Division Three Semi-Final Preview: Wanderers v Instonians
Wanderers will bid to protect their proud home record – they have won all eight of their home matches in the AIB League this season – when Belfast side Instonians visit the capital for a crunch Division Three semi-final this coming Saturday (Merrion Road, kick-off 2.30pm). See below for IrishRugby.ie’s preview of the tie.
AIB LEAGUE DIVISION THREE SEMI-FINAL: Saturday, April 21
WANDERERS v INSTONIANS, Merrion Road, 2.30pm
Referee: Dermot Moloney (Munster)
Previous AIB League Meetings: Played 9, Wanderers Won 5, Instonians Won 4; At Lansdowne Road: Played 5, Wanderers Won 3, Instonians Won 2
Last Match: AIB League Division One – December 16, 2006 – Wanderers 20 Instonians 0, Lansdowne Road
2006/07 AIB League Form (most recent match on the left): Wanderers: WWWWW; Instonians: WWLLL
Wanderers – Notes: * They finished first in the Division Three table after this season’s regulation phase. This is their sixth home game against an Ulster club this term
* They have unblemished home record in Division Three this season with eight wins from eight games. They have previously played 37 AIB League matches at home to clubs from Ulster and won 21 of those games
* They have conceded the least tries (14) in all three divisions during the campaign and are on a hat-trick of victories this weekend over Instonians
* En route to the 2002/03 championship title, they beat Instonians 16-14 away in Belfast in the semi-final
* They played eight Ulster clubs in Division Two this season and won all five games at home in Dublin 4
* They have made the play-offs twice before – they beat Waterpark 51-5 in the 2002/03 final but were not promoted and lost 23-10 away to Suttonians in last season’s semi-finals
* This weekend’s game, the Dubliners’ last home match of the season, goes ahead at Merrion Road instead of their usual base of Lansdowne Road
Top Points Scorer in the AIB League: Billy Treacy 113
Top Try Scorers in the AIB League: Mark Culhane, David Fitzgerald, Kolo Kiripati, Jim Ferris 6
Instonians – Notes: * They finished fourth in the Division Three table after this season’s regulation phase. This is the club’s second visit to Leinster this season
* ‘Inst have won three and lost four of their seven away games in Division Three this term
* They have previously played 39 AIB League games away in Leinster and won ten of those fixtures. They previously played Wanderers once in Division One, twice in Division Two and six times in Division Three of the AIB League
* The Belfast side have fond memories of their 39-10 victory over Wanderers in Dublin back in March 2005
* Over the past three seasons, they have won three and lost three of their last six league games at away venues in Leinster
* They have just completed nine seasons in Division Three without gaining promotion
* They have made the play-offs twice before – in 2002/03, they lost 16-14 at home to Wanderers in the semi-finals. In 2004/05, they beat Clonakilty 16-14 in Cork before losing the championship final 39-20 to Greystones at Lansdowne Road
Top Points Scorer in the AIB League: Owen McMurray 108
Top Try Scorers in the AIB League: Adam Telford 6, Mark Wilson 5
– AIB League statistics supplied by Des Daly –