RUGBY COLUMN – MARCH 19
By Daire Walsh
ON a mixed weekend for Irish rugby overall, Athy RFC were provided with a reason to be cheerful at Colwyn Park on Friday evening.
Local boy Martin Moloney had been a mainstay of the Ireland U20s on their way to securing a Six Nations title with a round to spare. A superb victory over France at Musgrave Park last Friday week helped them to claim the Championship honours and they had a Grand Slam in their sights for an away trip to Wales seven days later.
While they had already ended a nine-year wait for a Six Nations, you have to go back to 2007 for their most recent underage Slam – when current senior stars Cian Healy and Keith Earls were both involved.
Moloney featured prominently under Noel McNamara at U18 level and the former Clongowes Wood College coach has kept faith with him at blindside flanker. Given all that was at stake, Ireland were understandably nervous in the early exchanges at the seaside resort.
They fell 10-0 adrift to a motivated Welsh side, before Cork Constitution’s Jonathan Wren pounced for a try just shy of the interval. Now that their challenge was back on track, Ireland stepped up a gear on the resumption.
Dylan Tierney-Martin continued his impressive scoring form with a 47th-minute try, converted by stand-in place-kicker Ben Healy. Jac Morgan’s five-pointer for Wales placed a spanner in the works, only for Colm Reilly and Thomas Clarkson to subsequently cross over the whitewash at the opposite end.
Ireland eventually claimed a 26-17 success to complete a clean sweep for the 2019 tournament. In comparison to the high of this magnificent triumph, the mood was decidedly low for the senior men and women’s teams in the aftermath of their crushing defeats to the Welsh.
Ireland were hoping to spoil Wales’ own Grand Slam party when they met at the Principality Stadium on Saturday. The decision to close the roof – on Ireland’s request – caused plenty of headlines in the build-up and it appeared to backfire on the visitors.
Eadestown’s Tadhg Beirne was included for his Six Nations debut in the second-row, but it was Wales who dominated the contest from start to finish. Joe Schmidt’s charges had to wait until stoppage-time to open their account – replacement Jordan Larmour touching down to cut the final deficit to 18 (25-7).
After a superb 2018, an underwhelming spring raises massive concerns ahead of Ireland’s forthcoming World Cup campaign. A disappointing Six Nations ended in a humbling 24-5 reversal for Adam Griggs’ women’s outfit at Cardiff Arms Park on Sunday.
Despite 17-year-old Galway teenager Beibhinn Parsons breaking the deadlock in the opening stages, they couldn’t halt the growing momentum of the hosts. Four defeats out of five and a fifth-place finish has raised concerns about the direction the team is currently moving in, with Kildare native Jenny Murphy (speaking during RTE’s coverage of the game) calling on the IRFU to provide better pathways for the 15s programme.