In a display of strategic prowess characteristic of their identity, Cork Constitution clinched the Energia All-Ireland championship for the seventh time following a formidable performance in the finals, depriving the Terenure College and their legion of fans their first consecutive wins since 2006.
Even with a red card slapped on them in the 20th minute and two yellows, Cork Constitution managed to hold their defence lines heroicly while tactically keeping the scoreline active. Their ace halfback, James Taylor, exhibited a performance fit for Munster, successfully converting all seven kicks into an impressive 18-point collection. Interestingly, on the three separate occasions they declined a chance at goal, they were rewarded with tries.
The team’s captain, David Hyland, alongside Jack Keleher made significant contributions, and, crucially, as well as demonstrating superior set pieces, their reserve line-up made a larger impact. Cork Constitution’s intense physicality right from the beginning clearly left Terenure rattled and, despite a pair of absurd yellow cards, their discipline during the second half proved critical.
Despite displaying more play, Terenure was left to reflect on multiple missed opportunities alongside a series of penalties. The faulty lineouts caused significant damage for various reasons.
In the end, Cork Constitution prevailed with remarkable ease in a final that started and stopped often, a game that would’ve benefitted from a more understanding referee than the strict Andrew Cole.
The match began with Cork Constitution seizing the initiative within the first two minutes when they won field position from a couple of penalties and launched an attacking lineout within the 22-yard line. Niall Kenneally appeared set to power through, but instead made a pass. Rob Hedderman, timing his arrival flawlessly, bolted onto James Taylor’s pass, breezing through the Terenure defence.
The reigning champions started shakily, particularly with their lineout failing. Cork Constitution’s swift line speed, ability to keep all 15 players active and hostile in the collisions saw them dominate the gain line initially.
Terenure showed sparks of promise creating space on the wings, Adam La Grue standing out with a significant carry after a textbook tackle on Daniel Hurley, but Luke Clohessy dropped the ball in open play. A resultant scrum penalty gave Taylor a 48-metre kick, darting the scoreline to 10-0.
The battle was clearly going in favour of Con, with their physical prowess overshadowing Terenure. However, their player John Forde took it a step too far by making a high-risk direct contact with Adam Melia’s head, a move that warranted no mitigating circumstances. Consequently, Andrew Cole along with TMO Mark Patton decided to render him with a red card. Terenure made a comeback thanks to an outstanding central move by Coughlan, although a subsequent penalty by Aran Egan was missed. While another opportunity led to them choosing the posts, their continued inability to fully utilise lineouts made their efforts futile.
Disappointment was faced by Levi Vaughan from Con, as he was flagged for handling the ball incorrectly despite his obvious release which led his team to take full advantage of their every move. They positioned themselves along the line and scored a strategic drive brought to completion by Billy Scannell, with Taylor’s conversion providing them a secure 17-3 lead.
Subsequently, Brewer was tackled but he adeptly dodged and handed off to Peter Sylvester who passed to Craig Adams. It was Coughlan who finally broke through the tackles of Scannell and Luke Masters to get to the try line. After Egan’s conversion, Terenure kept the momentum with a sustained assault.
However, as the first half neared its end, Niall Kenneally received a yellow card for intentionally tripping. Despite this, they squandered another attacking lineout and Conan O’Donnell ended up getting held back over the line by Jack Kelleher, keeping Con’s lead at 17-10 at half-time. In the second half, Brewer intercepted a loose offload by Matthew Bowen leading Duffy to play the ball from an offside position thus resulting in a penalty and leaving his team with only 12 players. Despite Con’s robust defence, they couldn’t prevent Conor Phillips from skilfully sending Egan over the line by effectively disabling two of Con’s men with a nifty offload.
Despite Egan’s missed conversion and Brewer being penalised for a neck roll, Taylor managed to land a penalty. He then scored another after Sylvester received a harsh penalty for a high hit. Terenure countered this with Classon and Melia enabling Adam La Grue for a remarkable finish on the edge, with Egan’s conversion transforming the match into a close competition.
A pivotal moment in the fixture came when Egan skilfully caught the restart, evaded capture then passed to Phillips at the halfway point. However, Bowen, known for his scored tries, covered the area and managed to flip the Terenure winger back to his position on the line, denying a grounding.
Nearing the conclusion, it was up to Con to hold their ground on the try line. This resulted in Cole awarding a penalty against Terenure for dissent. This set off a series of penalties against Terenure, with Taylor successfully scoring one and then converting a try by substitute forward Danny Sheahan. Con’s strategy of going to the corner and mauling towards the line paid off, and they soon found themselves once again among the top-rated in Irish club rugby.
The 1991 AIL victors had reclaimed their position at the top of the game. Key moments in the match included: Hedderman’s seven minute try and Taylor’s conversion, making the score 7-0; Taylor’s 18 minute penalty raising the score to 10-0; Egan’s penalty at 24 minutes closing the gap to 10-3, among others. The Cork Constitution line-up featured players like Rob Hedderman, Daniel Hurley, Harry O’Riordan, Niall Kenneally, Matthew Bowen, and others.
During the game, several players were substituted on the field. Duffy saw Quilter come on for a brief stint from the 37-40 minute mark, followed by O’Sullivan at 56 minutes. Kenneally was replaced by Crowley at 50 minutes. Sheahan came on for Scannell, Quinlan for Heaney, Connolly for Masters, D’Arrouzat for Duffy and Jermyn for Hedderman all at 56 minutes. Kahn took over from Maher at 65 minutes and Heaney was brought back on for Quinlan at 76 minutes.
Forde saw red at 20 minutes into the match. Both Kenneally and Duffy got yellow cards at 40 and 44 minutes respectively.
Terenure College fielded Adam LaGrue, Craig Adams, Sam Berman, Peter Sylvester and Conor Phillips. The mid-field had Aran Egan and Alan Bennie, while the defenders were Campbell Classon, Levi Vaughan and Adam Tuite. The forward line was entailed by Harrison Brewer (Captain), Matthew Caffrey, Adam Melia, Luke Clohessy and Jordan Coghlan.
Changes saw White replacing Clohessy at 28 minutes, O’Donnell for Tuite at 37 minutes and O’Reilly for Caffrey at 52 minutes. Classon made way for Howard and O’Donnell was then replaced by Tuite both at 62 minutes. The final change was Classon coming on for Howard at 77 minutes.
On the bench, Max Russell, Conor McKeon, Yago Fernandez Vilar, and Barry Galvin were not used. Andrew Cole from IRFU refereed the match.