PBC blow St Munchin's away in first half to win senior schools rugby cup final in superb fashion

PBC 51 

St Munchin’s 3 

PBC completed one of the all-time dominant runs to a Munster Schools Senior Cup title with a 48-point victory over St Munchin’s at Virgin Media Park on Wednesday.

Armed with a management team of ex-Munchin’s stalwarts, Ger Burke’s side have swept through their seven games by scoring 363 points and conceding just 42.

They maintained that form through the final in a nine-try cruise, with a mix of forward power and backline flair, orchestrated by standout fly-half David Nolan. 

Bobby O’Callaghan racked up the scoreline with a second-half brace.

Pres jump clear atop the roll of honour with Rían MacFarlane O’Shea collecting the Garrett Fitzgerald Cup to mark their 33rd title, lifting them one ahead of CBC.

In their first final since 2012, the wind-assisted Munchin’s came out with some fired-up defence.

 A series of dominant tackles was followed by the first of two Brendan Minogue turnover penalties.

They opened the scoring in the sixth minute after Ryan Angley charged down Daniel Murphy’s clearing kick. 

Nolan prevented Angley from gathering for the try, but Michael Landers forced a holding-on penalty, which Oisín Madden slotted. 

It was just the second score against this Pres defence in the knockout rounds.

But Munchin’s line-out was misfiring and they were made to pay for a second lost throw. 

Cormac Bohan dinked ahead to earn a five-metre line-out. 

Once Tom Murray secured the ball, they were marching forward for Nathan MacCarthy to finish the try. Murphy perfectly judged the conversion into the wind.

By the 13th minute, it was 12-3. From a 22-metre scrum, Pres went wide through with a brilliant Nolan offload to Murphy creating the space for Harry Galvin Carty’s try. Murphy’s conversion drifted wide.

Munchin’s had a chance to get back in touch when drawing a penalty in the Pres 22. 

They opted to switch things up from the line-out. Jack Meaney caught the ball and immediately chucked it to Conor Dillon, who knocked on.

They shot themselves in the foot when Michele Ferrara’s chip was blocked by MacFarlane O’Shea into Nolan’s hands. 

The fly-half sprinted all the way from halfway to the tryline. Murphy’s conversion tailed off to the left.

Pres had their fourth try in the 26th minute. 

Frankie Óg Sheahan’s switch-back pass sent Alex Moloney storming through the ruck and he steered around the last defender to race over. Murphy’s kick made it 24-3.

Even when Munchin’s stopped the Pres maul, they still added another try before the break. 

Olan Healy dropped the ball, which Paudie Sheehan judged to have gone backwards, before Murphy picked up the pieces to go over. 

The full-back added an outstanding touchline conversion for 31-3 as they turned to play with the wind after the break.

Munchin’s had rotated four of their front-five by half-time. They had a further enforced change when star full-back Angley was withdrawn.

Murray ripped the ball from a Munchin’s maul to enable Pres’s sixth try. 

Moloney barrelled through a tackle, Murphy fixed the last defender, and O’Callaghan dashed away down the left flank to score. Murphy’s conversion missed.

Pres gained a numerical advantage when Paddy O’Driscoll was yellow-carded. Munchin’s showed commendable grit to weather that sin-bin spell without any further concession.

But once it was back to a 15-on-15 contest, Pres added three late tries. 

First, Murphy secured a garryowen and Moloney sent O’Callaghan to dash in from halfway.

Then, George McSweeney wheeled away down the right before producing an offload from the turf for Bobby Waters to dive over. Murphy missed those conversions.

Finally, Gearóid Coughlan was involved before Dan O’Leary picked up a loose ball to burst over from outside the 22. 

Nolan’s conversion was carried wide in the wind.

Scorers for PBC: Tries: N MacCarthy, H Galvin Carty, D Nolan, A Moloney, D Murphy, B O’Callaghan 2, B Waters, D O’Leary; Cons: D Murphy 3. St Munchin’s: Pen: O Madden.

PBC: D Murphy (D O’Leary 69); O Healy (G McSweeney 57), A Moloney, H Galvin Carty, B O’Callaghan (G Coughlan 65); D Nolan, F Óg Sheahan (L O’Brien 65); F O’Sullivan (M Riordan 65), N MacCarthy (S McKenna Carroll 57), D Sheehy (M Fitzgerald 60); T Murray (C McLoughlin 65), C Bruhn (B Waters 57); E Dooley (J Healy 65), C Bohan (R Dillon 56), R MacFarlane O’Shea (capt).

ST MUNCHIN’S: R Angley (P O’Driscoll h-t) (D O’Driscoll 65); D Mullane, B Minogue (R Angley 69), M Ferrara (A Fennell 52), E Quinn (D Newman 59); O Madden (J Browne 65), T O’Brien (S Frost 69); B Meagher (D Colgan 32-52) (K Yoxall 65), M Landers (S McGlynn 30), C Dillon (O Gleeson h-t-52); Callum McGrath, Cillian McGrath (S Bisette 33); R O’Brien (Cillian McGrath 39) (M Keane 69), J Meaney (capt), D Foley (M Landers 52).

Referee: P Sheehan (MAR).