Blackrock moved closer to retaining their All-Ireland Under-20 crown when beating a game Corinthians by six tries to nil in the first of yesterday's semi-finals in Naas. Ominously for today's opponents Shannon, they rested many of their big guns as well and left a discernible impression that there was much more in the locker.
Corinthians never rolled over yet there was never any doubt about the outcome as the winners tagged on the scores at regular enough intervals. You could see that the nucleus of them have been playing together for years and are inculcated with the winning habit.
Only in the latter stages, after the introduction of Dave Quinlan and the dismissal of the Corinthians lock Darragh Molloy, did Blackrock really cut loose. The Connacht champions were reasonably well organised, tackled very well by and large, but were undone by their inability to compete on equal terms with Blackrock in the basics.
Occasionally, Corinthians were quite dismal in receiving Blackrock restarts, but even more damaging was the increasing frequency with which the Blackrock pack shunted Corinthians off their own scrum ball or drove off lineout takes. By comparison, Corinthians couldn't even guarantee their own line-out ball either; leaving them with set-piece handicaps which are insurmountable in the modern game.
Where Blackrock were strongest, invariably flanker Trevor O'Rourke and their hooker Peter Smyth were in the thick of the action. Smyth is a smashing prospect, who clearly has an excellent attitude and a well-honed physique to match.
It was the Blackrock captain himself who set the tone when burrowing over after a period of sustained pressure by the pack when the holders opted for setpieces rather than penalties. Barry Kavanagh landed the conversion though missed a couple of penalties after Brian Glynn had rewarded some concerted efforts by his pack and a good burst up the middle by Richard Hartman to open Corinthians' account.
Blackrock were having trouble stemming Corinthians' sheer enthusiasm before eventually unleashing their backs to add their second try after 33 minutes. Shane Kelly looped around Alan Hegarty and Blackrock's mobile tight-head Steven Tanner crashed over on the narrow side after the pack arrived at pace and in force to ensure quickly recycled ball.
Even then, the Corinthians pack continued to win some good ball, and a 40-yard burst by impressive right-winger Colin Egan inside Glynn ended with the out-half landing another penalty after being tackled late following his own chip ahead.
Blackrock turned the screw after the interval, opting for their setpiece control as the launching pad for scores when a couple of takes by Jim Smith led to tries by Colm Curneen and Murphy either side of Molloy's dismissal.
Corinthians finally wilted in the last five minutes as Smyth's excellent skip pass put Kavanagh over in the corner and then Quinlan's long skip pass sent Rory Guinan away from inside his half-way. The winger showed pace along the line, followed by strength and and elusiveness in cutting inside and scoring under the posts for a fitting finale.
Scoring sequence: Smyth try, Kavanagh con 7-0; 25 mins - Glynn pen 7-3; 33 mins - S Tanner try, Kavanagh con 14-3; 38 mins - Glynn pen 14-6; 54 mins - Curneen try 19-6; 62 mins - Murphy try, Kavanagh con 26-6; 75 mins - Kavanagh try 31-6; 78 mins - Guinan try, Kavanagh con 38-6.
Blackrock: D McQuillan; R Guinan, A Hegarty, G Duffy, D Kavanagh; S Kelly, C Curneen; C Lenihan, P Smyth, S Tanner, G Ryan, J Smith, T O'Rourke, J Spellman, K Murphy. Replacements - D Quinlan for Kelly (62 mins).
Corinthians: S McKenna; C Egan, R Hartman, B Langan, R Naidoo; B Glynn, D Lillis; K Flanagan, N O'Toole, D Lillis, E Waldron, D Molloy, A Durkin, J Sheridan, R Dolan. Replacements - J O'Connor and R Dunleavy for Dolan and Sheridan (both 60 mins).
Referee: P Fagan (Leinster).
