Rugby
Clongowes in command
Daire Walsh
John Maher and Milo Cruise O’Brien bagged to tries at Castle Avenue, when Clongowes Wood College secured a 21-0 opening round victory against Kilkenny in the Leinster Schools Junior Cup.
Five-time champions Clongowes opened the scoring with just five minutes gone. Full-back Maher dotted down at the end of a lung-bursting run, and out-half David Wilkinson converted.
Wilkinson extended the Clane school’s lead with a 15th minute penalty, and even though prop Ryan McMahon was sin-binned in the latter stages of the half, Clongowes had a 10-0 interval lead. Kilkenny battled on the resumption but Clongowes weathered this storm, and thanks to a brace of successful penalties by Wilkinson, they had a 16-point cushion with just 10 minutes remaining.
In the final attack of the game, replacement O’Brien crashed over at the end of a powerful maul to seal an emphatic triumph for Clongowes.
In a repeat of the Senior Cup draw, Clongowes face CBC Monkstown in the next round of the Junior competition, while Newbridge College can look forward to a quarter-final date with Belvedere College. Holders Blackrock College were paired with Presentation College, Bray, and in another repeat of the senior competition, 2015 finalists Terenure College will be up against St Michael’s College.