‘Nure just need to ‘keep calm and carry on’. They have notched up 109 points in their last three games and are easily favourites again on Saturday.
Results elsewhere will have an impact on Old Crescent and could make the next few weeks uncomfortable for them.
A home win is on the cards.
JP Fanagan Premier – Super Six (Phase 2) – Section B: Terenure College RFC 29, Greystones 40;
J4 League – Section C: Terenure College RFC B 36, NUIM Barnhall B 3;
The survey aimed at club players of all levels is available online here.The questions will vary from examining how many games are played, when they are played, how long is spent travelling to games and what players would see as an ideal structure for domestic rugby in the future.
The IRFU are keen to further understand how players experience of the game is influenced, why they remain involved in rugby and also why they may have become less involved.
Scott Walker, IRFU director of rugby development and the club game, said: “Rugby has seen a massive surge in popularity over the last 10 years in Ireland at all levels of the game.
“But as the game has grown, so have the appetites and circumstances of how people involved in the game ‘consume’ their rugby.
“What we are hoping to achieve through the survey is a broad picture of how players experience their rugby.”
He added: “While we will be looking for this information to help us, ultimately the opinions that we will receive will go a long way to helping stakeholders enjoy their rugby in a way that they feel is best.
“This is the opportunity for rugby players across Ireland to have their say on how they want their game to grow and what changes may need to take place to make that happen.”
Your Game, Your Say – rugby players click here to take the survey.
Weekends don’t get much better on the pitch than this – a fifty point win, all of our sides in competition winning; and not one, not two, but three league titles in 24 hours! Where to start? To Towns Park in Midleton, where the 1st XV continued their march towards 1B with a 52-14 win. Seven tries in all put paid to the home side’s chances of upsetting the league leaders. Tries from Conor Kelly, Alex Dunlop, Harry Moore, Captain Conor Gildea, Conor Moffat and two for the team’s top try scorer, James O’Neill. This was an important bonus point win, as both Corinthians and UCC picked up 5 points, so Nure stay top of the pile on points difference. With three games left, our points difference is over 70 points better than the chasing pack. The next round of matches on the 23rd March will go a long way towards shaping the final table, as UCC are not playing so wins for Corinthians or Nure will push us further ahead.
Also on Saturday, the J5s spoiled Bective’s party as they ground out a 10-9 win over the league winners in Lakelands. A hard fought encounter saw Terenure finishing second in the table after another good campaign. The J4Bs continued their recent good form, also beating Bective. Daragh Whelan’s team ran out 22-17 winners before dashing up to Ballycorus to see the J4As snatching the league title from Lansdowne in dramatic circumastances. Trailing 6-3 with the clock running down, Donal Murphy pounced on a loose ball and used his lightning pace to dive in the corner. Lansdowne then had two penalty attempts to retake the lead, but missed them both to hand the league to Brian ‘Mucker’ Mulcahy and the lads.
While the J4As were winning in Ballycorus, the J2s were up against Old Wesley in Lakelands for the J2 Top 12 Section B title. A win or draw would do the job for Kev Gallagher’s men, and they didn’t disappoint, winning 39-27 in a hugely entertaining game. Emmet Wallace charged over for a first half brace under the watchful gaze of IRFU President Billy Glynn, who was highly impressed with the standard of rugby being played. Terenure opened up a commanding lead in the second half, but were pegged back by a dogged Wesley side, before a couple of late scores sealed the win.
Also at home on Saturday, our U21s played against visiting Australian side Narrabri Blue Boars. The Aussies were physically very strong, but were left in no doubt about our defensive qualities – there were more than a few bruises afterwards! Narrabri were fantastic guests, and we wish them well on their tour of Ireland, Scotland, Wales and England.
To finish off the weekend in style, a huge crowd travelled back up to Ballycorus, this time to see the J1s play Old Wesley in a winner-takes-all match for the Section B title, and promotion to Section A. Under the watchful eyes of coaches Bru Byrne, Donal Dunlop and Anthony Kelly, the lads started well, forcing a couple of early penalties to take a 3-0 lead. However, Wesley struck back quickly with a score in the corner to take an 8-3 lead. Although Nure controlled the scrum and most of the territory, they couldnt land the killer blow. The sides traded penalties to go into half time with Wesley leading 11-6. The second half continued in the same vein, with Nure’s forwards making gains, particularly through efforts of the front row at scrum time, and Darragh O’Doherty and Geoff Spierin carrying well repeatedly. Again, the sides traded penalties; and with only four minutes left, the pack outsmarted Wesley with a well worked lineout move to crash over and tie the game at 14-14. Niall Thornton stepped up to slot the conversion and take the lead at 16-14. Wesley won the restart, but great work in defence resulted in a turnover, and a handful of phases later Wesley went off their feet at the ruck to hand Thornton a chance to extend the lead with the last kick of the game. He didn’t miss, and for the second time in 24 hours, a Terenure side took home a win from Ballycorus. Leinster Vice President Paul Deering was on hand to do the honours and present Terenure with their third pennant of the weekend.
This was a weekend when all of the hard work put in since before the season started paid off, and everyone involved should be immensely proud of what was achieved. Six wins from six doesn’t happen by chance, and every team in the club will now be looking forward to the cup competitions, which start in the next couple of weeks.
For a neutral this could be an interesting tie. A relegation threatened Midleton host title chasing Terenure.
‘Nure are odds on favourites but these ‘backs to the wall’ games can produce the odd shock.
That said the Dublin side have been prolific against the lower ranked sides and should take the points.
