J1 XV — Season 2008/09
Metro J1 League Section A, Newstalk Metropolitan Cup
The J1s retained the Metro J1 League Section A title with 11 wins, a draw and two defeats, nine points clear of Lansdowne. They went out of the Newstalk Metropolitan Cup in round 2, losing 7–10 away to Old Wesley on 8 March 2009.
Coaches: Rodney O'Donnell, Patrick Crawford (assistant coach). Managers: Patrick Crawford, Paul Murphy (assistant manager).
Honours: Metro J1 League Section A — Winners
St. Mary's score first. (H) home, (A) away.
| Date | Competition | Opponents | Result | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sun 14 Sep 2008 | League | Blackrock College (H) | W 28–3 | Templeville Road |
| Sun 21 Sep 2008 | League | Wanderers (A) | W 55–11 | Merrion Rd |
| Fri 26 Sep 2008 | League | Suttonians (A) | W 72–5 | John J McDowell Memorial Grounds |
| Sun 12 Oct 2008 | League | Old Belvedere (H) | W 14–8 | Templeville Road |
| Sun 19 Oct 2008 | League | Lansdowne (A) | L 10–17 | Ballycorus Rd |
| Sun 2 Nov 2008 | League | Greystones (H) | W 61–10 | Templeville Road |
| Thu 6 Nov 2008 | League | Clontarf (A) | W 11–6 | Castle Avenue |
| Sun 16 Nov 2008 | League | Blackrock College (A) | L 15–19 | Stradbrook |
| Sun 30 Nov 2008 | League | Wanderers (H) | W 47–0 | Templeville Road |
| Sun 4 Jan 2009 | League | Suttonians (H) | W 62–0 | Templeville Road |
| Sun 11 Jan 2009 | League | Old Belvedere (A) | W 22–10 | Ollie Campbell Park |
| Sun 22 Feb 2009 | League | Greystones (A) | W 32–13 | Dr Hickey Park |
| Thu 26 Feb 2009 | League | Clontarf (H) | W 28–12 | Templeville Road |
| Sun 8 Mar 2009 | Metropolitan Cup, round 2 | Old Wesley (A) | L 7–10 | Ballycorus Rd |
| Sun 26 Apr 2009 | League | Lansdowne (H) | D 3–3 | Templeville Road |
Final table (Leinster Rugby). St. Mary's champions: P14 W11 D1 L2, 57 pts.
| Pos | Team | P | W | D | L | PF | PA | Diff | TF | TA | BP | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | St. Mary's College | 14 | 11 | 1 | 2 | 460 | 117 | 343 | 67 | 12 | 11 | 57 |
| 2 | Lansdowne | 14 | 9 | 2 | 3 | 309 | 137 | 172 | 38 | 17 | 7 | 48 |
| 3 | Old Belvedere | 14 | 9 | 0 | 5 | 299 | 216 | 83 | 43 | 25 | 7 | 43 |
| 4 | Blackrock College | 14 | 8 | 1 | 5 | 205 | 178 | 27 | 27 | 20 | 5 | 38 |
| 5 | Clontarf | 14 | 7 | 1 | 6 | 225 | 239 | -14 | 28 | 30 | 4 | 34 |
| 6 | Wanderers | 14 | 4 | 0 | 10 | 222 | 371 | -149 | 27 | 51 | 4 | 20 |
| 7 | Suttonians | 14 | 2 | 1 | 11 | 122 | 468 | -346 | 15 | 69 | 2 | 8 |
| 8 | Greystones | 14 | 3 | 0 | 11 | 170 | 286 | -116 | 20 | 41 | 4 | 8 |
From the club archive. Click to read.
2008-09 J1's the story
It is generally accepted that building a J1 team with esprit de corps is extremely difficult, due to players often being withdrawn for senior team duty, players’ dislike of Sunday rugby and others feeling unhappy or unsettled due to delay in or non permanent selection on the senior side. So it is a great credit to the players and management that they have become a panel which exudes confidence and camaraderie and has played to the highest standard all campaign while having lost only two games.
Being part of the senior squad no doubt helps greatly with the pace and depth of their play and of course having coaches of the highest quality such as Peter Smyth, Ciaran Potts and Shaun Mc Carthy at squad level and intensive tutelage at team level from British and Irish Lion, Rodney O’Donnell, fast developing assistant coach and manager, Patrick Crawford and with strong support from assistant manager Paul Murphy have all made the difference.
The team just sparkles with potential and intrinsic talent and is led superbly by outstanding scrumhalf Simon Gibney, who reads the game like a giant screen, passes well, breaks like a “Bolt” and patrols the field with authority. He has had to curtail his play due to studies but has the ability to play at the highest level. Interestingly, he was missing when the team was beaten. He is backed up by a slick backline full of young adventurous ability with Mark Sexton, Ronan Doherty, Craig Morrin, Robert Hudson and sadly injured Conor Hogan, cemented by experience from David (Dougal) Lyons and Barry Lynn. The forwards too have their young talented tyros such as athletic Robin Copeland, Barry O’Flanagan, Darragh Maher, Niall Brew, Fergus O’Sullivan, David Kilbride, Kevin (Chunky) Carroll, Kevin Gallivan and Darren Kennedy, all driven and exhorted by tireless Karl O’Brien.
To win any league is difficult and great credit must be given to this team, which in fact retains the J1 Metro League. No doubt there will be changes in the J1 league format in the future to make it more player friendly and exciting, with possible mid week games under lights and/or a mixed Leinster/Ulster J1 league, with venues now easily accessible, meantime the J1 team of St Mary’s College RFC and highly popular club president Eoin Quinn are delightfully happy to win the 2008-09 league; roll on the Metro cup.
Report by D. O'Brien