BUCCANEERS suffered only their second defeat of the season but it was a chastening experience for a patchwork side that travelled to Temple Hill, Cork, where Cork Constitution inflicted a hefty 63-0 loss on the Pirates in the semi-final of the Bateman Cup on Saturday. When the teams met at a similar stage two seasons ago in Dubarry Park, Buccs pushed the holders all the way on that occasion. This time the Corkonians were taking nothing for granted, fielding a strong squad who hit the ground running. They took the lead in the opening minute and, thereafter, the motley Pirates crew struggled for huge swathes of this disappointingly one-sided affair.
Buccs had seven changes from their last AIL outing at the start of December with six key regulars on duty with Connacht Eagles and Conor McKeon injured while Mata Fifita did not start. The midlanders gave starts to Eoghan O’Reilly, Alex Hayman, Ryan O’Meara and Simon Meagher with young Frankie Hopkins making his debut at scrumhalf and the bench was primarily comprised of U-20’s and Seconds. Cork Con’s notable absentee was Shane Daly for this encounter played in near perfect ground and weather conditions.
The hosts, bidding for an unprecedented fifth successive Bateman Cup triumph, gained possession from their kick off and immediately piled forward with intent. Rory Burke was swiftly grounding the ball wide on the left for a first minute try converted by Tomas Quinlan who soon added a brace of penalties as Buccs found it difficult to come to terms with the tempo and power of the all-white clad Cork Con. When the Athlone side got a rare opportunity after a 17th minute home lineout went awry, referee Paul Haycock blew prematurely for a knock on although the visitors had an overlap. But Buccs did not help their cause with a number of kicks not finding touch, resulting in other waves of attack bearing down on them, while tackling needed to be sharper.
Cork Con’s second try stemmed from a Pirates’ error as the midlanders moved the ball left to right but spilled it and Ned Hodson snapped it up to sprint away from halfway for an opportunist 21st minute try. They suffered another setback four minutes later when injury forced Shane Layden off with Fifita coming on in the centre. Just before the half-hour mark, ex-Bucc Conor Kindregan stretched over for a try following a maul after a penalty had been punted to touch. The home maul and scrum were facets that Buccs just could not deal with, earning John Sutton a yellow card during which another Cork Con drive was finished off by Luke Cahill with Quinlan converting this 35th minute touchdown.
Buccs had a spell of pressure coming up to the interval but, when possession was turned over, Cork Con gained huge yardage from a massive relieving clearance and chased hard to get a foothold in the Pirates 22. From there Cahill got over for his second try in the final moments of the half, albeit there was more than a hint of forward in the scoring pass. This gave Cork Con a clearcut 35-0 advantage at half-time.
Buccaneers had the better of the territory in the third quarter but lacked the guile and grunt necessary to unlock the fast-moving Cork Con cover, Hayman being stopped fractionally short of the home line after 46 minutes. Then they were hit with a sucker punch when substitute John Poland made a near immediate impact to finish off a swift counter attack for a 56th minute try which he also converted. As Buccs troubles at scrumtime continued, Ruairi Byrne was sin-binned and Liam O’Carroll inflicted further punishment by notching a try on the hour mark to stretch the Rebels lead to 49-0, Poland again converting.
Although Buccs battled to the bitter end, scrumhalf Jason Higgins completed the rout with a pair of Cork Con tries in the final quarter. Poland, first cousin of teammates Alex and Jack McHenry (sons of golfer John) converted both tries to complete the 63-0 tally. There was no doubting Cork Con’s superiority. They were faster, sharper, stronger and understandably by far the more co-ordinated outfit. Kindregan, Cahill, Poland, Hodson and Evan Mintern all caught the eye. Meanwhile, it was a tough afternoon for Buccs who simply do not have the strength in depth of this Munster powerhouse. But, hopefully, the game will prove of benefit for many of the players who have had very limited match time in the past eight weeks ahead of Saturday night’s league showdown against Ballymena.
The siting of this game on a weekend of key fixtures for the provinces needs serious rethinking by the IRFU. Buccaneers were impacted the greater due to Connacht Eagles participation in the British & Irish Cup (a competition not highly thought of by many) and, consequently, had to field a significantly depleted squad. Meanwhile, with most rugby followers in the real Capital opting for the trip to Thomond Park, Cork Constitution must have had a minuscule take at the gate due to the ensuing paltry attendance.
CORK CONSTITUTION:- L.O’Connell; A.McHenry, N.Hodson, N.Kenneally (captain), R.Jermyn; T.Quinlan, J.Higgins; L.O’Connor, M.Abbott, R.Burke; B.Hayes, C.Kindregan; L.Cahill, J.Murphy and E.Mintern. Replacements:- J.McHenry, G.Roche, C.Barry, G.Duffy, J.Poland, J.J.O’Neill and J.O’Callaghan.
BUCCANEERS:- C.Boland; E.O’Reilly, S.Layden, A.Hayman, J.Conroy; A.Gaughan, F.Hopkins; M.Staunton, J.Sutton, R.O’Meara; S.Meagher, R.Byrne; S.McVeigh, E.Galvin and K.Kiripati (captain). Replacements:- M.Fifita (for Layden, inj. 25 mins), R.O’Connor (for Conroy, 58 mins), R.Grenham (for Sutton), J.Foley (for Byrne, 68 mins), G.Fallon (for Hopkins, 68 mins), D.McMahon (for O’Reilly, 70 mins) and N.Farrelly (for O’Meara, 70 mins).
REFEREE:- Paul Haycock (IRFU).
