Young Munster eye Lansdowne in Bateman Cup decider

MUNSTER Senior Cup holders Young Munster lock horns with Energia All-Ireland League Division 1A rivals Lansdowne in the final of the Bateman Cup at Musgrave Park in Cork this Saturday afternoon.

The All-Ireland final will have a 1.45pm kick-off in order to avoid a direct clash with Ireland's big Guinness Six Nations clash with France in Paris which starts at 4.45pm Irish time on Saturday afternoon.

Young Munster famously won the Bateman Cup in 1928 when edging past Lansdowne 6-3 in the final. Ten years later, in 1938, Munsters' lost out to UCD 16-6 in that season's Bateman Cup final.

Young Munster advanced to this weekend's Bateman final showdown with Lansdowne after they were awarded their scheduled semi-final fixture with Ballina, of Mayo, after the Connacht representatives had Covid-19 issues in their squad ahead of their last four clash which had been due to take place at Clifford Park last month.

Lansdowne secured their passage to Saturday's final as a result of their 22-7 Bateman Cup semi-final win over Ulster side City of Armagh at the Palace Grounds last month.

Young Munster won the right to represent Munster in this season's Bateman Cup after defeating Shannon 26-14 in the delayed 2020/2021 Munster Senior Cup final at Takumi Park, Rosbrien last August.

It was Munsters' eighth Munster Senior Cup title and the Greenfields' club' first success in the decider in 11 years. Munsters' are also through to the 2021/2022 Munster Senior Cup final where they will face Garryowen.

Second-placed Lansdowne currently sit three places and 11 points ahead of fifth-placed Young Munster in Division 1A of the Energia All-Ireland League. Lansdowne have won nine of their 12 league fixtures to date, compared to Munsters' eight wins.

When the clubs met in the All-Ireland League on the main pitch at the Aviva Stadium at the end of October, Munsters' secured a hard fought 24-20 victory over the Dubliners. Winger Conor Hayes scored a hat-trick of tries for the Limerick side in that game, while Evan Cusack added a penalty and two conversions.

Saturday's Bateman Cup final comes a week before the resumption of the Energia All-Ireland League regulars season. Munsters' resume their programme of fixtures with a trip to Dublin to take on high-flying Clontarf at Castle Avenue on February 19 at 2.30pm.

The Bateman Cup was presented to the IRFU by Dr. Godfrey Bateman, a member of a well-known west Cork family, in memory of his sons Reginald and Arthur who were killed during the First World War.

The competition was played annually between the four provincial cup winners on the last weekend of the season, with the exception of 1933 and 1934 when a number of the provincial cup campaigns had not been completed on time.

The Bateman Cup semi-finals used to be played as a double header at Lansdowne Road, with the final taking place at the same venue the very next day. The tournament was terminated at the outbreak of the Second World War owing to the restriction on travel.

In 2005/06 an All-Ireland Cup was introduced within the All-Ireland League structure and in 2010/11 the structure was changed to the original Bateman Cup structure with the four Provincial Cup winners taking part.