day.
PBC: G Nugent; T Cullinane, A Rose, B Kelleher, S Zebo; S Deasy, D O'Driscoll; P Kelleher, R Corkery, R Darmody; D Lucey, M Kenefick; N Barry, B O'Hara, P O'Mahony. Replacements: J McCarthy for Cullinane (60 mins); D Touhy for Lucey (63 mins); B Cagney for Corkery (67 mins); C O'Mahony for O'Driscoll (70 + 6 mins)
CBC: O Mulrooney; D Loftus, C Martin, N Courtney, Shaun McCarthy; R O'Donoghue, C Nolan; J Ryan, A Cudmore, J Bransfield; T Keogh, K O'Dwyer; R O'Connor, Shane McCarthy (capt), B O'Callaghan. Replacements: J Mulcahy for Keogh, J Crowley for O'Connor (both h-t); B O'Regan for Shaun McCarthy (40 mins); A Foley (51 mins).
Referee: L Colgan (Mar).
