AIL Division 1A Round 5

(H-T Lansdowne 22 Nenagh Ormond 03)

Aviva Back Pitch

Referee: Andrew Cole

Report by Mike McMahon

Player of the Match: Charlie Tector

A tough, tough day for Nenagh Ormond at headquarters as they suffered a heavy defeat at the hands of a very strong Lansdowne side who ran in nine tries in a dominant display.  The home side showed 5 changes from the one which defeated Young Munster in round 4 but unfortunately for Nenagh, these were largely filled by players returning from United Rugby Championship duty with Leinster last weekend.  With the quality of players at the disposal of the home side, Nenagh were always going to face a huge challenge to get anything from this game. It is a steep learning curve for Derek Corcoran’s charges as they continue to struggle to come to terms with life in division 1A. A key feature of club rugby at this level is that every mistake tends to get punished in clinical fashion. Nenagh’s error count in this game was high but most could be considered the result of huge pressure being applied by a Lansdowne team stacked with pace, power and experience.

The home team got off to the perfect start when they stretched Nenagh down the right wing and full back Hugo McLoughlin won the race to Tom Roche’s perfectly executed chip kick after 3 minutes.  Nenagh responded well to the early setback and started to put together some fine passages of play without quite threatening the whitewash. A fine 50:22 clearance by scrum-half Luke Kerr gave them a lineout deep in opposition territory but Lansdowne got up well to steal and the chance was gone.  Nenagh seemed sure to score as they found a gap in the home defence on 23 minutes. McLaughlin was the last defender and made a calculated gamble to go for the intercept. Unfortunately for the visitors, he gathered cleanly and sprinted 60 meters to touch down under the posts. This was killer score for Nenagh just as they were getting themselves back into the game. Nevertheless, they continued to press and got some reward minutes later when a Conor McMahon penalty brought the scores back to 15-3. Although Nenagh were largely holding their own at set-piece time, Lansdowne’s physicality in general play was causing them problems, while referee Andrew Cole’s propensity for letting the game flow meant that the offside line seemed optional at times and space was at an absolute premium. Willie Coffey and Angus Blackmore tried hard to get their team on the front foot but were up against a formidable centre partnership in Charlie Tector and Andy Marks. With half time approaching, Lansdowne began to turn the screw and referee Smyth had words with Nenagh captain John O’Flaherty about the number of penalties his side was conceding. After repelling a number of Lansdowne drives close to the line, Nenagh eventually infringed, and second rower Jake O’Kelly was shown yellow. From the resultant penalty, the home side secured the lineout and drove over – the touchdown coming from flanker Ross O’Neill.

The half time score of 20-3 seemed harsh on Nenagh but on the resumption, Lansdowne further exploited their man advantage and effectively killed the game off with two quick scores from Hardus Van Eeden and Greg McGrath before O’Kelly could return from his 10 minute sin-binning. McLoughlin bagged his hat-trick with another intercept try as Nenagh chased the game before the visitors finally got some joy with a try from Blackmore, beautifully created by a superb break from debutant teenager Fionn Higgins down the right wing. As the errors began to pile up for Nenagh, Lansdowne added three further tries in the final quarter but Higgins got the try he deserved with 10 minutes remaining when latching onto a Blackmore chip through and showing great pace to finish in the corner. This was a fine debut from the young winger, and he is one to watch for the future for sure.

The unforgiving nature of life in the top grade means that Nenagh are still in search of their first league points, but they will surely have opportunities to remedy that situation with over two thirds of the season still remaining. The AIL takes a break next week but Nenagh will be back in action as they host Clontarf in the semi-final of the Bateman Cup next Saturday. This is another first for Nenagh as they take their place in this competition as a result of winning the Munster Senior Cup back in March. 

Scorers: Lansdowne: Tries: Hugo McLoughlin x 3, Ross O’Neill, Harry van Eeden, Greg McGrath, Charlie Tector, Ruairi Clarke, Andy Marks; Con: Charlie Tector x 7; Pen: Charlie Tector.
Nenagh Ormond: Tries: Angus Blackmore, Fionn Higgins; Cons: Conor McMahon x 2; Pen: Conor McMahon.
 

Lansdowne: 15. Hugo McLoughlin, 14. Tom Roche, 13. Andy Marks (c), 12. Charlie Tector, 11. Todd Lawlor, 10. James Tarrant, 9. Jack Matthews, 1. Jerry Cahir, 2. Bobby Sheehan, 3. Greg McGrath, 4. Ruairi Clarke, 5. Juan Beukes, 6. Matt Healy, 7. Ross O’Neill, 8. Harry van Eeden.
Replacements: 16. Jack Treanor, 17. George Morris, 18. Louis McGauran, 19. Paul Wilson, 20. Oisin Devitt, 21. Harry O’Riordan.

NENAGH ORMOND: 15. Matthew Brice, 14. Fionn Higgins, 13 Angus Blackmore, 12. Willie Coffey, 11. Conor McMahon, 10. Derek Corcoran, 9. Luke Kerr, 1. Mikey Doran, 2. Mateo Santous, 3. Darragh McSweeney, 4. Kevin Seymour, 5. Jake O’Kelly, 6. John O’Flaherty (c), 7. Evan Murphy, 8. John Brislane.
Replacements: 16. Dylan Murphy, 17. Matthew Burke, 18. Sean Frawley, 19. Kevin O’Flaherty, 20. Nicky Irwin, 21. James Finn.