Everyone’s still hungry at Con
RUGBY
Daire Walsh
THEY may have secured their sixth All-Ireland League title in May, but versatile forward Evan Mintern insists Cork Constitution’s insatiable desire for silverware hasn’t dimmed in the off-season.
Despite ending the 2018/19 campaign on top of the AIL ladder, the failure to add the Bateman Cup to their trophy cabinet was something of a sticking point for Mintern and his team-mates.
This ensures the Leesiders will be hell-bent on proving they are the best team in the land – starting with a league opener at home to provincial rivals Garryowen this coming Saturday.
“We have the Charity Cup, Munster Senior Cup and the League, but we don’t have the Bateman Cup,” Mintern remarked at the All-Ireland League launch in Donnybrook recently.
“Because we lost in the final of the [Munster] Senior Cup last year, we didn’t qualify for that.
“No matter the amount of silverware we have, we still want to get more.
“That’s the good thing about the club, everyone is hungry.
““Everyone wants to do better.
“Winning the league is perfect, it’s great craic, but there’s still that thing of… we won the league.
“Technically we were the best club in the country, but we lost a game in the [MSC] final against Garryowen that didn’t put us in contention for the Bateman Cup.
“It niggles at you, thinking ‘are we really?’
“You really want to nail the point home that you are the best.”
If they are to retain the top-flight crown for the first time in the club’s history, they will have to do so without a host of last season’s squad.
“Alex McHenry and Shane Daly are also expected to be on Munster duty as the months progress, with the latter on board for the province’s forthcoming Tour of South Africa.
Nonetheless, they are expected to be in the shake-up for top honours once more.
Ever-present director of coaching Brian Hickey has guided Con to appearances in the last four AIL finals, with defeats in 2016 and 2018 preceding a brace of magnificent successes at the expense of north Dublin outfit Clontarf.
“We’ve lost a few players. We’ve lost a seven, an eight. A full-back, a scrum-half.
“Then we’ve fellas like Ross O’Neill, a brilliant seven.
“Dave Hyland, he’s a brilliant back-row. He’s young. I saw him playing one senior game last year, he was top quality. Then full-back; Jonathan Wren, Sean French, someone like that [can step in].
“That’s the thing with playing in Con. Everyone is replaceable.
“The wheels keeps turning and you move on.”
The AIL kicks into gear this weekend, with of Leeside’s big clubs Cork Con, Highfield and Dolphin at home.
Highfield take on Malone at Woodleigh Park at 2.30pm on Saturday, while Dolphin face Cashel at Musgrave Park at the same time.