Schools' Rugby Leinster Senior Cup quarter-final/St Mary's College 27 Gonzaga College 10: Normally at this juncture of a cup campaign one can safely predict which school will be chiselled into the record books come St Patrick's Day, or at worst narrow it down to two sides.
No such luck this year as St Mary's tossed their name into the growing hat of contenders yesterday with a comprehensive dismantling of Gonzaga that sees them through to the February 26th semi-final. The winner from today's promised epic between defending champions St Michael's and CBC Monkstown, everyone's outside bet for the title, will provide the Rathmines lads with opposition.
Perhaps the most valuable asset in the competition will be a place-kicker. Clongowes proved as much on Sunday when Ciarán Wade's late intervention ensured they get a second shot at Blackrock on Friday, and in Darragh Fitzgerald St Mary's appear to possess the most accurate placed-ball merchant in Leinster.
If not for the outhalf's consistent left peg, this match would have gone right to the wire as Gonzaga, while lightweight up front, had enough individual quality to keep their more esteemed opponents in check for most of the contest.
Up front captain and number eight Dan Kane was hard to spot, largely because he was continually down in the dirt, making a nuisance of himself. The stand-out Gonzaga forward though was flanker Dominic Ryan who did a passable impression of Schalk Burger in the manner he smashed into the tackle. Out wide, the McEvoy brothers, centre William and winger Daniel, constantly threatened while outhalf Kilian Tuite usually got his hands free to offload.
Gonzaga entered the game with a refreshing attitude in the face of adversity, even surprising the favourites by racing into a 10-3 lead thanks to a William McEvoy penalty, cancelled out by Fitzgerald, and a Daniel McEvoy try.
Fitzgerald reduced arrears almost immediately with his second penalty. Five minutes later his captain Richard Bent opted for the lineout over another certain three points as the bigger pack began to turn the screw.
It proved the right option as two phases later fullback Darren Hudson burst into the line before deftly putting winger Ray Crotty over with a reverse pass. Fitzgerald slotted the conversion to leave it 13-10 at the turn.
Fitzgerald took over thereafter as Gonzaga were continually punished for indiscipline at the breakdown. Mostly justified but St Mary's forwards played it smart by rarely rolling away in the tackle. Three more penalties put them 22-10 clear while William McEvoy was off target with the only response.
Any chance of a comeback required desperation tactics, and Gonzaga duly ran from everywhere, but this merely led to handling errors and turnovers with centre Maurice Walsh profiting with the killer try six minutes from time.
Physically St Mary's have the right credentials in Bent, lock Robert Field and prop Jack McGrath, while Hudson and Crotty are arguably the best outside backs in the tournament. In short, they'll take some stopping.
SCORING SEQUENCE: 7 mins: W McEvoy pen, 0-3; 21: D Fitzgerald pen, 3-3; 24: D McEvoy try, 3-8; W McEvoy conv, 3-10; 25: D Fitzgerald pen, 6-10; 30: R Crotty try, 11-10; D Fitzgerald conv, 13-10. Half-time. 38: D Fitzgerald pen, 16-10; 42: D Fitzgerald pen, 19-10; 56: D Fitzgerald pen, 22-10; 64: M Walsh try, 27-10.
ST MARY'S COLLEGE: D Hudson; I O'Neill, M Walsh, P Finnegan, R Crotty; D Fitzgerald, S O'Donnell; J McGrath, W Andreucetti, R Ferris; O McGill, R Field; R Lennon, B O'Connell, R Bent (capt). Replacements: K O'Sullivan for O McGill (61 mins), E Moriarty for P Finnegan (65 mins), L Curran for R Field (70 mins).
GONZAGA COLLEGE: F Doherty; N Hanratty, W McEvoy, G Greene, D McEvoy; K Tuite, J Cooney; K Larchet, N Rutledge, C Farrell; J Whelan, S Costello; D Doyle, D Ryan, D Kane (capt). Replacements: R Kenny for S Costello (38 mins), N Cullen for G Greene (52 mins), D Layden for N Hanratty (61 mins), C Mousney for C Farrell, G Fitzgerald for K Larchet (both 67 mins).
Referee: E O'Dowd(ARLB).
Revised Fixtures
TODAY: Senior Cup: St Michael's v CBC Monkstown (Donnybrook).
THURSDAY: Junior Cup: Clongowes Wood v Blackrock (Templeville Road); Cistercian Roscrea v Belvedere (Lakelands).
FRIDAY: Junior Cup: St Gerard's v Gonzaga (Anglesea Road). Senior Cup replay: Clongowes Wood v Blackrock (Donnybrook, 2pm).
SUNDAY: Junior Cup: St Michael's v Terenure (Donnybrook).
