Holland relives epic senior cup rivalries

BILLY HOLLAND had a great deal to live up to when he first lined out with CBC in the Avonmore Munster Schools Senior Cup in 2002.

His father, Jerry, had the distinction of winning three medals (1972-74) in the competition and while Billy figured for three years in the senior team, he managed success just once.

Nevertheless, he looks back on those times as ‘great years’ and his happiest memories are of the days when they beat their great rivals PBC.

“Pres-Christians, there’s nothing bigger than that in schools rugby,” he said at the launch of this season’s competition yesterday.

“I was captain of the Bowen Shield team when Darragh Hurley scored a try in the last minute of the final against Pres. I think we were 20 points down at half time and won 22-20. Tom Gleeson and other fellas now with us at Munster really despised us after that.”

Five of the Bowen Shield side — Holland, Duncan Williams, Johnny Harte, Mike Essex and Darragh were called up to the Senior Cup team a few weeks later. It was Tomás O’Leary’s final year and he played at out-half with Williams at number nine.

“Tomás was kicking and he missed five shots at goal and we lost 6-5 to Pres in the semi-final,” he recalls. “That was a hard one to take. The Pres lads will laugh at this but we were the better team just as they were probably the better side the times we won. Schools rugby isn’t always very fair. We won it the next year, beating Pres in the final with Ross Noonan as captain, but in 6th year we had what was known as the ‘dream team’ that I was fortunate to captain. Five of us had played senior cup for three years in a row but we capitulated to Pres. Tom Gleeson got three drop goals and he hasn’t got one since! The last time he tried was an U21 game over in Leicester and he hit one of his own players in the face,” laughs Holland.

“I remember those days, the nerves, the noise, you’d have been used to playing in front of 50 people, your parents and a few stragglers up in Lansdowne, and all of a sudden, you’re in Musgrave Park and the place is full. The buzz around the matches was incredible, you’d be building up to it for months.”

Now 25, Holland has come through more big days with UCC and Cork Constitution and is a key member of the Munster squad.

Many, however, would understand if Holland considered moving elsewhere if the chance of a regular place in the side continued to elude him.

“If you weren’t a little bit annoyed at being dropped, you’d be in the wrong business,” he reasoned. “But if you go off and sulk, you’ll get nowhere. Nobody’s entitled to walk into a Munster jersey. I’m contracted for another year and a half and my focus is fully on Munster. What makes Munster different is that people are prepared to bide their time. You don’t get anything easy and the easy option would be to get up and leave but the easy option isn’t always the right option. You could go away and do extremely well but by the other token, you’re away from your friends and family, and that’s what makes Munster different. I’ve grown up with Duncan and Tom and all those lads. They’d be your best friends so that it’s not a case of a group of professionals thrown together.”