Gonzaga tear down Temple in Senior Cup first round

GONZAGA COLLEGE 62-7 TEMPLE CARRIG SCHOOL

Gonzaga turned in ten tries from ten players in the Bank of Ireland Leinster Rugby Boys Schools Senior Cup first round at Energia Park on Tuesday afternoon.

The Ranelagh school were clean in their handling, scrum-half Roddy Cotter countering into traffic and number eight Josh Mulligan blazing in behind to find Naoise Hillery-Nolan on his shoulder for a try, which the out-half also converted.

The lead was almost increased  but full-back James Friel couldn’t hold James Verdon’s offload from Hillery-Nolan’s crossfield kick.

Temple had to hang in there as best they could, or the scoreboard could get away from them in a hurry.

A barrage of big carries from ‘Zaga was met with stubborn and disciplined defence by Temple, led by Matt Smullen and Charlie Sammon, until flanker Tadhg Noone crashed over at the posts for Hiller-Nolan to convert in the ninth minute.

A burst by Noone was added to by the decision-making of Hillery-Nolan and Zach Mulligan to almost put Friel over on the right. No matter, blindside flanker Jamie Carr clutched the lineout and replacement Borja Salto Galdon got the ball back to shear away from the maul for the third try in the 15th minute.

Temple could not escape the pressure that accompanied the howling wind and rain, despite the covering work of Corey O’Brien and Charles Lambert in the backfield.

It looked for all the world like Zach Mulligan had grounded the fourth try until it was officially ruled as a knock on.

The relentless driving game of Gonzaga was clinical in the conditions, loosehead prop Emile Fitzsimon clattering over for the next try, converted by Hillery-Nolan for a 26-point advantage.

Yet another quick raid, this time down the left by Verdon, was turned into seven points by Josh Mulligan’s second touch and Hillery-Nolan’s conversion.

There was no sign of the onslaught abating. Wave upon wave of carry exhausted a willing defence for Zach Mulligan to touch down for the fifth converted try and give Gonzaga a convincing 40-0 advantage at the break.

Temple Carrig had to use the wind to play as far away from their posts as possible but Lambert’s attempted clearance was blocked for a five-metre scrum.

Front-up tackling by Lambert forced a spill before his kick was blocked for a try by the impressive Daniel Murphy. Hillery Nolan converted once more.

Even a terrific turnover by prop Joshua Burke Emery could not halt Gonzaga, as they launched a stunning attack from deep that ended with Marcus O’Grady stepping out of a tackle for another try in the 52nd minute.

A scrum near halfway was the platform for Josh Mulligan to pick and for Cotter to weave a path to the line for another Gonzaga score.

A rip in the tackle by hooker Ben Griffiths and hard work from the pack led to the first genuine attack for Temple, with Oliver Warnock grabbing the lineout and Griffiths going close from the maul.

They stayed on message, hammering away on the fringes for Griffiths to battle to the line to score his team’s only try, O’Brien converting to make it 57-7 on the hour.

Stung into reaction, Gonzaga’s Peter Dockey steamed through contact. Zach Mulligan almost won the race to his own kick but the energy shown in defence by Warnock and Charlie Sammon was something to behold in light of the scoreboard, even as ‘Zaga pressed the action.

It was left to replacement James Lawlor to add the finishing touch for the tenth try in the right corner.

GONZAGA COLLEGE: James Friel; Conor Farrelly, Zach Mulligan, Marcus O’Grady, James Verdon; Naoise Hillery Nolan, Roddy Cotter; Emile Fitz-Simon, John Brophy, Tadhg Kelly McKeone, Daniel Murphy, Michael Wall, Jamie Carr, Tadhg Noone, Josh Mulligan.

Replacements: Borja Salto Galdon for Noone 13 mins; Bobby McCarthy for Kelly-McKeone ht; Ethan Cunningham for Cotter 57 mins; Peter Dockery for Wall 58 mins; Cian Start for Brophy, Art Crowley Healey for Fitz-simon, Conor O’Dwyer for Hillery Nolan, James Lawlor for Farrelly all 51 mins.

Scorers: N Hillery Verdon try, 6 cons; T Noone, B Salto-Galdon, E Fitz-Simon, J Mulligan, Z Mulligan, D Murphy, M O’Grady, R Cotter, J Lawlor try each.

TEMPLE CARRIG SCHOOL: Corey O’Brien; Fionn Dutton, Christiaan Whelan, Ryan Morgan, Conor Keogh; Charles Lambert, Finn Maguire; Luca Elitas, Benjamin Griffiths, Joshua Burke Emery, Oliver Warnock, Tiernan Lynch, Charlie Sammon, Brendan Harrison, Matt Smullen.

Replacements: Ollie Farrar for Maguire 4 mins; Luke Dobson for Sammon 19 mins; Thomas Corbett for Dutton, ht; Declan Shanahan for Morgan 49 mins; Michael Kavangh for Harrison 52 mins.

Scorers: B Griffiths try; C O’Brien con.

Referee: S Kearns, Leinster Branch.