Winger Aoife Doyle scored two tries to take the mantle of ‘super sub’ at Stradbrook.

Munster flanker Maeve Og O’Leary charged over from a Mairead Holohan offload to give Blackrock an 11-7 half-time lead. Ireland international Doyle then squeezed in at the corner to move Railway back in front, adding to Kate McCarthy’s earlier try.

A central Caughey penalty was followed by a try out wide from Railway centre Niamh Byrne, who was the beneficiary of a fine skip pass from 19-year-old centre Alex McGuinness.

Blackrock came under further pressure, leading to a yellow card for lock Holohan before the visitors sealed their bonus point. Lively replacement Claire Boles carried strongly off a scrum and the ball was flashed wide for Doyle to dot down again.

“The last 30 minutes of the game we came into our own. Nikki (Caughey) really started to control it and we came to our strengths which are our set piece – we’ve a great lineout, we’ve a great scrum,” said Doyle afterwards.

“So we just started to control the game the way we wanted to. The bench brought just a bit of calmness and communication. A first win in our first game is massive.”

Blackrock College (11) Railway Union (25), Stradbrook

Scorers: Blackrock College: Try: Maeve Og O’Leary; Pens: Hannah O’Connor 2
Railway Union: Tries: Kate McCarthy, Aoife Doyle 2, Niamh Byrne; Con: Nikki Caughey; Pen: Nikki Caughey
HT: Blackrock College 11 Railway Union 7

BLACKROCK COLLEGE:

Natasja Behan; Maeve Liston, Katie Fitzhenry, Michelle Claffey (capt), Maggie Boylan; Lisa Mullen, Niamh Griffin; Aoife Moore, Manuela McCarthy, Caoimhe Molloy, Anna Potterton, Mairead Holohan, Meadbh Scally, Maeve Og O’Leary, Hannah O’Connor.

Replacements: Judy Bobbett, Geena Behan, Aoife Browne, Tess Meade, Jackie Shiels, Eimear Corri, Ciara Scanlan.

RAILWAY UNION:

Aoife O’Shaughnessy; Stephanie Carroll, Maggie MacKinnon, Alex McGuinness, Niamh Byrne; Nikki Caughey, Molly Scuffil-McCabe; Grainne O’Loughlin, Lisa Callan, Megan Collis, Sonia McDermott, Siobhan McCarthy, Emma Murphy, Kate McCarthy, Deirdre Roberts.

Replacements: Chloe Blackmore, Aimee Clarke, Keelin Brady, Christine Coffey, Claire Boles, Erin Coll, Aoife Doyle.

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The Cork club’s long-awaited return to AIL rugby kicked off in brilliant fashion, young out-half Kelly Griffin jinking through midfield to score and convert after just six minutes.

Suttonians scrum-half Lena Kibler soon sniped over, and the north Dubliners, who are now coached by Stephen Costelloe, edged ahead early on the restart thanks to a Catherine Galvin penalty.

Fiona Hayes’ Ballincollig side redoubled their efforts and with five minutes remaining, Heather Kennedy raced for the corner and a high tackle saw referee Carl O’Meara award a penalty try.

Although Katie Grant Duggan got over for Sutts’ second try in the dying moments, the conversion proved too difficult and Ballincollig, thanks to some sterling defense, pocketed four hard-earned points.

Munster’s Gemma Lane, who paired up with Griffin as Ballincollig’s half-backs, said: “We’d put in a lot of hard work in training but we were all just really excited to get going, to be honest. It’s great to start the club season with a win and we’re very happy.

“Our motto for the team is just ‘work, work, work’, like the Rihanna song! So it really was just about hard work the whole time. That’s what we were saying to each other throughout the game.”

Ballincollig (14) Suttonians (13), Tanner Park

Scorers: Ballincollig: Tries: Kelly Griffin, Penalty try; Cons: Kelly Griffin, Pen try con
Suttonians: Tries: Lena Kibler, Katie Grant Duggan; Pen: Catherine Galvin
HT: Ballincollig 7 Suttonians 5

BALLINCOLLIG:

Sinead O’Reilly; Ellen O’Keeffe, Christine O’Sullivan, Mona Fehily, Heather Kennedy; Kelly Griffin, Gemma Lane; Alix Cunneen, Clodagh Walsh, Claire Coombes, Eimear Perryman, Gillian Coombes, Niamh O’Regan, Katelyn Fleming, Denise Redmond.

Replacements: Olivia Hay Mulvihill, Roisin Ormond, Meaghan Kenny, Sarah O’Donovan, Eimear Minihane, Laurileigh Baker, Christine Arthurs, Kira Fitzgerald.

SUTTONIANS:

Lauren Farrell McCabe; Carrie O’Keeffe, Catherine Martin, Jools Aungier, Megan Cullen; Catherine Galvin, Lena Kibler; Ciara O’Brien, Aoife Brennan, Julia Bauer, Brenda Barr, Aislinn Layde, Louise Catinot, Aifric O’Brien, Katie Grant Duggan.

Replacements: Julia O’Connor, Sophie Brennan, Roisin O’Driscoll.

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Munster Rugby President Seán McCullough and Bank of Ireland Manager for Wilton and Ballincollig, Marcelle McAuliffe, conducted the draw at Musgrave Park this afternoon.

The first round fixtures will be played on the weekend of September 11th.

This year there will also be a Plate competition which is made up of the teams who fail to progress from the first round.

Cork Constitution come in as reigning Champions after beating Young Munster in the 2020 instalment of the competition. They have won the competition 31 times in its history and are looking for another title this year

Speaking at the cup draw, Munster Rugby President Seán McCullough said:

“We’re delighted to see the return of this year’s Senior Cup and I’m sure all the clubs are excited to get going in this prestigious competition.

“We wish all of our teams the best of luck in the cup and for the season ahead.”

Play is paused, the gates are closed & Covid is keeping us apart, but when our gates open again & we watch on as play resumes, Cons #UnityWall will be there. A permanent reminder of how when it mattered most, when you were needed most, you were there for your club #TeamForLife pic.twitter.com/CaYocw4koL

— Cork Constitution FC (@CorkConRugby) November 24, 2020

Munster Senior Cup Draw

Round 1 – Weekend of 11th September 2021 

Match 1 – Nenagh Ormond RFC v Midleton RFC

Match 2 – UCC RFC v Garryowen FC

Match 3 – Old Crescent RFC v Kilfeacle & District RFC

Match 4 – Young Munster RFC v Cork Constitution FC

Match 5 – UL Bohemian RFC v Dolphin RFC

Match 6 – Bruff RFC v Clonmel RFC

Match 7 – Cashel RFC v Shannon RFC

Match 8 – Sunday’s Well RFC v Highfield RFC

Quarter-Finals – Weekend of 18th September 2021 

Match 9 – Winner of Match 1 v Winner of Match 7

Match 10 – Winner of Match 6 v Winner of Match 2

Match 11 – Winner of Match 3 v Winner of Match 8

Match 12 – Winner of Match 4 v Winner of Match 5

Semi-Finals 

Match 13 – Winner of Match 11 v Winner of Match 12

Match 14 – Winner of Match 10 v Winner of Match 9

Final 

Match 15 – Winner of Match 13 v Winner of Match 14

Congrats to @OldCrescentRFC1 on their first win of the season over @DolphinRFC today in the @bankofireland Munster Senior Cup, final score 31-24 to Old Crescent! @IrishRugby @Munsterrugby @MRSC16 @BigRedBench #MSCC pic.twitter.com/k6W7snWwaa

— Inpho Photography (@Inphosports) September 5, 2020

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Four players who took part in the 2019 series return and are joined by two other players with previous experience at this level, in a starting line-up which has an average age of 23 years.

Alan Kennedy, who featured against England Counties in 2017 and has been named as captain, with the Young Munster man set to start alongside Brian Hayes in the second row. John Sutton and Andy Keating are named in the front row with the uncapped Conor Maguire.

Michael Melia will start his fifth consecutive club international on Friday night when he packs down in the back row with Paul Derham and John Foley.

Aran Hehir and James Taylor form the half back partnership, while outside Taylor will be his UCC club mate Peter Sylvester. Pa Ryan is at outside centre the back three consisting of Jamie Heuston, Colm Hogan and Jack Ringrose.

Commenting on the team selection, Head Coach Gearóid Prendergast said:

“I’m excited to be working with this group of players. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the last few weeks of preparation and I think they’re going to grab this opportunity with both hands. They’re young, they’re ambitious and above all talented. We’ve sprinkled some experience in there, but a lot of these guys will be playing in a club international for the first time so it’s massively exciting for them.”

Ireland Club XV Squad

15. Jamie Heuston (Garryowen), 14. Colm Hogan (Dublin University), 13. Pa Ryan (Shannon), 12. Peter Sylvester (UCC), 11. Jack Ringrose (UCD), 10. James Taylor (UCC), 9. Aran Hehir (Shannon),

1. Conor Maguire (Old Wesley). 2. John Sutton (Cork Constitution), 3. Andrew Keating (Garryowen), 4. Brian Hayes (Cork Constitution), 5. Alan Kennedy (Young Munster), 6. Michael Melia (Terenure College), 7. John Foley (Young Munster), 8. Paul Derham (Old Wesley).

Replacements:

16. Adam Clarkin (Terenure College), 17. Corrie Barrett (Garryowen), 18. JP Phelan (Clontarf), 19. Peter Claffey (Terenure College), 20. Ryan Murphy (UCC), 21. Gerry Hurley (Cork Constitution), 22. Bryan Fitzgerald (Garryowen), 23. Matthew Byrne (Terenure College).

2020 Club International Series Fixtures:

Scotland Club XV v Ireland Club XV
Friday, January 31, kick-off 7.30pm
Netherdale, Galashiels.

Ireland Club XV v Scotland Club XV
Friday, February 7, kick-off 5.45pm
Energia Park, Donnybrook.

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