Thanks in no small part to a brace of tries from Brian Walsh and James Browne, the 71-time champions progressed to their fourth-consecutive decider at this grade – which will be held at Tallaght Stadium on St Patrick’s Day this year due to the ongoing redevelopment of the RDS Arena.

Champions at this grade 10 years ago – thanks to a final victory over Belvedere College – Roscrea came into this contest on the back of an impressive quarter-final win against Gonzaga College. The side from the Offaly-Tipperary border initially controlled possession, only for some handling errors to prevent them from gaining sustained attacking momentum.

A knock-on from winger Aiden Vetjens also halted ‘Rock’s first meaningful entry into the opposition ‘22’, but the south Dublin powerhouses ultimately broke the deadlock on the stroke of 10 minutes when outside centre Johnny O’Sullivan crossed the whitewash at the end of a sweeping attack.

Fly-half Patrick Clancy expertly supplied the extras to this five-pointer and after No 8 Walsh was released through a gap for their second try in the 14th minute, he contributed another successful conversion to leave ‘Rock in a strong position at the Donnybrook venue.

While the concession of these scores was undoubtedly a set-back, Roscrea got themselves into contention after hooker Eoin Naughton applied the finishing touches to a line-out maul for a much-needed converted try.

Yet although superb defensive work from their opponents stopped them from claiming almost certain scores on either flank, ‘Rock crossed for a third try at the end of the opening period – Walsh doubling his personal account after breaking free from a set-piece move.

Another Clancy conversion offered Blackrock a 21-7 interval advantage, but this lead was reduced to 11 points when Jack Deegan convincingly slotted over a close-range penalty less than three minutes after the resumption.

This only provided Roscrea with a temporary respite as another patient attack inside their ‘22’ was rounded off by Browne’s diving finish in the right-corner. Despite Clancy firing off-target for the first time from the kicking tee, ‘Rock appeared to have one foot in the 17 March final.

However, Roscrea weren’t prepared to go down without a fight and after finding himself in space on the stroke of 50 minutes, Deegan burst over the Blackrock line for an outstanding individual try. The dynamic number 12 also added a conversion to cut the gap to nine points moving into the final-quarter, but after captain Sami Bishti and Browne dotted down for additional tries, ‘Rock ultimately sealed their spot in the upcoming showpiece against Terenure with 21 points to spare.

Scorers for Blackrock College: Tries: B Walsh 2, J Browne 2, J O’Sullivan, S Bishti Cons: P Clancy 4

Scorers for Cistercian College Roscrea: Tries: E Naughton, J Deegan Pens: J Deegan Cons: J Deegan 2

BLACKROCK COLLEGE: J Reddan; J Browne, J O’Sullivan, B White, A Vetjens (R Keogh 70); P Clancy (D Cadden 70), A Lindner (L Coffey 70); B Guerin (L Golden 69), H O’Neill (G Eggers 70), S Bishti (M Cullen 70); G Wall (C Power 70), A Smykovskiy; M Walsh, M O’Sullivan, B Walsh (R Savage 69).

CISTERCIAN COLLEGE ROSCREA: S Cusack; K Dunne, R Carney, J Deegan, H Finlay (F Higgins 48); A Moloney (R O’Sullivan 54), F Carney (R Flynn 70); O Doody, E Naughton (R O’Neill 70), H Maher (W Powell 70); J Walsh (A Kinsella Garcia 70), J Finn; S Killeen (P Deegan 70), E Brophy (J Miller h-t), W Hayes.

Referee: P Haycock (LRR).