Old Christians Rugby v. Kinsale, Musgrave Park, Cork

By Fergal McKenna

The loyal patrons in a packed Musgrave Park last night were treated to a spectacle of scoring, tackling and scrummaging that the Real Capital hasn’t witnessed since Prince played in the other stadium back in 1990. The grim determination etched on the faces of all coaches was there to be seen as the teams took to the field. The traces of sweat evident on the furrowed brows of both Kevin Harris and Jim O’Sullivan hinted at the high octane nature of the contest to come. The game began with all the ferocity and intensity that is expected when two titans of the game meet and the fierce rivals kept up the dizzying tempo through the full duration of the match with no quarter asked or given.

Old Christians showed their intent early and dominated early possession through intense work from the forwards and surging line breaks thanks to the mesmerising speed and twinkling toes of the back line. Kinsale were up to the task and, keeping a high defensive line, repelled the marauders just as their ancestors dispatched pirates back in the day from the west Cork shoreline. Despite the best efforts of the bulldozing pair of Fergal McKenna and Cillian McCarthy leaving a trail of battered bodies in their wake, there was no way through that stout Kinsale defence.

Then, a darting break by Kinsale, and they broke through into the Old Christians half for the first time. Three, four and five phases until Kinsale wriggled over the line and the referee’s hand was raised and a try was awarded. The score was against the run of play perhaps but nevertheless Kinsale found themselves ahead and Old Christians had a mountain to climb and time was running out.

Barrelling forward and dragging what looked like half of Kinsale village behind him, the unstoppable Eoin Drummey burst through time and again for Old Christians. With the dynamic duo of Ben Lewis and Rylan Harris calling the shots and keeping the ferocious tempo for the flying Eli Grygoryev and the dancing feet of Noah O’Sullivan to skip, jump and sidestep their way into enemy territory, ground was being made but the clock was ticking down the final minutes.

Old Christians left it late, but as they had done all game, their three Musketeers of Odhran Crowley, Hugh Byrne and Harrison Davies made space for the lightning fast Cian Foley to punch into and surge past the increasingly despairing tackles of the talented Kinsale defence. Could the resistance last? Under this kind of pressure something had to give and eventually it did. Sustained Old Christians pressure after six or maybe seven phases of rucking and razor sharp passing eventually saw the ball fizzed left and with only a few yards left to the line there was only one outcome as Eoin Drummey powered through a brave Kinsale defence and dotted the ball down. The whistle blew and Old Christians had levelled the match.

A quick restart from Kinsale resulted in some powerful forward work and ferocious tackling from both teams and as the clock ticked into full time, the ball went dead, the full time whistle blew and both sides were left reflecting on the part they each played in a very exciting game of rugby that left the crowd in raptures and the applause, from the 8,000 spectators, for both sides leaving the pitch was richly deserved. On the basis of this game, the future is bright for Cork and Munster rugby.

In the day’s other game, played as a warm up to the Old Christians - Kinsale u-12’s, Ireland’s u-20’s beat England to win a successive Grand Slam and win the u-20 Six Nations Championship.