St Munchin’s aim to end 20-year wait in Munster Schools Senior Cup final

ST MUNCHIN’S College are looking to break a 20-year duck in the Munster Schools Rugby Senior Cup when they travel to Virgin Media Park on Wednesday, March 18, kicking off at 2pm.

While they may be second favourites, the omens are good for the Limerick school - the 2006 win was also against next week’s opponents Presentation Brothers College.

On top of that, 2006 was also the last time both the school’s Senior and Junior Cup teams both reached the showpiece event.

The Junior side are also heading Leeside, when they face Christian Brothers College, Cork on March 21.

“There’s a great buzz within the team,” said head coach Andrew O’Byrne. “The Juniors had a convincing win as well over Bandon so there’s a lovely buzz building in the school. There'll be great excitement building over the next two weeks.

“It’s been a while since we were in both finals - 2006 - and we feel it’s long overdue in the school to be in the Senior and Junior Cup finals.”

Both Senior and Junior Cup teams showed great attacking prowess in their respective semi-finals - both against Bandon Grammar - scoring six tries each in their wins.

“The surfaces helped and the conditions helped,” said O’Byrne of the games played in Virgin Media Park and Thomond Park.

“Both teams try to play positive rugby. The style is fostered from first year and it all adds up.

“The skills lay the foundation for coaching the attacking shapes for the Senior Cup team.”

While the omens may be strong, the Corbally side are under no illusions as to the scope of the challenge, coming up against a highly-rated PBC.

The Cork side won four from four in the pre-Christmas round robin stage of the competition.

They followed that up with huge performances in the Cup stage of the tournament - scoring resounding 41-5 and 54-0 victories over Bandon Grammar and CBC respectively, scoring 15 tries in the process.

“We’re fully aware of the challenge we face,” O’Byrne acknowledges. “They have been very good all year - they are unbeaten all year.”

“We are just going to focus on looking after ourselves. We will do our video analysis like we do for every opponent so we will continue to prepare the same we have all year.”

The school won three Senior Schools Cups in five years between 2002 and 2006 - with all three final victories coming against the famous Cork nursery.

“I’m sure some of the lads are aware of the history,” O’Byrne said, “but we don’t dwell on it.

“We are staying on the present, we are focusing on the present.”

While O’Byrne is keeping his players grounded on the here and now, he is also well aware of the doors a strong Senior Schools Cup showing can do for the players’ futures, noting the competition is a “shop window” for Munster Academy teams.

“It’s a great opportunity for these kids, it’s a great reward for their hard work and efforts. An awful lot of work has gone into this since April or May,” he said.

“Different players have stepped up on different occasions so we are hoping that new guys will step up again. It’s what you want to see.

“It’s a big stage so you just hope they all perform on the day and the occasion doesn’t get to them.”

In what could be a historic few weeks for St Munchin's College, the Junior Cup team also face Cork opposition in their final.

They take on CBC on March 25 at 1.30pm, also at Virgin Media Park.