Lansdowne Lift Bateman Cup Again After Nine-Try Tussle With Instonians

Lansdowne kicked off 2025 as Energia Bateman Cup champions, seeing off a determined challenge from Division 2A leaders Instonians to win 38-26 on the Aviva Stadium’s back pitch. You can watch a replay of the final in full on irishrugby+.

ENERGIA BATEMAN CUP FINAL:

Saturday, January 4 –

LANSDOWNE 38 INSTONIANS 26, Aviva Stadium back pitch
Scorers: Lansdowne: Tries: Donough Lawlor, Juan Beukes, Rory Parata, Jack Matthews, Jack Treanor; Cons: Stephen Madigan 5; Pen: Stephen Madigan
Instonians: Tries: Neil Saulters 2, Ruairi O’Farrell, Schalk van der Merwe; Cons: Josh Eagleson 3
HT: Lansdowne 14 Instonians 12

Early second-half tries from Rory Parata and Jack Matthews gave Lansdowne a crucial cushion, and unerring out-half Stephen Madigan kicked 13 points as the headquarters club avenged their 1927 Bateman Cup final defeat to Instonians.

Back in the prestigious All-Ireland decider for the first time since then, Instonians recovered from Ian Whitten’s early sin-binning with scores from Neil Saulters and Ruairi O’Farrell which cancelled out Donough Lawlor’s fifth-minute opener.

However, a high-octane first half ended 14-12 in the hosts’ favour. Madigan converted Juan Beukes’ close-range effort, and those seven-pointers from Parata and Matthews saw Declan Fassbender’s men push on.

Saulters crossed again via Instonians’ reliable lineout platform, closing the gap to 28-19, only for a Madigan penalty, following Hugo Ellerby’s yellow card, and replacement Jack Treanor’s 72nd-minute maul try to effectively seal the result.

An indisciplined Lansdowne suffered a series of yellow cards late on as Cillian Redmond, captain Jack Cooke, and Barry Fitzpatrick were all binned. Inst replacement Schalk van der Merwe duly touched down, using another well-directed maul to gain some last-minute consolation.

Adding to their 2018 and 2022 successes, Lansdowne’s win extends their enviable record in Bateman Cup finals with six straight victories since losing to Young Munster in 1928. Dublin clubs have won the last four editions, including Terenure College’s back-to-back triumphs.

For Paul Pritchard’s Instonians side, they can take a lot from their performances in beating Garryowen at the semi-final stage and scoring four tries away to another Division 1A outfit in Lansdowne. Gaining promotion to Division 1B is next in their sights.

Lansdowne’s early pressure led to that yellow card for centre Whitten for going offside near his own try-line. The excellent Lawlor used the resulting five-metre scrum to surge over beside the posts, giving Madigan a simple conversion.

The industrious Instonians pack got down to work, making inroads through their strong carries. Handling errors cost them though, with Mark Keane knocking on after a promising Bevan Prinsloo burst, and a close-in maul also resulted in turnover ball.

Inst picked up a couple of turnovers of their own, including a penalty-winning Bradley McNamara effort. A series of penalties had them hammering away before Saulters connected with his captain David Whitten in the air, and a powerful drive saw them deservedly pull back five points.

The post denied Josh Eagleson’s conversion attempt, but with twice-capped Ireland international Whitten returning from the bin, Inst’s tails were certainly up. Entering the second quarter, they continued to hold the territory and most of the possession.

Inst took advantage of that to edge ahead with a brilliant score from their backs. Scrum half O’Farrell’s clever chip through was fastened onto by Prinsloo, who was tackled but popped up a peach of an offload for O’Farrell to break in under the posts. Eagleson’s right boot made it 12-7.

Key for the hosts was that they hit back from their next visit to the opposition 22. Their lineout offered the initial launchpad, and close-in carrying set up South African second row Beukes to squeeze over from a ruck. Madigan converted to restore the two-point lead.

An advancing Lansdowne maul was penalised for obstruction as they pressed for a third try, while Instonians, who added former Ulster prop Schalk van der Merwe to their scrum, continued to look threatening with ball in hand.

Inst skipper Whitten’s quickly-taken penalty failed to work out, and an Ellerby interception had Lansdowne full-back Cathal Eddy under pressure as he had to react quickly to cover a dangerous kick downfield.

Early on the restart, a bustling break from number 8 Lawlor opened up the Inst defence. Knock-ons were exchanged, but Lansdowne capitalised on the resulting five-metre scrum. Lawlor drew in Ian Whitten and fed Parata to finish off, with Madigan again adding the extras.

The Lansdowne forwards provided more punch with their carries, this time Ruairi Clarke gaining big yards after a stolen lineout. Inst were forced back right on their own try-line before a dummying Matthews sniped over from a 49th-minute ruck. Madigan’s kick left it 28-12.

Number eights Whitten and Lawlor swapped turnovers, the former wrestling the ball away from a Lansdowne drive. Importantly for the underdogs, they used a familiar route to the try-line near the hour mark, as a second maul opportunity in quick succession landed Saulters over the whitewash.

Eagleson’s classy conversion from out wide lifted last season’s Ulster Senior Cup winners further, although they frustratingly coughed up points soon after. Ellerby saw yellow for a high tackle on Parata, and Madigan mopped up from the tee for a 31-19 scoreline.

Lansdowne took a tighter grip on proceedings after Inst out-half Eagleson had unfortunately kicked a penalty dead. Further handling errors and penalties invited Fassbender’s charges forward, and Treanor rumbled over on the left for Madigan to make it a double-scores lead.

In response, David Whitten led a thrilling Inst counter attack, putting boot to ball past halfway before his second kick ended up in touch. Luck was not on their side as Redmond’s yellow for repeated infringements was followed by a missed kick to touch from Eagleson.

The Inst number 10 was bang on target with his final kick of a very entertaining game, converting from the left after van der Merwe had made the most of Lansdowne’s poor discipline.

The home side were down to 12 players at that stage, with Cooke guilty of preventing a quickly-taken lineout, and replacement Fitzpatrick following him to the touchline after catching Ian Whitten with a high tackle inside the Lansdowne 22.

TIME LINE:  4 minutes – Instonians yellow card: Ian Whitten; 5 mins – Lansdowne try: Donough Lawlor – 5-0; conversion: Stephen Madigan – 7-0; 17 mins – Instonians try: Neil Saulters – 7-5; conversion: missed by Josh Eagleson – 7-5; 26 mins – Instonians try: Ruairi O’Farrell – 7-10; conversion: Josh Eagleson – 7-12; 29 mins – Lansdowne try: Juan Beukes – 12-12; conversion: Stephen Madigan – 14-12; Half-time – Lansdowne 14 Instonians 12; 44 mins – Lansdowne try: Rory Parata – 19-12; conversion: Stephen Madigan – 21-12; 49 mins – Lansdowne try: Jack Matthews – 26-12; conversion: Stephen Madigan – 28-12; 56 mins – Instonians try: Neil Saulters – 28-17; conversion: Josh Eagleson – 28-19; 58 mins – Instonians yellow card: Hugo Ellerby; 60 mins – Lansdowne penalty: Stephen Madigan – 31-19; 72 mins – Lansdowne try: Jack Treanor – 36-19; conversion: Stephen Madigan – 38-19; 80 mins – Lansdowne yellow card: Cillian Redmond; 80+1 mins – Lansdowne yellow card: Jack Cooke; 80+4 mins – Lansdowne yellow card: Barry Fitzpatrick; 80+6 mins – Instonians try: Schalk van der Merwe – 38-24; conversion: Josh Eagleson – 38-26; Full-time – Lansdowne 38 Instonians 26

LANSDOWNE: Cathal Eddy; Cillian Redmond, Andy Marks, Rory Parata, Sean Galvin; Stephen Madigan, Jack Matthews; Jerry Cahir, Chris Poole, Greg McGrath, Ruairi Clarke, Juan Beukes, Jack Cooke (capt), Paul Wilson, Donough Lawlor.

Replacements: Jack Treanor, Tom Connolly, George Morris, Barry Fitzpatrick, Hardus van Eeden, James Kenny, Steve McMahon, Peter Sullivan.

INSTONIANS: Bradley McNamara; Mark Keane, Bevan Prinsloo, Ian Whitten, Hugo Ellerby; Josh Eagleson, Ruairi O’Farrell; Oli Clark, Neil Saulters, Liam Kaprigiannis, Robert Whitten, Ali Burke, Marty Vorster, Max Preston, David Whitten (capt).

Replacements: Schalk van der Merwe, Andy Armstrong, Ciaran McCarthy, Matthew Nelson, Matthew Keane, Andy McGrath, Chris Beaumont, Conor McGrath.

Referee: Padraic Reidy (IRFU)