Late Garryowen try denies Ormond another Munster Senior Cup Final date
RUGBY: Bank of Ireland Munster Senior Challenge Cup Semi-Final
Garryowen 31
Nenagh Ormond 26
Report: Thomas Conway in Dooradoyle
A 66th minute try by lock Blayze Molloy was ultimately the difference as the 40-time Munster Senior Challenge Cup winners Garryowen sent Nenagh Ormond spiralling out at the semi-final stage following a breathless second-half on Saturday afternoon.
Trailing 17-6 at the interval and very much second-best in most departments, the North Tipp club then conceded an early try in the opening minutes of the second period.
It should have condemned them to an emphatic defeat, but instead Derek Corcoran’s outfit pulled off an amazing resurgence, touching down three hard-earned tries and managing to steal a slender one point lead.
Nenagh had all the momentum and at one point Garryowen were reduced to thirteen men after players were sent to the sin-bin. However, in a frantic and physical closing quarter it was the Limerick giants who emerged victorious. Molloy grounding and out-half Jack Delaney knocking over the conversion, and the 2024 champions kept the 2025 winners at bay for the ensuing fifteen minutes.
This was far from a vintage Nenagh performance, but it was a brave second-half display sprinkled with some fine individual contributions.
New flanker Oli Ayling snatched a brace of tries and Jack O’Keeffe, back after over a year out with a serious knee injury, roared off the bench to land another at a crucial moment.
Out-half Jonty Stewart continued to impress with his stylish kicking game. He pinged over his first penalty on three minutes before floating over another from a considerable distance just after the twentieth minute mark.
In between, the game had flickered and sparked. Nenagh were probably the more dominant early on with Fionn Higgins very nearly finding a gap on the wing in the 13th minute, only to be wrestled down at the last moment.
From there Garryowen seized the initiative. Full-back Fionn Rowsome’s surging break precipitated a dangerous attack which culminated in a penalty, which Delaney converted.
Then, on thirty minutes, a frenetic passage of play in front of the Nenagh posts ultimately resulted in the Limerick side’s first try. There were several phases, a botched grubber kick from Alexander Wood, a pass from the aforementioned Rowsome and a superb finish by winger Tom Ironside-Wickham.
Garryowen’s tries either side of half-time, touched down by Wood and captain Bryan Fitzgerald respectively, could have shut down this game definitively.
But Nenagh had made a raft of substitutions at the interval in an attempt to reinvigorate the pack, and while Fitzgerald’s 43rd minute try was obviously a blow, things started to click some moments later when Ayling powered over the line for the first of his two tries in the 49th minute. Stewart made no mistake with the conversion and Garryowen were subsequently reduced to fourteen after a yellow card was issued.
Nenagh seized on the window of opportunity, with Ayling sliding over in the corner again in the 57th minute. Jack O’Keeffe, who exerted a significant influence on proceedings from the moment of his arrival in the 45th minute, then touched down following sustained pressure. Stewart coolly slotted the conversion and, with the clock ticking past the hour mark, Nenagh were now leading 25-24.
In truth, once Garryowen were restored to fifteen men, either side could have prevailed. Even after Molloy bombed diagonally through to land the ultimate match-winning try, which Delaney easily converted, there was a sense that this was not over.
Nenagh exhausted all avenues in the final fifteen minutes, attacking relentlessly in search of a try. There were fierce hits and broken bodies everywhere, and a general sense of mayhem on the sidelines as well as the pitch.
Referee Tomás O’Sullivan, however, who took a heavy accidental knock in the first-half, did well to keep everything under control. Garryowen’s indiscipline and lack of concentration almost cost them, while Nenagh were brilliantly served by their replacements.
The two sides will meet again either side of Christmas in Division 1B of the All-Ireland League. If those battles are half as entertaining as this one was, spectators will be in for a treat.
In between, Garryowen will face off against Cork Constitution in the Munster Senior Challenge Cup decider in December, but Nenagh will be wondering if it should have been them into a third final in five years.
TEAMS – Garryowen: Fionn Rowsome (7); Tom Ironside-Wickham (8), Bryan Fitzgerald (Capt 7), Alexander Wood (8), Dan O’Connell (7); Jack Delaney (8), Chulainn Williams (7); Lachlan Pheely (7), Dean Fanning (7), Mark Fitzgerald (7); Blayze Molloy (8), Oisin Cooke (7), Xabi Scanlan (7), Adedamola Obasa (7), Alan Fitzgerald (7).
Reps: Jordan Power (6) for Obasa (53); Eric Cantillon (7) for Pheely (59); Des Fitzgerald (7) for Rowsome (65); Tom Shanahan (8) for M Fitzgerald for (68).
Nenagh Ormond: Matt Brice (7), Luke Graham (7), Willie Coffey (6), Patrick Scully (6), Fionn Higgins (6), Jonty Stewart (8), Aaron Maloney (8); Ivan Stuzia (7), Ignacio Failla (7), Matt Burke (7), Kevin Seymour (7), Kevin O’Flaherty (7), Oli Ayling (9), Robbie Tynan (8), John O’Flaherty (Capt 7).
Reps: Tyler Coles (7) for Struzia (HT); Richie Whelan (7) for Failla (HT); Jake O’Kelly (7) for K O’Flaherty (HT); Jack O’Keeffe (8) for Burke (45); John Brislane (7) for Ayling (56); Kevin O’Flaherty for O’Keeffe (67); Oli Ayling for Seymour (67); Matt Burke for Brislane (69); Yury Litvin (NR) for Coffey (80).
Referee: Tomás O’Sullivan.