There will be a guaranteed Irish presence in this season’s British & Irish Cup semi-finals after Munster ‘A’ and Ulster ‘A’ were paired together in the draw for March’s quarter-finals.
The draw for the last-eight of the British & Irish Cup has been revealed, with Munster ‘A’, winners of Pool 2, set to host provincial rivals Ulster ‘A’, who advanced from Pool 1 as one of the tournament’s best runners-up, at Irish Independent Park on Sunday, March 12 (kick-off tbc).
Peter Malone’s Munster ‘A’ team had a shorter pool campaign following the expelling of London Welsh from the cross-border competition. They won all four of the matches, home and away against Rotherham Titans and Doncaster Knights, bagging three bonus points in the process.
Coached by Kieran Campbell and Willie Anderson, the Ulstermen are through to the quarter-finals for the first time in five years. Indeed, that 2012 quarter-final saw them lose 20-9 to Munster ‘A’ at Ravenhill, with the men in red going on to lift the trophy that season.
This term has seen Ulster ‘A’ pick up three home wins over Jersey, the Cardiff Blues Premiership Select and London Scottish. They also won 30-27 in Cardiff and pocketed four bonus points, including two losing ones, during the pool stages.
Top seeds London Irish will have home advantage against last year’s runners-up Yorkshire Carnegie in their quarter-final clash, while Jersey will entertain Cornish Pirates at St. Peter and the Scarlets Premiership Select, who topped Leinster’s pool, will make the trip to Ealing Trailfinders.
Munster ‘A’ (2012) and Cornish Pirates (2010) are the only two previous champions left in contention to claim the B&I Cup title in 2016/17.
2016/17 BRITISH & IRISH CUP QUARTER-FINALS:
MUNSTER ‘A’ v ULSTER ‘A’, Irish Independent Park, kick-off tbc (Sunday, March 12)
London Irish v Yorkshire Carnegie
Jersey Reds v Cornish Pirates
Ealing Trailfinders v Scarlets Premiership Select
– Matches will be played over the weekend of March 10-12
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