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ANOTHER absolutely riveting weekend of rugby last weekend, with local, provincial and international rugby making the headlines. First off, Munster took on the Newport/Gwent Dragons at Thomond Park in the PRO 12 and pretty much hockeyed the visitors, winning on a scoreline of 45 points to 17. Jack O’Donoghue was the man of the match, in a side devoid of the internationals but it was great to see Rassie give the younger players a shot. Next weekend Munster head to the Liberty Stadium to take on the Ospreys in the next round of the league.

Last Saturday, the Irish national side took on Italy at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome in the second round of the RBS Six Nations. Still smarting from the defeat to Scotland the previous weekend, Joe Schmidt’s men were determined to keep the pressure on early leaders England by putting Conor O’Shea’s men to the sword. In the end the final score read 10-63 in favour of the visitors with CJ Stander and Craig Gilroy scoring hat tricks and the bonus point in the bag. Next weekend there is a well-deserved break in the Six Nations and Ireland prepare to face France at the Aviva on Saturday, February 25.

I always maintain that a good Munster Junior League match is as good as any Munster match or Ireland match for entertainment and last Sunday’s match between our own Killarney RFC and near neighbours Killorglin RFC was an absolute cracker. This fixture was postponed from the previous week where the elements disrupted the final round of matches in Division 3. Killorglin led the league all season, however Mitchelstown overtook them last weekend and this match was set up to be a battle as Killorglin needed to win to secure the league and earn promotion to Division 2. Killarney were looking to consolidate their third place spot and to continue the good form ahead of the Munster Juniors Bowl competition as well as the Martin O’Sullivan Cup final in a few weeks.

A six-try thriller saw the home side run out winners as the bumper crowd witnessed some sublime rugby and the Killarney scrum was a sight to behold. Next weekend the lads head to Dungarvan in the semi final of the Bank of Ireland Munster Junior Bowl. Best of luck, lads!
 

 
Above: The Killarney Rugby Club seniors who beat Killorglin in the last round of the league last Sunday at Aghadoe.