Cork Con's Johnny Holland hoping for success on both club and international fronts
BIG DAY: Cork Con head coach Jonny Holland. Energia, title sponsor of the All-Ireland League, is streaming Cork Con v City of Armagh live from Temple Hill from 4.30pm on Saturday. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ejbqoco942g
There will pride in Cork Constitution’s clubhouse Saturday night, whatever the outcome of their Energia All-Ireland League opener at Temple Hill.
Saturday’s 4:30pm clash with Division 1A newcomers City of Armagh, which will be livestreamed on the Irish Rugby YouTube Channel in partnership with Energia, will precede Ireland’s World Cup clash with Scotland and the opportunity to collectively celebrate clubman Peter O’Mahony’s 100th cap.
Cork Con head coach Jonny Holland, a former Munster team-mate of O’Mahony is relishing the unique double-header at their Temple Hill grounds.
“We’ll go into the clubhouse after hopefully getting our business done and it will be a good evening for us,” Holland told the .
“We haven’t played under lights for a while and it’s a lovely evening in the club itself, there’s a good bit of buzz around the place and especially leading into such a big game as Ireland-Scotland.
“For Pete himself, I was up in the clubhouse earlier, his face is around the place, he’s up on the wall like the rest of the internationals and the Lions and everything else and I can’t believe it really.
“He had maybe a flat spot a couple of years ago and people were having a go off him but now you can see that maybe it’s part of his game that gels this Irish team and its attacking structures and flow.
“People underestimate the skills Pete has. I played with him and I know what he’s like as a leader. I know how black and white his mind can be at times in terms of win or loss and that’s it, do it or don’t do it, but he’s actually a very good rugby player. He has a very good mind in the game and you can see that through his lineout as well.
“When things are a little bit unstructured in the lineout and there’s a little bit of trouble, they’ll go back to Peter O’Mahony because he’s got a massive understanding around taking parts of the game and seeing some small bit (to correct). Maybe he’s not Caelan Doris on the move but you see his tip-on passes and how he plays the game, he’s unbelievable.
“A hundred caps, you know, we’ve got John, his dad, up in the club all the time and he’s a massively proud person for what his son has achieved.
“He’s absolutely phenomenal and so I don’t think we can underplay the value that Peter’s brought to rugby all over the place but particularly to here in Cork and Cork Con. He’s a huge character and we’re all very proud of him in the club as well.
“Cork Con has been blessed with that in the past but having these two players involved (Jack Crowley is among the Ireland replacements) in these big, big games is nice. Then you get the club buzzing.
“You can’t really ask for much more in terms of a rugby day with the AIL kicking off and on a stream, an event in the club and then afterwards watching the Ireland-Scotland game. What more could you ask for in club rugby?”
Needless to say, Holland will ask for a home win on opening day as Cork Con aim to mount a challenge to defending champions Terenure, the team that defeated them in last season’s semi-finals.
“We’re at home and maybe that brings its own expectations, we have to try and get off the mark. The sooner you get off the mark in this league the better and I think I’ve been part of enough campaigns, playing and coaching, that you can see when teams struggle to off the mark that mark becomes further and further away and all of a sudden it’s Christmas time.
“But being at home, the game being livestreamed, there’s a bit of a buzz around the club and so it’s a really good opportunity and some very nice exposure for our own club, through the stream, the league, and the IRFU and maybe all eyes are on the right place for club rugby, hopefully.”
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