Irish Examiner confirms live broadcast of CBC-PBC Munster Schools Cup semi-final

Our coverage of the mouth-watering local derby from Musgrave Park begins at 2.30 Thursday

THE storied schools' rugby rivalry between Cork’s CBC and PBC presents a fresh chapter of tension and drama in Thursday’s Pinergy Munster Senior Schools Cup semi-final – and the Irish Examiner is thrilled to confirm we will broadcast live the latest renewal at Musgrave Park.

Lead commentator Connor Morris and Irish Examiner analyst Donal Lenihan headline our team at Musgrave Park, with pre-game live stream coverage on our website kicking off at 2.30pm ahead of a 3pm kick-off. George Clancy is the appointed official for the game.

The winner of the mouth-watering Cork derby faces whoever emerges from the second semi-final at Tom Clifford Park in Limerick between Crescent Comp and Bandon Grammar (2 pm).

CBC fans show support against Bandon Grammar. Pic: Dan Linehan

The Irish Examiner’s coverage will be supported by competition sponsors Pinergy, and the exclusive rights to the Schools Cups form part of a new commercial agreement with Munster Rugby. We will also be all over the Pinergy Munster Senior Schools Cup final in March as part of an exciting new dimension to Examiner Sport’s acclaimed content bundle across digital and print platforms.

The Cork schools are finalising preparations this Tuesday and Wednesday, and we will have reports from both camps ahead of kick-off. CBC went the direct route to the last four, defeating Bandon Grammar School 37-25 in an enthralling contest in January. Impressive in that win was the form of out-half of Daire Burke – a cousin of Munster’s Jack Crowley – who claimed 17 points of his school’s total.

Limerick’s Crescent College, eleven-time Senior Schools Cup winners, was the second school to qualify directly for the semi-finals after beating Presentation Brothers Cork 17-13 on the same day last month. 

PBC winger Sean Condon celebrates his second try against St Munchins in the quarter-final.

However, Ger Burke’s PBC players bounced back to defeat St Munchin’s 31-12 in the quarter-final last week on the back of an impressive display by Ben O’Connor, who claimed a try and kicked three difficult conversions out of five.

Bandon Grammar have also bounced back impressively from the setback of that CBC defeat to see off Rockwell 17-0 with two first-half tries from Barry Spearman-Walsh and a class try from Peter O’Sullivan in the second period. They will look to use the momentum of that extra game to upset favourites Crescent and make it an all-Cork decider.

Added David Slattery Head of Marketing at Cup sponsors, Pinergy: "We’re delighted to be supporting the Irish Examiner to live stream this year’s Pinergy Munster Schools Senior Cup semi-final and final. This year’s competition has been building over the last few weeks and this week’s semi-finals will showcase the best in Munster schools rugby to hopefully even more people."