J5 XV — Season 2015/16

St Mary’s College RFC J5 v Skerries

It proved to be a difficult afternoon on Saturday in Templeville Road for the St Mary’s College RFC J5 team who were up against the Skerries 2nd’s. Skerries dominated the first half with four tries. Two from David Quirke and one a piece from Matthew O’Rourke and Cillian O’Leary. The score at half time was 28-0 to Skerries.

Despite an earlier second half try from Julien Dubourg, the St Mary’s outfield battle back in the second half and put in a stronger performance. Second Row and Captain Conor Ryan led by example. He intercepted the ball outside the Skerries twenty two and sprinted his way home for a great try under the post. Outhalf Colin O’Neill was successful with the kick. Soon after St Mary’s were back on the attack. A long spell inside the Skerries twenty two saw the skipper Ryan making a break off the back of a ruck and powered home for his second try. Again O’Neill was successful with the extra two. Sadly for St Mary’s despite the fight back Dubourg went over again late on for Skerries. Final score 40-14 to Skerries.

Next up for St Mary’s in the Metro League Division 10 is an away trip to De La Salle Palmerston in Kirwan Park on Saturday 31st October.

J5 XV v Suttonians (A) Saturday 19th December 2015

Our J5s played Suttonians away on Sat 19th of Dec in the Metro League Division 10.

We arrived prepared, 21 players ready to play.

They won the toss and decided to play with the strong wind.

We were ready for this one after having a great turnout at training. We knew what to do and began the game taking them on. After we controlled the kick off we spread the ball along the back line. Our centre Max Grant broke through his tackle, then kicked ahead and had a race to the line with covering fullback. He won the race and got the touchdown. 5-0 to us. Converted by Colin O’Neill. 7-0.

They off course got back into the game with long kicks out of defence, but our back 3 dealt with the ball on every occasion.

When they did get into our half they converted a penalty to make it 7-3. Shortly after that we were down a man after Owen Clery was sin binned for reacting to being pulled into a ruck when he was acting scrum half. A harsh decision but never the less the punished us, down to 14 men they managed to score in the corner. Conversion missed. Half time score was 8-7 to Suttonians.

In the second half we had the strong wind at our back, they ran everything, testing our defence. They kicked a penalty to make it 11-7.

Gar was now on replacing Tom Muldowney (after a bang to the head). He took the ball on from the base of the scrum to gain many yards.

We then got the ball to James Fitzsimons who ran to the line, was tackled but his momentum carried him over. 12-11 to us. Conversion missed. 10 mins to go.

We defended well, hardly a tackle missed .They came in the wrong side of the ruck. Player yellow carded. Winners alright, game over. We won 12-11 and look forward to playing Terenure now in the New Year.

Posted on the club website by Alexander

J5 XV v Terenure (A) 09.01.2016

January 9th saw the old rivalry renew once more with the Marys’ J5 travelling to Terenure College. The first of three fixtures between the two sides in the coming month looked like it could go the way of a walkover for Terenure as they were first to score, putting away a try and conversion in the opening five minutes. Terenure would continue to dominate possession as they stretched their lead to 17-0 with just 20 minutes on the clock.

Terenure looked to put the match out a reach but Marys finally got into gear and held possession for much of the remaining half and adding a penalty from the boot of Colin O’Neill.

17-3 at the half.

Marys began the second half in much the same manner they finished the first, camped out on Terenure’s try line. After some defiant defence from Terenure, Marys’ Trevor Dunne scored a try in the corner, with the conversion from Colin O’Neill. With time now running short, Mary’s needed another converted try to tie up the game.

The combination of powerful play from the forwards and great running from the backs had Terenure on the back foot once more. Again besieging the Terenure try line, Marys looked to fly-half Colin O’Neill to deliver as he ran in the equalising try and kicked the subsequent conversion.

A tense final few minutes followed as Terenure went in search of a winner but it wasn’t to be. 17 unanswered points from Marys earned them a valuable draw as they continue in their search of J5 glory.

Final score: Terenure 17-St. Marys 17

Posted on the club website by Maurice

J5 XV v Wexford Wanderers (A) by Chris Kane 05.03.2016

St. Marys J5s v Wexford Wanderers:

March 5th saw the St. Marys J5 travel to Wexford for their last away game of the season at Wexford Wanderers. As the fives gathered at the clubhouse before the expedition south, there was a great deal of excitement in the air at the prospect of one final win on the road before the season finished. Once the awaiting coach was plastered with pictures of a fiery David Dixon and packed with enough beer to drown a small horse we were on route.

With some of the players partaking in a few beverages on the road, the J5s arrived in Wexford in high spirits to take on a Wanderers side determined to spoil the party for Marys and set up a relegation playoff between the two sides. Both teams started the match tentatively with much of the battle being fought through the forwards, big carries from the likes of James Casey and James McHugh opened up the game allowed Marys to pressure the home side consistently throughout the first half. Converting that pressure into points proved difficult for both teams in the first half with only a penalty, coming from the boot of Marys fullback James Walsh, separating the sides at half time, 3-0 to Marys.

The second half saw the game open up more in favour of Marys as the home team began to feel the pressure from the visitors they had kept at bay for so much of the first half. Continued pressure from the boot of James Walsh gave Marys a 6-0 lead within five minutes of the restart. The first of two Marys tries came by way of a joint effort between the backs and forwards with centres Owen Clery and Chris Kane crashing up the ball before flanker David Balfour went full “Beast Mode” bouncing through 5 or 6 tackles before offloading to the fullback Walsh to run it in for the try. Walsh kicked the conversion to give a scoreline of 13-0. Finding themselves nearly two converted tries down seemed to act as a wakeup call to Wanderers as they began to match the intensity brought by Marys. A quick reply was exactly what they were looking for and their scrum half delivered and kicked the subsequent conversion, the score now 13-7.

Marys looked to hit back immediately at the home side and looked as though they were on their way to. Another great team move with strong running from the likes of Hegarty and Gar setting up winger Dave Millard in the corner only for him to knock it on when attempting to ground the ball, Wanderers would clear their lines with the score remaining at 13-7.

Feeling a new found confidence in their kicking game, Wanderers decided to try and play for territory. Thinking he could see an opportunity on the far sideline, the Wexford fly half decided to attempt a cross field kick but for it to be collected by no other than Dave Millard. Now where exactly Millard collected the kick is a matter of some dispute as Dave claims to have collect the ball in his own 22 while everyone else present said he collected it near the home team’s 10 meter line, I guess we’ll never know. One thing that cannot be disputed is after collecting the kick, Millard broke down the sideline and knocked the ball on once again but this time the referee was feeling generous and awarded the try. Sinking the conversion gave Marys a 20-7 lead headed into the final 20 minutes.

Never to know when they are beaten the hosts continued to press for more scores and found the try line once more, landing the conversion made it a 20-14 game. Looking to respond, the J5s continued to press and their continued push was rewarded with another penalty, kicked through by James Walsh, the score now 23-14 with time running short. Not wanting to be beaten on their own turf Wanderers kept on pushing for another score to try and salvage something out of the game. A final try and missed conversion by the home side made for a tense ending but the J5s held on and secured the win in what has been a tough season. There is one final fixture at home for Marys with Terenure at home at a date yet to be confirmed.

Final score: St. Marys 23 – Wexford Wanderers 19

Chris Kane

St. Mary's: 1 Conor Ryan, 2 Aaron O'Connor, 3 Taylor Berliant, 4 James Casey, 5 David Dixon, 6 James Fitzsimons, 7 David Millard, 8 James Hynes, 9 James Collery, 10 Caolan Smith, 11 Tahar Horchani, 12 James McHugh, 13 John Whelan, 14 Eric Dunne, 15 Cormac Chisholm.

Replacements: 16 Ryan Byrnes, 17 Padraig Fox, 18 Brian Young, 19 Shane Levins, 20 James Nolan, 21 Barry Norman, 22 Tony Flynn.

From the Leinster team sheet.

St. Mary's: 1 Gary Masterson, 2 Hugh Lyons, 3 Jack Madden, 4 Padraig Fox, 5 David Dixon, 6 Tom Muldowney, 7 Christopher Kane, 8 James Hynes, 9 Tahar Horchani, 10 Ryan Barnes, 11 James Walsh, 12 Stephen Mellon, 13 Barry Norman, 14 Daniel Hurley, 15 John Whelan.

Replacements: 16 Keith Gavaghan, 17 Tony Flynn, 18 Uros Radic, 19 Aaron Hudson, 20 Eric Dunne, 21 Paul Bennett, 22 Shane Levins.

From the Leinster team sheet.

St. Mary's: 1 Keith Gavaghan, 2 Hugh Lyons, 3 David Browne, 4 Padraig Fox, 5 David Dixon, 6 Christopher Kane, 7 Uros Radic, 8 David-Owen Mahon, 9 Tahar Horchani, 10 Colin O'Neill, 11 Daniel Hurley, 12 Michael Daly, 13 David Daly, 14 Eric Dunne, 15 Peter Daly.

Replacements: 16 Taylor Berliant, 17 Gareth Lloyd, 18 James McHugh, 19 Kieran Fitzgerald, 20 Paul Bennett, 21 Aaron Hudson, 22 Caglar Tuc.

From the Leinster team sheet.

St. Mary's: 1 Brian Young, 2 Christopher Kane, 3 Aaron Hudson, 4 Padraig Fox, 5 David Dixon, 6 James Casey, 7 James Hynes, 8 Tom Muldowney, 9 Tahar Horchani, 10 Colin O'Neill, 11 James Fitzsimons, 12 Owen Clery, 13 Eric Dunne, 14 Barry Norman, 15 James Walsh.

Replacements: 16 Max Grant, 17 Caglar Tuc, 18 Karl O'Sullivan, 19 Paul Bennett, 20 Gary Masterson, 21 Chris Costello, 22 Daniel Hegarty.

Scorers. Tries: Max Grant, James Fitzsimons. Conversions: Colin O'Neill (match report).

From the Leinster team sheet.

St. Mary's: 1 Keith Gavaghan, 2 Christopher Kane, 3 Gary Masterson, 4 Padraig Fox, 5 David Dixon, 6 James Casey, 7 James Hynes, 8 Damien Meere, 9 Tahar Horchani, 10 Colin O'Neill, 11 Daniel Hurley, 12 Owen Clery, 13 James Fitzsimons, 14 Trevor Dunne, 15 James Walsh.

Replacements: 16 Aaron Hudson, 17 Donagh Ryan, 18 Chris Costello, 19 James Collery, 20 Caglar Tuc, 21 Eric Dunne, 22 Paul Bennett.

Scorers. Tries: Trevor Dunne, Colin O'Neill. Conversions: Colin O'Neill (2). Penalties: Colin O'Neill (match report).

From the Leinster team sheet.

St. Mary's: 1 Keith Gavaghan, 2 Brian Young, 3 Gary Masterson, 4 Padraig Fox, 5 David Dixon, 6 James Collery, 7 Daniel Hegarty, 8 James Hynes, 9 Tahar Horchani, 10 David Millard, 11 Daniel Hurley, 12 Owen Clery, 13 James Fitzsimons, 14 Paul Bennett, 15 James Walsh.

Replacements: 16 James Casey, 17 Christopher Kane, 18 Hugh Lyons, 19 David Balfour, 20 Barry Norman.

From the Leinster team sheet.

St. Mary's: 1 Keith Gavaghan, 2 Hugh Lyons, 3 Gary Masterson, 4 Chris Costello, 5 David Dixon, 6 James Hynes, 7 James Casey, 8 David Balfour, 9 Tahar Horchani, 10 David Millard, 11 Daniel Hurley, 12 Owen Clery, 13 Barry Norman, 14 Paul Bennett, 15 James Walsh.

Replacements: 16 Vincent Murray, 17 Brian Young, 18 Donagh Ryan, 19 Aaron Hudson, 20 Daniel Hegarty, 21 Padraig Nestor, 22 Tony Flynn, 23 James Collery, 24 Christopher Kane, 25 Caglar Tuc.

From the Leinster team sheet.

St. Mary's: 1 Keith Gavaghan, 2 Christopher Kane, 3 Jonny Coffey, 4 Padraig Fox, 5 David Dixon, 6 James McHugh, 7 James Hynes, 8 James Casey, 9 Tahar Horchani, 10 David Millard, 11 Caglar Tuc, 12 Barry Norman, 13 Colin Burkley, 14 Chris Costello, 15 James Walsh.

Replacements: 16 Aaron Hudson, 17 Brian Young, 18 Donagh Ryan, 19 Eamonn Walsh, 20 Padraig Nestor.

From the Leinster team sheet.

St. Mary's: 1 Keith Gavaghan, 2 Hugh Lyons, 3 Donagh Ryan, 4 Eamonn Walsh, 5 Jack Madden, 6 James Casey, 7 James Hynes, 8 Padraig Fox, 9 Tahar Horchani, 10 David Millard, 11 John Whelan, 12 Barry Norman, 13 Colin O'Neill, 14 James Collery, 15 James Fitzsimons.

Replacements: 16 Aaron Hudson, 17 Christopher Kane, 18 Conor Ryan, 19 Damien Malaret, 20 Karl O'Sullivan, 21 Daniel Hegarty, 22 David Neville, 23 Ryan Byrnes, 24 Denis Daly, 25 Caglar Tuc, 26 Tony Flynn.

Scorers. Tries: James Walsh, David Millard. Conversions: 2 (James Walsh; the second kicker not named). Penalties: James Walsh (3) (match report).

From the Leinster team sheet.

Source: blitz/D.P. Smyth J5 Blitz 2016 (club website, posted by Maurice).

D.P. Smyth J5 Blitz

O Saturday the D. P. Smyth J5 Blitz 2016 took place in Templeville Road.

The “D.P. Smyth” trophy was presented a number of years ago by the family of Dermot Smyth to the Rugby Club to be used as a J5 Cup. Dermot was a past pupil of St Mary’s College and was captain of their first ever JCT win in 1934. He went on to captain the Rugby Club (1939 – 41) during which he won 2 caps for Leinster (1940). He was elected President of the Rugby Club (1960 – 63). As well as President of the Leinster Branch he was also an Irish Selector and served on many committees over the years. Dermot’s two sons, son in law and four grandsons have all played for St Mary’s College in recent years.

The Smyth family were represented by Dermot’s grandchildren Colin and his sister Max, and great grandchildren Colin’s son Tim, who was ball boy for the day and Max’s daughter Alex.

Taking part were St Mary’s J5, Clontarf and Stillorgan. There was also a Baa Baa’s team made up with players from both St Mary’s and Clontarf. In this four team blitz each team played each other once in the Pool stages with games twenty minutes long.

Marco Petri and J4/J5 Coach Michael O’Flaherty were the referees.

The opening games saw Clontarf beat Stillorgan 12-5. Meanwhile in a tough opening game St Mary’s beat the Baa Baa’s 5-0 with a try from 2nd row Shane Fanning.

In the second round of games Stillorgan overcome the Baa Baa’s 14-5. It was a very tight game between St Mary’s and Clontarf. St Mary’s took an early lead with a try by Lyons converted by Ciaran. That is the way it remained until the final play of the game saw Clontarf going over to score. The drop kick was successful to earn them a 7-7 draw with the hosts.

In the final round of games Clontarf beat the Baa Baa’s 19-0. St Mary’s finished the pool stages strong with victory over Stillorgan 17-7.

The final saw St Mary’s and Clontarf take each other on in another very tight game. The sides couldn’t be separate over the twenty minute game which finished 0-0. Therefore ten minutes of extra time was needed. The extra time looked like finishing the same as the normal time. But late on Ciaran took a well-placed drop goal in the Clontarf twenty-two to give St Mary’s a 3-0 lead. This is the way it finished a couple of minutes later.

St Mary’s retained the D.P. Smyth J5 Blitz, having won in it in 2015.

All teams are already looking for the 2017 competition.

RESULTS ROUND-UP

Round 1: St Mary’s 5-0 Baa Baa’s Clonarf 12-5 Stillorgan

Round 2: St Mary’s 7-7 Clontarf Stillorgan 14-5 Baa Baa’s

Round 3: St Mary’s 17-7 Stillorgan Clontarf 19-0 Baa Baa’s

3rd Place Play Off: Stillorgan v Baa Baa’s – Conceded by Baa Baa’s

Final: St Mary’s 3-0 Clontarf AET

Source: Membership Book 2016-17 (J5 results 2015-16).

Pool

J5 XV 5-0 Baa Baa’s

J5 XV 7-7 Clontarf

J5 XV 17-7 Stillorgan

Final

J5 XV 3-0 Clontarf AET