By Daire Walsh

The Leinster Under 18 Clubs side kick-started their interprovincial series in spectacular style at Navan RFC on Saturday afternoon, when a total of 10 tries helped Dan van Zyl’s outfit towards a comprehensive victory over their Ulster counterparts.

With five participants in the starting line-up – including captain Conor Farrell – Navan were well represented on the day, and Balreask Old proved to be a popular choice of venue for this encounter.

However, despite what the final scoreline might suggest, the visitors actually made a bright start to the proceedings, and following strong work inside the Leinster 22-metre-line by centre Tom Campbell and Conor Cambridge, Armagh out-half Cormac Fox broke the deadlock from an expertly-converted penalty.

A knock-on by the Leinster rearguard had led to the concession of this 7th minute place-kick, but although it wasn’t an ideal start for the Blues, it ultimately proved to be a false dawn for their opponents. From their first foray into enemy territory three minutes after Fox’s opener, quick hands by front-row pair Jack Aungier and Ben Devlin provided the platform for right-wing Ben McEntagart to drive over on his home patch.

An outstanding conversion on the right-flank by Skerries club man Ciaran Frawley increased his team’s advantage, and by the mid-way point in the half, they had created an extraordinary 23-point gap between themselves and Ulster.

A strong Frawley break out of defence was finished off emphatically by left-wing Chris Maloney, and after the towering Peter Howard added a terrific individual five-pointer, excellent approach play from Conor Hand enabled scrum-half Darragh Sweeney to dive underneath the posts.

Ulster were left reeling by the concession of these scores, and with the all-action Devlin joining loosehead prop Greg McGrath in the try-scoring stakes seven minutes before the interval, Leinster developed a seemingly insurmountable 36-3 buffer.

Indeed, with Portlaoise’s Sean Masterson introduced to the second-row, Leinster were able to maintain their momentum upon the resumption, and although Ulster managed to hold firm from Leinster’s initial passages, Frawley and Howard combined to put Birr’s Maloney through for his second try of the day on the left-hand side.

Frawley’s bonus kick was wide of the mark on this occasion, but with Leinster showing no signs of dropping their intensity levels, it seemed like only a matter of time before additional scores arrived.

This is precisely what happened 48 minutes in, as a stray pass was intercepted by Shane Walshe inside his own half, and with Ulster committing bodies into attack, he raced home for a breakaway unconverted try.

Now that the final-quarter was beckoning, the Leinster coaching staff opted to unload the bench, as well as re-introducing lock Jack Regan (son of former Offaly hurler Daithi) for the injured Hand.

With Ulster also utilising their reserves, the latter stages were somewhat disjointed, but thanks to a seven-point salvo by Christian Byrne (Navan’s sixth representative on the field of play), and a second try in stoppage-time for Howard, Leinster ensured that their minds were well-prepared ahead of upcoming meetings against Connacht and Munster.

FT: Leinster Under-18 Clubs 60, Ulster Under-18 Clubs 3

LEINSTER UNDER-18 CLUBS

Shane Walshe (Navan RFC); Ben McEntagart (Navan RFC), Peter Howard (Cill Dara RFC), Conor Nash (Navan RFC), Chris Maloney (Birr RFC); Ciaran Frawley (Skerries RFC), Darragh Sweeney (Malahide RFC); Greg McGrath (Wexford RFC), Ben Devlin (Kilkenny RFC), Jack Aungier (Suttonians RFC); Joe Carley (Enniscorthy RFC), Jack Regan (Birr RFC); Conor Hand (Navan RFC), Conor Farrell (Navan RFC) CAPTAIN, Paul Boyle (Gorey RFC).

Replacements: Sean Masterson (Portlaoise RFC) for Regan (half-time); Sean O’Brien (Mullingar RFC) for Maloney (44), Niall O’Neill (Naas RFC) for Sweeney (47), Conor Maguire (Boyne RFC) for Devlin, Eoin Corcoran (Longford RFC) for McGrath, Ruadhan McDonnell (Longford RFC) for Boyle, Stephen McGivern (Dundalk RFC) for Aungier (all 49); Christian Byrne (Navan RFC) for Frawley (50), Regan for Hand (54).

ULSTER UNDER-18 CLUBS

Thomas McGookin (Ballycare RFC); Nathan Graham (Malone RFC), Jack Murphy (Malone RFC), Tom Campbell (Malone RFC), Josh Henry (Randalstown RFC); Cormac Fox (Armagh RFC), Conor Cambridge (Carrickfergus RFC); Blaise McKnight (Newry RFC), Daniel O’Neill (Rainey Old Boys RFC), Corey Logan (City of Derry RFC); Robin Hughes (Banbridge RFC), Kieran Thompson (Ballymena RFC); Ryan Hughes (Dromore RFC) CAPTAIN, Kalem Travers (Instonians RFC), Aaron Hall (Ballycare RFC).

Replacements: Mark Brown (Omagh RFC) for O’Neill (half-time); William Holden (Portadown RFC) for Cambridge (48); James Morisi McGoon (Ballynahinch RFC) for Hughes (49), Michael Browne (Malone RFC) for Fox (51), Brendan McSorley (Clogher Valley RFC) for Hughes, Daniel Faulkner (Letterkenny RFC) for Graham (both 61), Fintan Quinn (Rainey Old Boys RFC) for McKnight (64), Michael McColgan (Omagh RFC) for Logan (72).

Referee: Brian Deighan (IRFU).