AIB Cup Final Preview: Blackrock College v Shannon
Saturday’s AIB Cup final at Dubarry Park is an all Division One affair and adding to the unpredictability, both Blackrock College and Shannon are first time finalists. So can Shannon follow in the footsteps of Garryowen and keep the cup in Limerick or will ‘Rock become the competition’s first Leinster winners?
2007/08 AIB CUP FINAL: Saturday, April 12
BLACKROCK COLLEGE v SHANNON, Dubarry Park, 3.30pm (live RTE Two)
Referee: Peter Fitzgibbon (Munster)
Previous League And Cup Meetings: 14 (Blackrock College won 3, Shannon won 11); At Stradbrook: 7 (Blackrock College won 1, Shannon won 6); In Limerick: 7 (Blackrock College won 2, Shannon won 5)
This Season: Saturday, December 1, 2007 – Shannon 26 Blackrock College 7, Coonagh
Recent League And Cup Form: Blackrock College (most recent games on left hand side): WWWLW
Shannon: WWLWW
Previous AIB Cup Finals: Saturday, April 8, 2006 – Cork Constitution 37 St. Mary’s College 12, Lansdowne Road
Saturday, April 14, 2007 – Garryowen 20 Belfast Harlequins 7, Dubarry Park
BLACKROCK COLLEGE – NOTES: * Blackrock College first played AIB League rugby against Shannon in February 1994 – they won 18-6 away at Thomond Park. They have lost their last six AIB League encounters with Shannon
* They have won just three of their previous 14 AIB League meetings with Shannon. They were Division Two champions in 1999/00, the season after they were relegated from the top flight. They have spent 17 seasons in the All-Ireland League, three in Division Two and 14 in Division One
* They beat three Division One clubs and one Division Three side to reach this weekend’s AIB Cup final. This is their fifth AIB Cup game and they have won all four to date
* This is the first season that the Stradbrook club has competed in the AIB Cup. They have won two and lost eight of their last ten AIB League games against Limerick clubs
* They have been successful of three of their last four AIB League visits to Dubarry Park. All four of their previous AIB Cup games this season have been at home at Stradbrook
* They have not been honoured with any AIB Club international caps over the past three seasons. They have four of this season’s Ireland Under-20 Six Nations squad in their ranks
* They currently lie in sixth place in AIB League Division One with one round of matches left. They have lost six Division One games already this season so an AIB League and Cup double is not really on the cards
* Joint head coaches Barry Gibney and Emmet Farrell are both former Leinster players
* The 29 points full-back Fionn Carr scored in the semi-final win over Clontarf set a new individual points record in an AIB Cup match
* They are the last of 17 Leinster clubs left standing in the AIB Cup this season
* Captain Des Dillon (48 Leinster caps and 11 Connacht caps) has previously played with UCD and County Carlow in the AIB League
* In total, they have scored 123 points (16 tries, 11 conversions and 7 penalty goals) to make this weekend’s final. In total, they have conceded 40 points (5 tries, 3 conversions and 3 penalty goals) to make the final in Athlone
Top Points Scorers In 2007/08 AIB League And Cup: Fionn Carr 163 points (10 tries, 25 conversions and 21 penalty goals), Kyle Tonetti 21 points (1 try, 5 conversions and 2 penalty goals)
Top Try Scorers In 2007/08 AIB League and Cup: Fionn Carr 10 tries, Shane Monahan 7 tries, Niall Morris 6 tries
BLACKROCK COLLEGE – 2007/08 AIB CUP RUN:
Second Round – Saturday, October 13, 2007 – Blackrock College 42 Instonians 6, Stradbrook (Blackrock Try Scorers: Shane Monahan 2, Royce Burke Flynn, David Rowan, Niall Morris, Paul Graham)
Third Round – Saturday, January 5, 2008 – Blackrock College 14 Cork Constitution 10, Stradbrook (Blackrock Try Scorers: Shane Monahan, David Rowan)
Quarter-Final – Sunday, February 3, 2008 – Blackrock College 33 UCD 7, Stradbrook (Blackrock Try Scorers: Shane Byrne 2, Sean Byrne, Kieran Moloney, Fionn Carr)
Semi-Final – Sunday, March 9, 2008 – Blackrock College 34 Clontarf 17, Stradbrook (Blackrock Try Scorers: David Rowan, Fionn Carr 2
CLUB DETAILS:
President: Declan Gardiner
Coaches: Barry Gibney and Emmet Farrell (second season)
Assistant Coach: Ray Ward
Manager: David Boyd
Captain: Des Dillon
Sponsors: Ulster Bank
2007/08 SQUAD:
Full-Backs: Fionn Carr, Alan Henry, Alister Ross
Wingers: Shane Monahan, David Rowan, Niall Morris
Centres: Gary Brown, Brian Canavan, John Quigley, Simon Morrissey
Out-Halves: Kyle Tonetti, Emmet Farrell, Dan Barnett
Scrum Halves: David Madigan, David Moore
Props: Kieran Moloney, Royce Burke Flynn, Malcolm Cuffe, Sean Byrne
Hookers: Shane Byrne, James Mannion, Stephen Verso, Cian Culleton
Second Rows: Des Dillon, Paul Huntley, Owen Cullen
Flankers: Paul Ryan, Zack Farivarz, Jayden Hill, Richard Woods
Number 8s: Paul Graham, Darren Hayes
SHANNON – NOTES: * Shannon have played 18 seasons in the AIB League, all of them in Division One. They have won the Division One title a record eight times including a four in-a-row in the mid 1990s
* They beat two Division One clubs and two Division Two sides to reach this weekend’s AIB Cup final. This is Shannon’s third season in the AIB Cup and their first appearance in the final (ninth game in all)
* In 2005/06 they lost 20-17 at home to Cork Constitution in the first round
* In 2006/07 they won 22-13 at home to Clontarf in the first round, they won 34-24 away to UCD at the quarter-final stage but lost their semi-final 32-28 away to Belfast Harlequins
* They have already won the Munster Senior Cup this season, beating Highfield 12-6 in the December 29 final
* They have won nine and lost one of their last ten AIB League games against Leinster clubs. They have been successful on three of their last four league visits to Dubarry Park
* All four of their previous AIB Cup games this season have been away from their Coonagh home ground. They were not honoured with an AIB Club international caps this season but four players were capped in the previous two years
* Anthony Foley played his 96th AIB League game when he got game-time against Blackrock College when the sides met in the league in December
* They currently lie second in the Division One table with one round of matches left to play. At the moment, they are still on course to pick up three senior trophies this season – the AIB League, AIB Cup and Munster Senior Cup
* Head coach Mick Galwey, a former Ireland lock, won six AIB League medals and made 118 AIB League appearances (30 tries) with the club
* Andrew Thompson is the top individual points scorer (71 points) in the three years of the AIB Cup
* They are the last of 16 Munster clubs left standing in the AIB Cup this season. Captain for the third season, David Quinlan has previously played with Buccaneers in the AIB League
* In total, Shannon have scored 89 points (9 tries, 7 conversions and 10 penalty goals) to make this weekend’s final. In total, they have conceded 57 points (7 tries, 5 conversions and 3 penalty goals) to make the cup decider
Top Points Scorers In 2007/08 AIB League And Cup: Andrew Thompson 147 points (4 tries, 17 conversions and 31 penalty goals), Tadhg Bennett 26 points (4 conversions, 5 penalty goals and 1 drop goal), David O’Donovan 17 points (1 try, 3 conversions and 2 penalty goals)
Top Try Scorers In 2007/08 AIB League And Cup: Stephen Kelly 9 tries, David Quinlan 7 tries, Sean Cronin and Andrew Thompson 4 tries each
SHANNON – 2007/08 AIB CUP RUN:
Second Round – Saturday, October 13, 2007 – Belfast Harlequins 17 Shannon 19, Deramore Park (Shannon Try Scorer: Cian O’Connor)
Third Round – Saturday, January 5, 2008 – UCC 20 Shannon 34, The Mardyke (Shannon Try Scorers: Mossie Lawlor 2, David Quinlan, Stephen Kelly)
Quarter-Final – Sunday, February 24, 2008 – St. Mary’s College 15 Shannon 28, Templeville Road (Shannon Try Scorers: David Quinlan, Sean Cronin, Jake Paringatai)
Semi-Final – Saturday, April 5, 2008 – Galwegians 5 Shannon 8, Crowley Park (Shannon Try Scorer: Niall Ronan)
CLUB DETAILS:
President: Tommy Rowan
Coach: Mick Galwey (fourth season)
Assistant Coach: Ian Sherwin
Manager: Niall Cowhey
Captain: David Quinlan
Sponsors: O2
2007/08 SQUAD:
Full-Backs: David O’Donovan, Andrew Finn, Mossie Lawlor
Wingers: Pat O’Connor, Stephen Kelly, Ian Dowling
Centres: Andrew Thompson, John Clogan, Joe Manuel, Richie Mullane
Out-Halves: Tadhg Bennett, Joey Moran
Scrum Halves: Fiach O’Loughlin, Dave Barry
Props: Les Hogan, Kevin Griffin, Jason Cronin, Killian O’Neill, Tony Buckley, Gary McNamara
Hookers: Sean Cronin, Jerry Flannery
Second Rows: Fergal Walsh, Padraic O’Brien, Gavin Murphy, Francis Broderick, Trevor Hogan, Donnacha Ryan
Flankers: Jake Paringatai, Alan Quinlan, Colm McMahon, Phil O’Connor, Niall Ronan Eoghan Grace
Number 8s: Leonard Mullane, David Quinlan, Anthony Foley
IrishRugby.ie Prediction: Shannon to win by more than 7 points
– AIB League And Cup statistics supplied by Des Daly