Irish Rugby TV: All-Ireland League Final – 2017 Rewind
Division 1A Final, Aviva Stadium, Dublin 7/05/2017 Clontarf vs Cork Constitution Cork Constitution's Niall Kenneally celebrates with the league trophy Mandatory Credit ©INPHO/Bryan Keane
Cork Constitution and Clontarf renew their All-Ireland League final rivalry on Sunday at the Aviva Stadium. Yesterday we looked at the Joey Carbery-inspired 2016 win for ‘Tarf. Today we look at Con/’Tarf part II – ‘The Cup Goes South’.
Back-to-back finals for both clubs but this time it was Brian Hickey’s Constitution side who emerged as 25-21 winners from yet another sun-drenched and enthralling clash at IRFU headquarters.
Ireland Sevens star Mick McGrath threatened all day for Clontarf, creating one try and scoring another. However, it was the boot of man-of-the-match Tomás Quinlan which sealed the victory for Cork Con – he kicked 20 points as the Leesiders exacted revenge for the loss in 2016.
Speaking after the game, victorious captain Niall Kenneally said: “So happy and so relived for the lads, the management. All the effort we put in over a long season and to have a reward like this at the end of it is special.
It wasn’t a perfect game by any means, but what a contest and the physicality out there was immense. Both teams dug really deep. We were really blowing there in the second half and I thought Clontarf were getting back into it, but some big tackles turned things and were enough to turn it our way in the end.”
Tickets
ALL-IRELAND LEAGUE DIVISION 1A FINAL: Sunday, May 5
CLONTARF v CORK CONSTITUTION, Aviva Stadium, 3pm
Tickets are on sale from Ticketmaster.ie at 10 euro for adults and free for children when purchased with an adult ticket – click here to buy now. The game will be live on RTÉ 2 with coverage starting at 2.45pm.