Leinster Colleges Senior Cup
Clongowes run in 70 points
CLONGOWES WOOD COLLEGE……………………………………. 70
CASTLEKNOCK COLLEGE………………………………………………. 08
By DAIRE WALSH
Clongowes Wood College made a strong statement of intent at Donnybrook on Thursday afternoon, when they amassed a grand total of 12 tries during their 62-point demolition of Castleknock College in the opening round of the Leinster Schools’ Senior Cup.
Tougher tests will await the Clane school in the latter stages of this year’s competition, but with eight players that featured in their narrow final defeat to Blackrock last March still involved in the current set-up, they will not be short of motivation.
Rowan Osborne, James Lappin, Mulcahy and out-half Jonathan Glynn all made strong breaks into enemy territory, and although Glynn was halted just shy of the line, Connors ultimately powered over after receiving a short off-load from prop Nicholas Rinklin.
Glynn was off-target from a tricky conversion attempt on the right-wing, but there were already considerable signs of momentum from Clongowes. A massive break by Mulcahy from deep looked like yielding another score 12 minutes in.
This was only a temporary reprieve for the Dubliners, though, and when their subsequent scrum was overturned by the Clongowes pack, Connors was on hand to finish off a maul underneath the posts.
Glynn’s bonus kick was accurate this time, and it was the eight-time champions who once again altered the scoreboard on the stroke of 20 minutes.
Much of the spadework was done by scrum-half Osborne in the lead up to this score, but Connors still showed an abundance of pace and power before securing a memorable hat-trick.
Rinklin jinked his way through for Clongowes’ fourth try eight minutes prior to the interval before Geoff Brookes, opened the scoring for Castleknock from a penalty but Clongowes held an unassailable 29-3 interval cushion.
The second half was a mere formality as Clongowes added another 41 points and now advance to the quarter-finals along with old rivals Newbridge College.
CLONGOWES WOOD COLLEGE: Michael Silvester; James Lappin, Colm Mulcahy, Michael McDermott, Conor Murray; Jonathan Glynn, Rowan Osborne; Nicholas Rinklin, John Molony, Charles Carroll; Daniel O’Mahoney, Tim Burke; William Connors, David Mongey, Sean McCrohan.
Replacements: Patrick Nulty for McCrohan (25-35 & 49), Edward Carroll for C Carroll (49), Thomas Monaghan for Osborne (57), Hugo McDermott for Molony (59), Joseph Murphy for Glynn, Fionann Madden for Murray, Daniel O’Leary for Rinklin (all 65).