RUGBY OPINION
Anticipation building ahead of Six Nations opener
By Daire Walsh
FOR Joe Schmidt and his Ireland team, 2014 was a year to remember. Following the impressive RBS Six Nations Championship success, they secured consecutive victories in the Guinness Series against South Africa, Georgia and Australia to reach third place in the Rugby World Rankings.
This has led to huge anticipation amongst the nation’s rugby fraternity, who are hoping that the forthcoming Six Nations campaign will be the springboard for a memorable World Cup in England later this year.
Stadio Olimpico will be the venue this Saturday for Ireland as they kick-start the defence of their Championship crown, and although performances at provincial level are the best gauge of form, the Wolfhounds game against the England Saxons in the newly-developed Irish Independent Park last Friday did provide some food for thought.
A strong team was chosen for this outing in Cork, with the most notable selections being the return of Sean O’Brien in the back-row, and Ian Madigan receiving game-time at out-half. Madigan contributed three penalties on the night, but owing to tries by Henry Slade and Christian Wade, it was the Saxons who emerged with the spoils on a scoreline of 18-9.
In general, it was a worthwhile run-out for players who have been working hard behind the scenes at Carton House, but it remains to be seen if it will have any bearing on Schmidt’s starting fifteen for the Italian tie.
Kildare’s Fergus McFadden was forced off during the first-quarter with a rib cartilage injury, which will unfortunately rule him out of contention for the upcoming fixtures against the Azzurri and France.
Ireland’s Under-20 journey will also kick-off this weekend, and new head coach Nigel Carolan has included Lilywhites trio Billy Dardis, Joey Carberry and Jeremy Loughman in his squad, having been impressed by the strides they have made under Girvan Dempsey in the Leinster Academy.
In domestic rugby, Naas maintained their excellent recent form with a hard-earned 14-3 victory over Seapoint in Kilbogget Park on Friday last. The Forenaughts men led 9-3 heading into the second period courtesy of three Peter Osborne penalties, before a second-half try helped them towards a third straight league win.
This moves them up to ninth-place in Division 2A, within six points of rivals NUIM Barnhall – who lost out to Skerries on the same night by a margin of 24 points (32-8) despite registering a first-half try through Niall Delahunt.
Meanwhile, Kildare school’s Newbridge College and Clongowes Wood College made strong starts to life in the Leinster Schools’ Senior Cup. Newbridge scored a total of nine tries in a 57-10 success over Cistercian College Roscrea at County Carlow, and will now face St Andrew’s College at the quarter-final stage.
Clongowes, finalists in 2014, will also be confident heading into their last-eight fixture with competition favourites St Michael’s College. They recorded the most comprehensive win in the first-round (70-8) against Castleknock College, with Colm Mulcahy helping himself to 4 of the Clane side’s 12 tries.
Both schools will also make their Junior Cup bows in the coming week, with Newbridge taking on Gonzaga College, and Clongowes facing off against title holders Blackrock College.