All-Ireland rugby league final in Tipperary promises to be a great occasion

Clonmel 44 Dolphin 17

Having topped the league in the regular season, Clonmel hosted Dolphin from Cork at Ard Gaoithe in the semi-final of the All-Ireland League Division 2C Championship on Saturday.

The weather obliged with a beautiful sunny day, though a diagonal breeze was a factor in proceedings. A huge attendance was warmed up by the club choir and a subset of Banna Chluain Meala playing the theme from Rocky. What could possibly go wrong.

The opposition, however, had proved to be a bogey team for Clonmel, who had not yet beaten their visitors. With a very strong scrum, astute half-backs and fast backs, they would be a handful.

Clonmel kicked off with a slight breeze advantage, and Jack Walsh made good ground up the middle after a loose kick from Dolphin. Tom Ross, Ben Masuku and Joe O’Connor handled before Henry Buttimer put Freddie Davies into space and the Clonmel flyer cantered over the line and touched down after just two minutes. Joe O’Connor duly converted, leaving it 7 – 0 to Clonmel. That was the start Clonmel were looking for.

Dolphin restarted long, with the ball returned with Freddies Davies making a superb catch, however resulting in a Clonmel knock-on. The scrum led to a free to Dolphin, and a period of visitors pressure before Joe O’Connor launched a huge relieving kick to halfway. More possession from the Corkmen was ended when Brandon Delicato nailed the carrier and forced a knock-on. Dolphin then infringed, allowing Clonmel into their half. A solid lineout and skillful passing by the home side led to an offside by Dolphin. Clonmel showed they understood it was knockout rugby by electing to take the points, making it 10–0.

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A period of Dolphin possession was met with aggressive Clonmel defence. Upon regaining possession the Clonmel backs pressured the Dolphin defence, resulting in a high tackle on Luke Hogan. Again O’Connor slotted his kick between the posts, and it was 13 – 0 to Clonmel after 17 minutes.

The Cork kicking problems with the wind continued, with the restart going out on the full. However a threatening position from their strong maul was negated by a knock-on and huge relieving kick from O’Connor. Clonmel then contested a Dolphin lineout on the home 22 and as the visiting backs laboriously worked it across their line, Buttimer intercepted at half way and showed a clean pair of heels to go over under the posts. An easy conversion made it 20 – 0 to the home side after 28 minutes.

It was a dream start for the Tipperarymen, and eventually it had to end. Dolphin showed why they had been unbeaten until now; retaining possession from the restart, a cut-out pass created space and a clever out-to-in kick lead, forcing Walsh to carry over the line. From the five metres scrum, the Dolphin full back fed right wing Boyle, who crossed for the opening score for Dolphin after 30 minutes. The conversion was missed to leave it 20 – 5 to Clonmel.

The next 10 minutes brought end-to-end play, but no scores for either team. However, it did feature two overthrows at Clonmel lineouts, but also two Dolphin lineouts turned over, and a second fantastic kick-chase and aerial catch from Davies that deserved a better outcome. The final play was a misjudged touch-finder by Dolphin, following a harsh penalty on Clonmel.

Dolphin restarted, and a poor relieving kick by Clonmel was returned by the visiting full back with the outside of his right boot to curl a perfect 50/22 and win the lineout. A solid lineout take and well-set maul brought the Corkmen to the home goalline, where one-off carries eventually led to a try for the visitors. The conversion, bizarrely, was half-blocked down, hit the crossbar, then the upright before collapsing over the bar. It was now 20 – 12 to Clonmel, but that was as good as it got for the men from Cork.

From the restart breakdown Masuku got hands on the ball in the visitors’ half, and O’Connor unsuccessfully kicked for the posts. A few minutes later he got another chance from almost the same spot, and he never misses twice. It was 23 – 12 after 46 minutes.

Masuku mopped up another loose Dolphin lineout and Melbourne, Coyne and Walsh all carried before O’Connor launched a huge aerial bomb. Hogan was quickest to the breaking ball and rounded the defence to run 40 yards and touch down under the posts, to leave it 30 – 12 to Clonmel after 50 minutes.

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That was Hogan's last part in this fine win, being replaced by Luke Slattery as a precaution. Nothing looked on five minutes later when Clonmel got a scrum in their own half but excellent handling from Ross to O’Connor, then a cut-out pass from Buttimer to Davies, allowed him to round the winger and scorch through the two inner defenders to race home from halfway. Another conversion made it 37–12 and the crowd in the stand were in fiesta mode.

To be fair to Dolphin they never gave up, battling hard all the way. A long period of Clonmel possession in the red zone ended for holding on. Miscommunication in midfield resulted in a knock-on and granted Dolphin an attacking position, though nothing came of it. With 10 minutes remaining Clonmel emptied the bench, resulting in O’Dea and Masuku departing to a standing ovation. However the Dolphin pressure continued and yielded a try in the 74th minute, which was not converted.

In the final minutes a solid Clonmel scrum allowed Ben O’Dwyer feed Musa, who picked out Davies coming late to once again split the defence and touch down for the third time. The conversion was good to bring the final score to 44–17.

Though nothing was won, this was a convincing Clonmel win. Head coach O’Connor had identified and worked on the vulnerabilities exposed three weeks previously in the defeat to the same opponents. In particular the Clonmel scrum was solid, defence was aggressive, and the backs exploited the available opportunities. However there were clear areas to work on, including some lineout misses, and after a great start the discipline softened.

This win sets up an All-Ireland League final at Ard Gaoithe in Clonmel this Saturday against Bective Rangers, at the usual time of 2.30pm. Dolphin brought great support, as Bective will next week, so please come out and support your home team and enjoy a great rugby event.

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Clonmel: David Coyne, Brandon Delicato, Jason Monua, Gerry Huisamen, Keith Melbourne, Tom O’Dea, Ben Masuku, Andrew Daly, Tom Ross, Joe O’Connor, Freddie Davies, Henry Buttimer (captain), Luke Hogan, Michael Connellan, Jack Walsh. Replacements: Sean Sweetman, David Brennan, Diarmuid Brannock, Zak Cahalane, Luke Slattery, Brian O’Dea, Ben O’Dwyer, Drew Musa.