Eight remain as Munster Schools Senior Cup begins to heat up

CBC supporters shout on their team aginst PBC in their Pinergy Munster Schools Senior Cup final in 2023.

The last eight teams in the Munster Schools Senior Cup are all in action at the newly renamed Virgin Media Park this week as competition hots up for the Garrett Fitzgerald Cup.

Last year’s semi-finals were Cork-Limerick crackers and the same schools are set to battle it out to secure a bye to the final four. The other four remaining teams, meanwhile, are in knockout action for quarter-final spots.

Today, it’s the turn of CBC and St Munchin’s to face off in the first semi-final qualifier at 2pm, with the safety net of a quarter-final berth for the losers.

Christians finished top of their group before Christmas, compiling three bonus-point wins before resting their starters in the loss to Glenstal.

The competition’s highest scorers, they have retained eight of their starting team from last year’s final defeat to rivals PBC.

“We were quite a young team in the end with the injuries we had,” said head coach Tommy Crowe, “nearly a fourth-year backline and the guts of a fifth-year pack by the time we got to the final.

“Hopefully, they’ve learned a lot from last year.” Chris Barrett has relocated to his more natural position of scrum-half after filling in on the wing to memorable effect as a fourth year, volleying his way to a last-gasp winning try against Pres.

He’s paired with fellow Ireland U18 schools squad member Charlie O’Shea in the half-backs. Daniel Rock will captain the side from the back-row, while Ireland U19 Conor Kennelly is another leader in the pack.

“We played against a few of the Dublin schools and we’ve done well against most of those,” said Crowe.

“We’ve had a good season. We’re delighted with it. We’ve had our wins, we’ve had our losses, and I think the lads are in a good position come Tuesday.” Their opponents St Munchin’s finished second behind PBC in their group with three wins from four.

They are captained by Oisín Minogue (son of Rosie Foley), their out-half is Tom Wood (son of Keith), and Matthew Te Pou (son of the former Tongan international of the same name) lines out at full-back. That trio were all called into Ireland training camps last month.

In the other semi-final qualifier on Thursday, PBC will meet Crescent College Comprehensive at 12.30pm.

Pres, the reigning Senior and Junior Cup champions, enjoyed a warm-weather training camp in Portugal at the start of this month, where they played Belfast’s RBAI in a couple of games.

They are equipped with an impressive combination behind the scrum. Frankie Óg Sheahan has graduated from junior captain to feature at scrum-half, Harry Murphy remains as out-half, and the imposing centre pairing of James O’Leary and captain Gene O’Leary Kareem are also retained from last year.

The latter trio combined for 30 points in their comeback victory over Munchin’s in November, sealing top spot in their group with a maximum tally of four bonus-point wins.

With no returning starters from last year, Crescent have relied on Jonathan Byrne, Conor Ryan, Charlie Fenton, and Cormac Quinn in the pack as they collected three wins from four to progress behind CBC.

The knockout rugby takes place on Wednesday as Rockwell College play Glenstal Abbey (12.45pm) and Bandon Grammar School tackle Ardscoil Rís (3.15pm) in quarter-final eliminator clashes.

Despite a disciplinary rap sheet that included 14 penalties and two yellow cards, the BJ Botha-coached Glenstal comfortably beat Villiers in round 1 with 12 points from out-half Ben Tucker. Rockwell, meanwhile, earned their spot with a victory over Castletroy College last term.

Bandon and Ardscoil are meeting for a second time after the Cork school’s 24-20 home victory last November propelled them into third in Group B.

Ardscoil survived a 10-point deficit a fortnight ago to advance with a gritty 11-10 victory over Castletroy thanks to Aaron Byrnes’ late penalty.