This article is from page 87 of the 2008-02-05 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 87 JPG
FOR years, a Clare tradition has swept through St Munchin’s College, one of Limerick’s main rugby nurs- eries. Keith Wood, Anthony Foley and most recently, Clonlara’s current Irish international Marcus Horan have all graced the rugby fields for the school.
It continues to grow and develop and this week, ten Clare players will line out for the school in the quarter- final of the Avonmore Mile Munster Senior Schools Cup quarter-final.
They take on strong Cork opposi- tion in the form of Pres but according to Clare’s Donal Madden, part of the backroom team, they’ll hope to re- turn with their cup hopes still alive.
“It’s never easy going to Cork and taking on Pres in their own back yard and we’ll have our work cut-out, but we re confident of coming away with a result.”
There’s further influence seeping through the college as all bar two of the Junior side, who are taking ad- vantage of the backdoor system, are from Clare.
The side went down to PBC at Clif- ford Park last Friday, but it’s not the end of their involvement in the com-
petition. That game threw up one of the most entertaining games in schools rugby all year in what was a forward-dominated contest — one they eventually lost by three points, eee
It wasn’t until mid-way in the sec- ond half that PCB pulled away, when the pack set-up a scoring opportunity that they took full advantage of.
That game was also noted for the impressive play by the Ryan triplets. Evan and Gavin both play in the sec- ond row while Darren operates as scrum half with all three doubling up on their sporting interests and play- ing football and hurling for Meelick.
The three form part of the 13 Clare players who started that game.
Their father, Ray, 1s yet one more Clare link in the Munchins chain and he lined out for the school, playing for the senior side in the early 80s.
And there are further Clare links to this year’s sides with a strong rep- resentation from the county on the backroom teams of both the senior and junior sides.