Cistercian College Roscrea 7

Defending champions Blackrock College advanced to the semi-final stage of the Leinster Schools Senior Cup with a wholly emphatic triumph against Cistercian College Roscrea at Energia Park on Thursday afternoon.

70-time winners of this competition, ‘Rock recorded 10 tries over the course of the action to convincingly overcome the challenge posed by their opponents from the Offaly-Tipperary border. The south Dubliners secured the senior title last year with a 50-21 final win over Gonzaga College and remain the team to beat in 2023.

Justin Vanstone’s charges immediately underlined their credentials in this contest as front-row pair Tom O’Riordan and Mikey Yarr crossed over for tries that were both supplemented by conversions from captain Oliver Coffey. It was already beginning to look ominous for Roscrea, but they sparked into life when their outside centre James Conroy burst over the whitewash in the 11th-minute.

However, although Charlie Naughton’s bonus strike reduced the Roscrea deficit to seven, ‘Rock subsequently reinforced their authority. Supplementing a brace of tries from Luke Kritzinger, Alex Mullan and Tom Brigg also dotted down in fine style for their Metropolitan counterparts.

Coffey added a further seven points in this juncture to ensure ‘Rock brought an unassailable 41-7 cushion into the interval.

Coffey was leading by example at scrum-half and stretched his side further in front on the resumption with a long-distance penalty. To their credit, Roscrea dug deep defensively and it wasn’t until the 55th-minute that ‘Rock bagged their seventh try of the proceedings.

On this occasion it was full-back Charlie Moloney who raced over the line and with Coffey bringing his personal tally up to 16 points from the resulting conversion, Blackrock continued to send out a statement of intent.

‘Rock head coach Vanstone had an ideal opportunity to examine the reserve options at his disposal and Derry Moloney capped a fine cameo off the bench with a five-pointer of his own. Replacement hooker Gregg Barron joined him on the scoresheet, before winger James O’Sullivan rounded off a dominant ‘Rock display with a try on the stroke of full-time.

Scorers for Blackrock College: Tries – L Kritzinger (2), T O’Riordan, M Yarr, A Mullan, T Brigg, C Molony, D Moloney, G Barron, J O’Sullivan. Pens – O Coffey (2). Cons – O Coffey (5), H Whelan (2).

Scorers for Cistercian College Roscrea: Tries – J Conroy. Cons – C Naughton.

BLACKROCK COLLEGE: C Molony; J O’Sullivan, L Kritzinger, M Walsh, E Walsh; C O’Shaughnessy, O Coffey; T O’Riordan, M Yarr, A Mullan; M Colreavy, T Butler; C Tonge, J Angulo, T Brigg.

Replacements: D Maguire for Colreavy (50), P Moore for O’Riordan, G Barron for Yarr, S Bishti for Mullan, C Hodges for Brigg (all 56), D Moloney for Kritzinger, H Whelan for O’Shaughnessy, J Larkin for Coffey (all 59).

CISTERCIAN COLLEGE ROSCREA: C O’Sullivan; D Punch, J Conroy, B Kelly, R Carney; C Naughton, S Finlay; R Og Doody, L Fitzpatrick, C Kennedy; C Schofield, R Glynn; D Byrne, B Hayes, R Whelan.

Replacements: A Walsh for O’Sullivan (h-t), M Metcalfe for Kennedy (39), J Deegan for Kelly, R Tynan for Schofield (both 49), J Finn for Byrne (52), F Fleetwood for Naughton, J Powell for Finlay (both 57), H Grant for Doody (60).

Referee: R Jenkinson (LRR).