Back to back Senior Cups for St Anne’s

RUGBY: Bank of Ireland Munster Senior School Girls Cup Final

St. Anne’s CC, Killaloe 17

Ard Scoil Mhuire, Limerick 5

Report: Thomas Conway in Musgrave Park

MATCH DIGEST

Player of the Match: Amy Reilly (St. Anne’s CC Killaloe)

SCORERS – St Anne’s CC, Killaloe: Tries: Reilly, O’Shaughnessy, Rogers. Conv: Emily Byrne (1)

Ard Scoil Mhuire Limerick: Try: Reeves

Rarely does a Clare/Tipperary school prevail over Limerick opposition when it comes to provincial schools’ rugby, but this is the new reality in the female game.

St. Anne’s Community College, Killaloe are the standard bearers, and last Wednesday they travelled to Musgrave Park with the ambition of completing back-to-back Munster Senior Cup titles. In their own heads at least, success was their only option, and succeed they did, outmanoeuvring a tricky challenge from Ard Scoil Mhuire to claim a second title in as many seasons.

It wasn’t always guaranteed. For a large portion of this game, during the opening stages in particular, the Limerick school controlled possession and attacked in force. To their credit, St. Anne’s repelled those assaults, and ultimately managed to grind out a victory which their droves of supporters thoroughly enjoyed. The chanting from stands was, at times, heavily entertaining.

The rugby wasn’t bad either, particularly when St Anne’s started to find their rhythm. They are a team which specialises in the quick-ball - they thrive off attack, running multiple lines and moving the oval with swiftness and grace. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t, but on three occasions it yielded tries and that, in the end, was enough to ensure that they overcame Ard Scoil Mhuire with fifteen points to spare. Another Senior Cup title in the bag. The prospect of three-in-a-row now beckons. This is a juggernaut which is increasingly gathering speed.

And yet for all their eventual dominance, the Killaloe’s first try effectively came against the run of play. Ard Scoil had essentially controlled the opening ten minutes, concentrating play within the St. Anne’s half and forcing a series of rooks and scrums across the Killaloe 22. The occasional Killaloe break was invariably stopped in its tracks. Like their adversaries, the Limerick school were pumped for the occasion, but their energy was short-lived.

On thirteen minutes, in Killaloe’s first serious incursion into Ard Scoil territory, Amy Reilly shot through a haze of bodies and grounded, seconds after Emily Byrne had opted to go short with a penalty. It was a quintessential tight-head prop try and Reilly deserves ample credit. She saw the gap, picked her spot, and burst through explosively, grounding halfway between the posts and the corner flag. It was a brilliant effort from the front row forward, and it seemed to embolden her team.

From that moment on, St. Anne’s orchestrated most of the attacking moves, bounding forward in waves and moving the ball seamlessly across the line. Byrne’s presence at out-half was crucial, while scrum-half Rebecca Rogers was equally influential. Their midfield partnership was effectively the fulcrum of a complete team performance. The duo were at the centre of more or less everything St. Anne’s did and both would ultimately contribute to the Killaloe school’s seventeen point tally.

Next up however, was an altogether brilliant Ellie O’Shaughnessy try - a sublime individual effort, pinned just minutes before the half-time interval, at a critical juncture in the game. Shaughnessy was rewarded for her audacity. She picked the ball up off the back of the run some fifteen metres out, then swept past several Ard Scoil bodies before grounding solidly near the corner. The conversion proved too challenging for Byrne, but it seemed to matter little. St. Anne’s were in control, and their dominance would only increase following the half-time break. There was, in fairness, a brief window during the moments after half-time when this game was still in the melting pot. Ard Scoil were never just going to die away, and they entered the second period with all guns blazing. In the end however, the task proved insurmountable.

Killaloe managed the game brilliantly during those moments, arresting any real Ard Scoil incursion into their territory. In the 48th minute, Rogers put the seal on what at that stage looked like an inevitable Killaloe victory. As previously referenced, the scrum-half was untouchable throughout, and her try was the quintessential opportunist score. Following a period of heavy pressure near the Ard Scoil, she collected the ball from the back of the rook and pulled off the most acrobatic of dives, shooting over into the scoring zone. Byrne’s conversion was almost as impressive, and though Kelsey Reeves would eventually secure some points for Ard Scoil during the latter stages, her try was ultimately a consolation.

This was Killaloe’s day. They were the better, more efficient and more versatile side, laden with attacking flair and defensive solidity. Three-in-a-row now beckons and given the trajectory of school girls rugby within the Clare college - at both junior and senior level - it is difficult to see anyone stopping them.

TEAMS - St. Anne’s Community College, Killaloe: Zoe Loughran; Ellen O’Shaughnessy, Anna Hanly, Fionnuala O’Rahilly, Sarah McNamara; Emily Byrne, Rebecca Rogers; Alice Walsh, Edie Reynolds, Amy Reilly; Roisin Mockler, Ellie McEvoy; Alannah O’Donovan, Hayley Byrnes, Karen O’Mahoney.

Reps: Ciara Fitzgibbon for Mockler (37); Hannah Beck for Hanly (45), Sarah McEvoy for O’Rahilly (51).

Ard Scoil Mhuire, Limerick: Lucia Te Pou; Alex Carew, Grace McInerney, Katie Hehir, Chelsea O’Connell; Hana Hehir, Beibhinn McInerney; Abbie Flanagan, Amber Foley, Katie Ryan; Ayla Kelly, Rachel Laffan; Nadine Noonan, Grace Hayes, Kelsey Reeves.

Reps: Aisling Coffey for Flanagan (37); Amy Long for Foley (49), Jodie Griffin for Noonan (53).

Referee: John Moynihan.