King’s Hospital came up against pre-competition favourites Terenure in the Bank of Ireland Leinster Schools Junior Cup first round at Donnybrook on Monday.
Terenure moved quickly into gear as centre Adam La Grue cut a fine line for front-foot ball which was used beautifully by backs and forwards to create space to the left where La Grue slid in for a try in the third minute.
But, referee Helen O’Reilly was quick to spot La Grue’s off the ball action for the sanction of a yellow card.
It was an opening. The Hos’ scrum was strong and centre Daniel Eiffe was keen for contact. They thundered forward.
Number eight Connall Howley broke through and a certain try was prevented by wing James Nolan’s blatant deliberate knock-on.
Eiffe took a quick tap penalty and his footwork enabled him to dodge a hit for a try just before O’Reilly carded Nolan to take Terenure down to thirteen boys in the 11th minute.
Back to fourteen, they worked a fine try for La Grue, on his return, with decoy runners taking the attention elsewhere. Fly-half Dominic Henry-Hayes converted for 12-5 in the 14th minute.
Restored to the full complement, the dedication of their forwards to working the ball in close drew a penalty Henry-Hayes slotted on 20 minutes.
A superb counter ruck by KH lock Tom Cole turned the ball over and the smart transfer into the hands of Eiffe delivered a tremendous try born out of a firm fend and speed into the space.
Out-half Ian West’s conversion made it interesting, to say the least, at 15-12 in the 23rd minute.
Terenure carried threats from many different faces and full-back Sam Dardis had the wheels to round the KH defence for a real body blow in first-half injury time to see them lead 20-12 at the interval.
The next score would be crucial.
The footballing skills and pace of Hos’ wing Clinton Wokocha were only foiled by the bravery of Luke Murnaghan and Murnaghan was on the end of the line for Terenure’s fourth try in the 35th minute.
Hos’ were down, but not out.
Their offloading game asked questions with centre Patrick O’Boy central to it. Eventually, they chose to keep it tight for hooker Felix Campbell to pounce midway through the half. West converted to clip the lead to six.
Terenure reclaimed their two-score cushion from a Henry-Hayes penalty just before the fly-half fell to the floor with what looked like cramp. The speed of the game was testing stamina to the limit.
The winners came again to work a superb overlap in minimal space into the left corner for flanker Patrick Heneghan to take it out to 33-19 in the 53rd minute.
Still, Hos’ would not accept their fate. Lock Zac Bursey burst forward. They just couldn’t control the ruck.
It was left to Dardis to add his second and third tries, the first in the left corner, the second in the right to give an unkind appearance to the scoreboard.
TERENURE COLLEGE 43 THE KING’S HOSPITAL 19
At Donnybrook- TERENURE COLLEGE 43 (S Dardis 3 tries; A La Grue 2 tries; L Murnaghan, P Heneghan try each; D Henry-Hayes 2 pens, con); THE KING’S HOSPITAL 19 (D Eiffe 2 tries; F Campbell try; I West 2 cons).
Terenure: S Dardis; L Murnaghan, A La Grue, J Walsh, J Nolan; D Henry-Hayes, M O’Shea; L Vaughan, B Bruce, J Boland, C Somerville (capt), R McGrath, P Heneghan, L Grady, C Shenton.
Replacements: M Hasegawa for Boland 46 mins; G Morgan for O’Shea, B Vaughan for L Vaughan both 53 mins; J Devlin for Henry-Hayes 55 mins; B Morris for Bruce, A Kelly for Grady, R McInnes for Murnaghan, C Creed for Walsh all 60 mins.
King’s Hospital: P Kenny; C Wokocha, D Eiffe, P O’Boy (capt), S Boland; I West, J Courtney; S Wrafter, F Campbell, N Sibanda, T Cole, Z Bursey, R Leitch, B Wallace, C Howley.
Replacements: D Gray for West 26 mins; E Mahood for Kenny ht; J Doyle for Cole 37 mins; E Menton for Wokocha 46 mins; F Sharpe for Sibanda 48 mins; L Corr for Campbell 60 mins.
Referee: H O’Reilly, Leinster Branch.
