Prenter hat-trick propels CBC into Munster Schools Senior Cup semi-final

CBC progress straight to the semi-final stage while Castletroy await the winners of Ardscoil Ris and St Munchins in the quarter-finals.

BRACE: CBC’s Daire O'Callaghan scored two tries in his side's comprehensive victory over Castletroy College in the Pinergy Munster Rugby Schools Boys Senior Cup.  Pic: Chani Anderson

Munster Schools Senior Cup: Christian Brothers College 50 Castletroy 7

A hat-trick of tries from Darragh Prenter ensured Christian Brothers College cruised into the semi-final of the Munster Schools Senior Cup as they comprehensively defeated Castletroy at Virgin Media Park on Monday afternoon.

Prenter’s treble, along with a brace from Daire and Jack O’Callaghan and an impressive 13-point haul from Charlie O’Shea sealed Christians’ spot in the last four while Castletroy now must navigate a tricky quarter-final tie at home to the winners of Ardscoil Ris and St Munchins.

"Darragh was excellent and his throwing was spot on as well," said Christians coach David Lee.

"I would be looking at the basics of the hooker and what he did there in those tough conditions, he got that right first and foremost. He's a very explosive player for us, if he gets on the end of a ball he's a hard man to take down so I'm happy for him." 

The 31-time winners of this competition wasted no time in showcasing their title credentials as they opened the scoring in just the second minute when Darragh Prenter powered over before Charlie O’Shea fired over the conversion from a title angle.

HAT-TRICK HERO: CBC’s Darragh Prenter scores his side’s first try just two minutes into the win against Castletory College. Pic: James Crombie, Inpho

The match was effectively over as a contest by just the 12th minute as Daire O’Callaghan added a brace of tries – his second being much tougher to finish than his first as he did well to gather a bouncing ball in the rain – but O’Shea was only able to add the extras with one of his kicks to make it 19-0.

O’Shea produced a stunning tackle to prevent Castletroy’s Sean Lyons from racing home down the left touchline in the 18th minute before he claimed his side’s fourth try of the afternoon moments later although he again failed to add the conversion from a difficult position, 24-0.

And with the half-time break approaching, the Limerick school finally got on the scoreboard thanks to Trevor Tchokotieu, who burst through Christian’s stubborn defence on their endline before captain Liam Glynn arrowed his kick straight over the bar.

But their rivals from Cork would cancel out those scores before the interval as Jack O’Callaghan dived under the bar to give O’Shea the simple task of tallying two more points with ease, 31-7.

The 2023 and 2024 finalists started the second period in a similar manner to how they ended the first as Prenter picked up his second try of the game, which was again converted by O’Shea, before he then completed his hat-trick on the hour mark, with substitute Conor Mulvihill failing to add the conversion.

And from that juncture, the match just petered out – although Jack O’Callaghan grabbed his second try in injury time, coolly converted by Mulvihill - as both coaching staffs emptied their benches in preparation for their next challenges.

Christians now have a semi-final to get ready for while Castletroy await the winners of Ardscoil Ris and St Munchins, who meet at Thomond Park on Wednesday, in the quarters.

"Discipline needs to improve, I would question is that enough to get us through a semi-final?" added Lee.

"We have four weeks off now. we gave away a lot of penatlies in that second-half. Handling errors was an issue, I'd like it if we were a little more accurate at times, a lot of our tries were more individual stuff so with regards to putting phases together I'd like if we were more accurate going forward."

Scorers for Christian Brothers College:

Tries: D Prenter (3), D O’Callaghan (2), J O’Callaghan (2), C O’Shea.

Cons: C O’Shea (4), C Mulvihill 

Scorers for Castletroy:

Tries: T Tchokotieu.

Cons: L Glynn.

CHRISTIAN BROTHERS COLLEGE: C Cournane, D O’Callaghan, L O’Leary, C Corkery, A O’Connell, C O’Shea, C Barrett; C Wallace, D Prenter, S Fitzpatrick, H McCarthy, D Mac Coitir, C Galvin, J O’Callaghan, I Morton.

Replacements: P O’Rourke, R O’Callaghan, K Manley, R O’Sullivan, M Manning, M Trant, Z Seymor, C Mulvihill, C Taylor, B McCarthy.

CASTLETROY: R Widger, R Sheehan, R O’Donnell, S Lyons, J Rennison, L Glynn, J O’Malley; J Siudzinski, C O’Hanlan, J O’Gorman, J Conway, A Power, R Brady, T Tchokotieu, J Rowntree.

Replacements: J Meegan, M Hickey, A Berkery, J Frigola Ward, S Prendergast, C Lacey, E Collins, M Flannery, S Quilter.

Referee: Paul O’Connor (MAR).