RUGBY: LEINSTER SCHOOLS SENIOR CUP FIRST ROUND PREVIEW – NEWBRIDGE COLLEGE V KILKENNY COLLEGE
By Daire Walsh
ALMOST seven weeks on from their impressive League Final triumph over Cistercian College Roscrea, Newbridge College will kick-start their Leinster Schools Senior Cup odyssey against Kilkenny College at County Carlow Football Club this afternoon (Tuesday 27 January, KO 2.30pm).
Following a strong showing in last year’s competition (they reached the semi-final stage before bowing out to eventual winners Blackrock College), there are high expectations surrounding this Newbridge outfit, and with the exception of one long-term injury absentee, head coach Dave Brew revealed that they will have a full-strength squad to choose from.
“It’s rugby, so you’re always going to have a niggle or two. There’s always a worry in the air somewhere, but we should be okay. We have one long-term injury, who we knew wasn’t going to make it anyway. That’s one loss from the team that won the league before Christmas,” Brew remarked.
While many sides in the opening round of the cup will be fairly cold heading into their respective ties, Newbridge can draw on the experience of playing Kilkenny in a league quarter-final before Christmas. Brew was quick to play down the significance of that game in relation to today’s contest, however, as the adverse conditions strongly dictated the pattern of the play.
“I would normally say yes [that the league game would be a help], but when we played them the game was on in Newbridge. I don’t know if you remember, it was very foggy there for a week in Newbridge before Christmas. Literally, I couldn’t see the other touchline when we were playing.”
“We won 6-0 on the day, but it was one of those where one pass might have been intercepted and would have seen Kilkenny into the semi-final. We’ll be taking them as strong as any opposition we’ve played this season.”
Along with today’s meeting of Wesley College and Roscrea in Naas, Newbridge’s game is one of only two opening round outings to take place outside of the newly-revamped astro pitch in Donnybrook.
Playing on the 4G surface at the tail end of 2014 certainly altered the overall approach of Newbridge, and now that they are back on grass, Brew is aware that they will have to re-adapt to a more familiar environment.
“The game is definitely different when you are playing on the astro up in Donnybrook, having played the league all the way through on grass and then the semi-finals being on the astro. It has certainly made a change in the way you approach it and the way you think about playing.”
“Obviously, we’re in the opposite now in the fact that we’re back on grass. Carlow can be quite heavy at times. I think it is going to be a day for the forwards to try and win the battle, and then hopefully the backs will be able to do some damage out wide.”
In stark contrast to their hectic league campaign, Newbridge have been relatively idle in recent weeks with just two challenge games under their belt. Inclement weather led to the cancellation of a third encounter, but in spite of their limited match practice in 2015 to date, Brew knows that his charges are eager to get going again.
“We were supposed to have three games. We only ended up having two because the weather put paid to one. We were in Limerick, and then we were in Rockwell to play Rockwell College. Everything went well there. It’s a difficult thing that you go from the league where you’re playing every single week. I think we played nine weeks in a row.”
“From the league final to our match [against Kilkenny], we’ve seven weeks where we’d no competitive [game] also. It’s strange trying to fill in the time, but the guys are raring to go. The waiting has been long the last few weeks. You know, it’s cold and you’re calling sessions off because of frost. You really just want to get back and so everyone is itchy feet at this stage,” Brew concluded.