The holders began their defence of the Bank of Ireland Leinster Schools Senior Cup with an impressive half-dozen tries against old rivals Terenure in the first round at Donnybrook on Sunday.
It was a touch flattering and Terenure started with real vigour.
They looked to have created a turnover through the vigilance of flanker Conor Seery in spoiling scrum-half Patrick Patterson only for tall ‘Rock lock Vittrio Mantegazza to get a block on ‘Nure’s nine Mark Fabian.
The retreating defence killed the ball and full-back Peter O’Reilly hammered the penalty off the right upright.
They did have the benefit of a scrum and multiple phases only for centre Gavin Mullin to obstruct as left wing Stephen Kilgallen hared over on the right.
The immediate problem for Terenure was how they struggled to escape their own 22 for a sustained period.
A sound lineout was taken up by flanker Roghan McMahon and Kilgallen showed up on the right to roll out of a tackle and make the line for the breakthrough try in the ninth minute.
A lightening raid down the left flank forced ‘Rock to concede a penalty and Terenure made them work in defence to force a second penalty which scrum-half Mark Fabian confidently slotted.
This was all made redundant when Terenure wing Gary O’Reilly spilled a ball and the error was compounded when McMahon was pulled back for what referee Dudley Phillips deemed to be a penalty try, converted by Peter O’Reilly in the 16th minute.
Then, it was Conor Dean’s turn to lose a ball forward. Terenure bashed it up close in, their captain Rory Murray making the biggest impression. Flanker Jack Dignam’s footwork and acceleration forced an early tackle for Fabian to halve the deficit in the 21st minute.
Another ball lost forward triggered a ‘Nure counter concluded by fly-half Michael Haddock’s beautiful angled kick into the 22 and a second defence slicer from Haddock turned Blackrock again.
Still, they were having trouble dealing with Blackrock’s line speed and aggression at the breakdown.
This prompted a bout of kicking with Kilgallen deciding to run it back on the left and centre Kyle Dixon split the cover and ducked inside the last defender for O’Reilly’’s conversion to make it 19-6 in the 33rd minute.
Terenure had to strike first in the second-half to hold out hope of a comeback. Fabian missed from long range at the end of the first-half and slipped another difficult chance left in the 39th minute.
Just when they looked like giving ground, Jack Dignam surged from deep and Murray was there to continue the attack. Haddock dinked a ball through and replacement Zack Vaughan was called back for a foot-in-touch as he dived over in the corner.
The pace was picking up. Dixon’s long ball forward just eluded the hands of right wing Tommy O’Brien. But, the Williamstown school had position.
Captain Hugo Kean charged. The ball was cleaned and Dean kicked crossfield under pressure for Kilgallen to plunder his second try in the left corner for 24-6 in the 48th minute.
Terenure had to chase it from there. This played into the champions hands. O’Reilly added a 54th minute penalty.
The tempo and intensity never waned. Terenure’s forwards combined well for short yardage. The big plays tended to come from the other side of the ball as ‘Rock number eight Calean Doris burst forward and Kean twice went close.
They finally found the gap from Dixon’s subtle offload for O’Reilly to find the left corner.
It was fitting that Terenure should end their challenge with a tremendous try, sparked by Cian Cooke’s 70-metre slalom run and a fine support line by his centre partner Ted O’Donoghue before Kilgallen created the final try for O’Brien.
At Donnybrook – Blackrock College 39 (S Kilgallen 2 tries; K Dixon, T O’Brien try each; Pen try; P O’Reilly try, pen, 2 cons; J Fennelly con); Terenure College 6 (T O’Donoghue try; M Fabian 2 pens).
BLACKROCK COLLEGE 39 TERENURE COLLEGE 11
Blackrock: P O’Reilly; T O’Brien, G Mullin, K Dixon, S Kilgallen; C Dean P Patterson; M Reidy, H Kean (capt), J Condon, D Mullane, V Mantegazza, R Dunne, R McMahon, C Doris.
Replacements: R Mouatt for Condon, C Ryan for Mullane both 54 mins; M O’Leary for Patterson, A Murray for McMahon both 59 mins; M O’Neill for Kean, E Burns for Reidy, J Fennelly for Dean, M Dwan for Mullin, all 63 mins.
Terenure: S O’Shea; G O’Reilly, T O’Donoghue, C Cooke, JA O’Sullivan; M Haddock, M Fabian; J Boyden, O Wigglesworth, S Collins, J Durkin, M Caffery, C Seery, J Dignam, R Murray (capt).
Replacements: Z Faughan for O’Reilly 20 mins; L O’Dea for Durkin, C O’Sullivan for Seery both 39 mins; J Nolan for Fabian 70 mins
Referee: D Phillips, Leinster Branch
