The alma mater of Jerry Flannery, Keith Wood, Keith Earls and Conor Murray amongst others, St. Munchin’s College will be looking to avenge last season’s heartbreaking final defeat this time around.
In the schools rugby PRO-file we did with Jerry Flannery earlier on this year, it was still evident just how much of an effect the 1997 Munster Senior Cup final defeat to CBC Cork had on the former Munster and Ireland hooker.
He still remembered the wonder try scored by his teammate Jeremy Staunton and the influence one Donncha O’Callaghan had on the opposition on the day, but most of all he remembered the pain of losing, a feeling that hadn’t gone away 16 years on.
In that regard, Flannery will be able to empathise with many of the squad currently playing for his alma mater, 13 of whom were involved in the agonising single-point defeat to Rockwell last March.
Unfortunately the pain of losing is something that, like my own native Mayo in Gaelic Football, the Corbally college know only too well having lost six finals since 1992. Unlike Mayo, however, they also know what it’s like to win the big prize, having claimed three titles in the last decade, in 2002, 2004 and 2006, two of those won by a single point in the final.
What are the chances of Munchin’s avenging last year’s defeat this time around? Hard to tell.
As mentioned previously, 13 of last year’s squad return for a cut at this year’s competition, including five players – Edward O’Keefe, Shane Airey, James Clancy, hooker Luke O’Halloran and captain Lee Nicholas – who started the defeat to Rockwell last year.
Neither Clancy or O’Halloran – who has represented Munster and Ireland at schools level – featured as Munchin’s went down 11-3 to Pres Cork last month, however, a defeat which has led to a tricky looking away tie at Ard Scoil Rís in the quarter-finals next week.
Still, given Munchin’s pedigree in the competition and the talent at their disposal, it would be foolish to write off Ger Slattery’s side just yet. 12 of their squad have represented Munster at under-18 or under-19 level, while there is a link to past in the presence of Ben Kilkenny, who is the nephew of another famous son of the Limerick school, Keith Wood.
Shane Airey is a talented out-half and if he can marshall a back line containing scrum-half Ryan Meagher and wing Gary Bateman, both of whom have represented Limerick underage Gaelic Football teams, then they’ll give Ard Scoil Rís a run for their money.
Write them off at your peril.
