Leinster ‘A’ 29 Munster ‘A’ 36
There was heartbreak for Leinster ‘A’ at the RDS on Good Friday as despite a 19-point haul from Noel Reid, they suffered an extra-time defeat to Munster ‘A’ in a titanic British & Irish Cup semi-final battle…
Leinster ‘A’ narrowly went down to their provincial rivals at the penultimate stage of the British & Irish Cup in an open and exciting derby match played in front of a 4,895-strong crowd.
Leinster ‘A’ had a setback in the build-up to this game as regular scrum half John Cooney was ruled out with a broken jaw sustained playing for Lansdowne, which opened the door for Luke McGrath to partner Noel Reid at half-back.
It did not seem to unsettle the hosts in the early stages though. Out-half Reid was presented with an opportunity to open the scoring five minutes in, but his 30-metre penalty kick drifted past the posts.
This was something of a let-off for Munster ‘A’, and they responded by exerting pressure on the home defence high up the pitch.
Their good work eventually resulted in a ninth minute penalty, converted with relative ease by out-half Scott Deasy from an angle on the right.
Leinster ‘A’ had plenty of possession in the major areas of the pitch in the opening quarter and they deservedly levelled at 3-3 thanks to a precise penalty from Reid.
Munster ‘A’ rumbled forward and set up another penalty chance for Deasy in the 23rd minute which he confidently slotted from close range.
The 2010 British & Irish Cup finalists were becoming more and more dangerous as the half wore on, but Leinster ‘A’ were still posing plenty of problems for their southern rivals. Reid levelled matters once more with a neat penalty six minutes from the break.
Nevertheless, Deasy was on hand to register his third penalty of the evening just four minutes later. As the intensity increased, Reid had a chance to finish the half on a high with a long range penalty, but his final effort came up short leaving Leinster ‘A’ 9-6 behind at the break.
It had been compelling fare in the opening half, but it was nothing compared to the pulsating nature of the game upon the resumption, which incredibly produced four tries in the space of nine minutes.
First of all, Leinster ‘A’ took the lead for the very first time with a try from McGrath at the end of a long maul in the 46th minute. Munster ‘A’ number 8 Paddy Butler had been dispatched to the sin-bin just before that.
That was followed swiftly by a second try courtesy of flanker Dominic Ryan who profited from excellent approach play by his back row colleague Leo Auva’a.
These scores also included conversions from Reid to give Leinster ‘A’ a 20-9 lead and Colin McEntee’s men seemed in good stead at this point, aiming to secure their first final appearance in the cross border competition.
But just when it seemed like the tie was drifting away from Munster ‘A’, they came roaring back into the reckoning with converted tries from Reid’s Clontarf club-mate Barry O’Mahony and winger Luke O’Dea in the 51st and 55th minutes respectively.
This left the hosts slightly shellshocked initially, but they showed excellent composure to regain the lead with a brace of penalties from Reid, whose radar was well and truly in check by this point.
Munster ‘A’ were proving to be a tough nut to crack though, and they brought the sides level for a fourth time thanks to a fourth penalty from Cork Constitution clubman Deasy with 16 minutes remaining.
Heading into the final quarter, things did tighten up considerably, as neither side wanted to concede ground to the other.
Deasy had a chance to win it for Munster with two late penalties at the end of normal time, but he came up short on both occasions which meant that it would take extra-time to separate the sides.
Leinster ‘A’ drew first blood in the additional period with a fifth Reid penalty four minutes in, but Munster ‘A’ rallied with a penalty from Deasy.
The visitors, coached by Ian Costello, crucially added a final minute converted try by powerful prop Dave Kilcoyne to lead 36-29 heading into the final ten minutes of play.
During this time, Munster ‘A’ enjoyed the majority of the play and they opted for a containment game in the Leinster half.
The Blues did manage to gain some precious ground in the final moments, but they were unable to find a way through a stern red-shirted defence, as a memorable odyssey in this year’s competition for McEntee’s side came to an end.
LEINSTER ‘A’ SCORERS: L. McGrath (1 try), D. Ryan (1 try), N. Reid (2 conversions and 5 penalties)
MUNSTER ‘A’ SCORERS: B. O’Mahony (1 try), L. O’Dea (1 try), D. Kilcoyne (1 try), S. Deasy (3 conversions and 5 penalties)
LEINSTER ‘A’:
15: David Kearney (Matt Healy, 90)
14: Andrew Conway
13: Brendan Macken
12: Colm O’Shea (Cathal Marsh, half-time; Andrew Boyle, 44)
11: Fionn Carr
10: Noel Reid
9: Luke McGrath
1: Jack McGrath
2: Aaron Dundon (Thomas Sexton, 79)
3: Martin Moore (Jack O’Connell, 71)
4: Damian Browne (Jordi Murphy, 76)
5: Mark Flanagan
6: Rhys Ruddock CAPTAIN
7: Dominic Ryan
8: Leo Auva’a (Jordi Murphy, 51-53, blood sub)
REPLACEMENT NOT USED: Jordan Coughlan.
MUNSTER ‘A’: S Scanlon; L O’Dea, D Barnes, JJ Hanrahan, I Dineen; S Deasy, D Williams; D Kilcoyne, S Henry, J Ryan, B Hayes, I Nagle, B Holland CAPTAIN, B O’Mahony, P Butler.
REPLACEMENTS: D Fogarty, P Borlase, P Donnellan, B O’Hara, C Sheridan, D Cusack, R O’Mahony.
REFEREE: Ian Davies (WRU), ASSISTANT REFEREES: Mark Patton (IRFU), Jonathan Peak (IRFU), 4th OFFICIAL: Eanna O’Dowd (Leinster Rugby Referees), 5th OFFICIAL: Aidan Fogarty (Leinster Rugby Referees)