Cavan 1-14
Mayo 0-15
Colm Gannon reports from Castlebar
CAVAN CAME TO Castlebar looking for a win to keep their fight for survival in division one alive and they went home with an impressive victory over last year’s beaten All Ireland finalists.
The Ulster men played second fiddle for a lot of the first half, but once Gearoid McKiernan found the back of the net just before half time, they were the much better team and ended up deserving two point winners against Mayo.
A powerhouse of a second half performance where Cavan swarmed the Mayo attack and broke at pace from defence was the backbone to this victory. They trailed by a point at the break and that gap was stretched out to two just after the restart, but from then on in Cavan took the game by the scuff of the neck and didn’t look back.
Rory Dunne blasted over their first of the second half from a tight angle, then Conor Madden, Gearoid McKiernan and Tomas Corr kicked well worked scores that originated from turning over Mayo deep in their own half to put their side into a 1-9 to 0-10 lead with 42 minutes gone on the clock.
Mayo hit back through scores from Andy Moran and Danny Kirby, but Cavan just kept coming with Martin Reilly getting in for a goal chance, but he opted to put it over the bar to keep Cavan’s noses in front.
Mayo did respond with Lee Keegan kicking two points from well out the park to put them back into the lead with 16 minutes to go, but the momentum was with the visitors, Tomas Corr levelled it up a minute after Keegan’s score.
Mayo edged in front for the final time when Shane Nally pointed from close range, but down the home straight Cavan kicked the final three scores through McKiernan, McVeety and John McCutcheon and could have had a goal when Dara McVeety hit the back of the net, but his effort was harshly ruled out for a push in the back of the Mayo defender.
Cavan had the final say on the first half with Gearoid McKiernan hitting the back of the net injury time to send his side in trailing by just one at the turn around.
The impressive Cavan midfielder hit 1-3 for the Ulster men in the opening 35 minutes, his goal coming after Martin Reilly picked out Conor Madden who had got in behind Keith Higgins – Madden fed the ball to Gerard Smith, who played in McKiernan to finish form close range.
Up to that point Mayo had been in control of the game, taking their time picking apart the massed blue defence that Cavan put in front of them and looked to be going in to the break with a deserved four point lead.
After a couple of misfiring attacks, Tom Parson put Mayo into the lead six minutes in, breaking through a couple of tackles before slotting it over the bar. Raymond Galligan tried to go short from is kick-out, but it was intercepted by Andy Moran who returned it over the bar.
McKiernan kicked Cavan’s first score of the game from a long range free ten minutes in, that was quickly followed by two on the bounce from Mayo.
The first a neat score from Fergal Boland from tight out on the right and the other the first of two great points kicked by Danny Kirby in the opening 35 minutes. Another McKiernan free cut the gap back to two on 22 minutes, before Andy Moran and Dara McVeety swapped singles.
Mayo edged three clear again through a Kevin McLoughlin free, but Cavan weren’t going away and McVeety landed another top class point from play – before Conor O’Shea drove over one from well out the park and Danny Kirby bent over an effort from a very acute angle.
McKiernan hit his first from play with a huge effort to leave the score 0-8 to 0-5 in Mayo’s favour with two minutes left in normal time and O’Shea’s second point of the day looked to have have in a commanding position before the break, but McKiernan’s goal in injury time left just one between the teams.
Scores for Mayo: Danny Kirby (0-4), Andy Moran (0-3), Conor O’Shea (0-2), Lee Keegan (0-2), Tom Parsons (0-1), Fergal Boland (0-1), Kevin McLoughlin (0-1, 1f) Shane Nally (0-1)
Scores for Cavan: Gearoid McKiernan (1-5, 3f), D McVeety (0-3), Tomas Corr (0-2), Rory Dunne (0-1), Conor Madden (0-1), Martin Reilly (0-1), John McCutcheon (0-1)
Mayo
David Clarke (Ballina Stephenites)
2. Brendan Harrision (Aghamore)
3. Keith Higgins (Ballyhaunis)
4. Patrick Durcan (Castlebar Mitchels)
5. Colm Boyle (Davitts)
6. Lee Keegan (Westport)
7. Donal Vaughan (Ballinrobe)
8. Tom Parsons (Charlestown)
9. Danny Kirby (Castlebar Mitchels)
10. Fergal Boland (Aghamore)
11. Cillian O’Connor (Ballintubber)
12. Conor O’Shea (Breaffy)
13. Kevin McLoughlin (Knockmore)
14. Andy Moran (Ballaghaderreen)
15. Conor Loftus (Crossmolina Deel Rovers)
Subs: 21. Stephen Coen (Hollymount-Carramore) for Vaughan, 20. Shane Nally (Garrymore) for Boland, 23. Neil Douglas (Castlebar Mitchels) for O’Shea, 24. Evan Regan (Ballina Stephenites) for Loftus, 22. Jason Gibbons (Ballintubber) for Parsons.
Cavan
1. Raymond Galligan (Leacain)
2. Killian Brady (Mullach Odhrain)
3. Rory Dunne (Cnoc Rua)
17. Fergal Reilly (Caislean Reathain)
23. Gerard Smith (An Leamhai)
6. Killian Clarke (Searog)
7. Conor Moynagh (Drom Dhuin Eire Og)
8. Gearoid McKiernan (An Muileann Iarainn)
9. Tomas Corr (An Dinn)
10. Martin Reilly (Coill an Charrai)
11. Dara McVeety (Cros ar Loch)
12. Niall Clerkin (Seacog)
21. Niall Murray (Gaeil an Chabhain)
14. Conor Madden (Loch Gamhna)
15. Seanie Johnston (Gaeil an Chabhain)
Subs: 20. Cian Mackey (Caislean Reathain) for Johnston, 5. Ciaran Brady (Armach) for Clerkin, 25. Stephen Murray (Gaeil and Chabhain) for Murray, 22. John McCutcheon (Gaeil an Chabhain) for Madden, 13. Paul O’Connor (Gaeil an Chabhain)
Referee: Anthony Nolan (Wicklow)
Think Henshaw deserves a lot of credit for that game.
@Simon Clarke: His hands for Larmour’s second try were superb, took it and passed it all in one motion. The man is an absolute machine in every aspect of the game.
@Noah Rossiter: and the steal for porters break away. Henshaw might just have been involved in everything good about that performance. Ringrose didn’t look too far off the pace either.
@Simon Clarke: McFadden too. Had his hand in a lot if the best attack.
Larmour is amazing. A joy to have both him and Joey
@Ollie Watson: Ross Byrne isn’t half bad either. May be a late bloomer like Sexton.
@EK: true we have some squad and we’re always producing. I suggest for anyone who wants to see the next lad off the production line to go to all the Junior and Senior cup games in donnybrook
@EK: Byrne is not a late bloomer. Sexton was . Byrne was superb in schools , Irish underage teams , Leinster academy etc . Sexton found it much harder to get out from under Contempomi’s shadow . Byrne is still younger than Sexton was when he consolidated his place in 2009 ..
James Coughlan , John Ryan could be considered late bloomers , Jack Carty , Matt Healy , Barry Daly even , but Ross Byrne is 22 and in his second year of Pro14 rugby ..
@Limón Madrugada: Right you are. Larmour has thrown off my scale.
@Limón Madrugada: sexton came off the bench for the winning St Mary’s SCT when he was in 4th year. Scored the winning try if I remember, could be wrong. No late bloomer, just an odd career trajectory, but his perseverance to stick it out paid off. It’s part of what makes him great.
@Peter Brophy: yeah I remember the match well unfortunately. I’m ex Belvo and we were on the wrong side of that one
Larmour is 20. The guy’s ceiling is years away. He could end up being world class. Here’s hoping.
@Pete Slattery ✊: There will be a clamour for him to play for Ireland now but we have to remember that he’s only 20.
Even pulling up with his hamstring after his second try showed that Larmour’s body is still adapting to regular pro rugby. He’s going to be class, but he needs to be looked after too, just like Porter, Stockdale and Ryan.
@EK: I’d say it was cramp. Would be foolish to stretch a muscle injury.
@Camroc: Fair call but fatigue all the same. Very exciting player but still very young.
@EK: Rieko Ioane is 20 and has 13 AB caps. Carbery was 20 when he was capped against the ABs. Stockdale is only 21. If you’re good enough, you’re old enough
@Rudiger McMonihan: All those players bar Carbery were in their second full seasons as pros. Carbery played due to a lack of fit competitors.
Schmidt even admitted at the time that it was an earlier debut than he had planned for Carbery.
I’m not saying Larmour isn’t good enough, I’m saying his pro training age isn’t old enough.
@Camroc: it was cramp. Was at the game and saw more than heard the medic ask about it and Clearly mouthed “cramp”. JS has some big calls to make heading into the 6 Nations. Hard to see how Larmour isn’t in the squad now. On current form could even start. Though I expect Joe to stick with experience and play R Kearney away to France. We have world class strength in depth in most positions, number 9 being the biggest exception. I wouldn’t want to lose Sexton either but Keatley is playing his socks off in Munster and Ross Byrne seems to get better with each game. Exciting times!
Ulster need to make some serious changes in the summer, not a single aspect of their game is up to scratch. That result was no surprise.
@blindside: Agreed. Shane Logan should back his bags now.
@blindside: The frustrating thing is that they are doing the basics so badly. There’s no way any coach could coach them to play like they did tonight. The players have to put their hands up.
@EK: Ulster looked bereft of ideas, going forward or in defence. Skills were shocking. And looking at the team, 1-15, that should not be the case. It, in part, reminds me of Leinster under MoC. The team is weaker than the sum of its parts. The province need to get rid of the blazers, and also start investing in youth.
@AJ McLaughlin: That is actually the case. The Ulster branch and their blazers are making g an embarrassing mess of Ulster. Professional losers.
@Christiaan Theron: Agreed, I wrote an open letter to Mr Logan on the book face, doubt he’ll care but it was mostly as a rant but also to get the blind supporter flock to maybe start having a look beyond ‘Stop moaning and support your team’
We’re an utter shambles at the moment and every other province are miles ahead.
Leinster are another level on top of that and can field about 3 teams so I wasn’t expecting anything less than what we deserved yesterday.
Logan and his cronies are dragging us through the dirt right now.
@Keith Radcliffe: On the strength of that performance, not one Ulster player would make the Ireland squad.
It should have been a competitive game, with the sides being pretty well matched, particularly in the backs. However, collectively and individually Leinster were a level above Ulster and they won the game at a stroll.
They looked the well drilled professional outfit that they are. Ulster looked like a side that practised 2 evenings a week!
If you keep giving the ball away and keep missing tackles, you will lose against any decent side, let alone Leinster.
At what stage does the Ulster board decide that these sort of performance levels are unacceptable?
@Brian McAll:
Sides well matched !!!!!!!
You’re having a laugh
I don’t know one Ulster supporter who thought that and then add in that the game is away
Think again
@Mark Smith: Yes, in the forwards Leinster were expected to dominate, but Ulster coped well enough in the set piece.
However, Ulster had a back line with international experience (albeit occasional or past in most cases), and should have had the measure of the Leinster back line which was without several first choice starters. Piutau and Stockdale, often Ulster’s saviours, had by far the worst games I have seen them play. Joe Schmidt will have been watching, and for all the attacking brilliance that Stockdale offers, Schmidt will have put a big red mark against him for his defence in this game.
For me larmour has to be in contention for a starting spot for ireland
@Jim Demps: well he deserves to be in the squad. He’s better than rob Kearny and probably a bit better than Joey defensively
@Kroenke Out: I’d love to see him brought in for the Italian game. He offers something no other Irish backs do and is clearly destined for big things in future.
@Barry D:very true he is the one Irish player who can score a try like the one against Munster and the only one who can switch from defense to attack so quickly
@Jim Demps: for me he deserves to play in the champions cup. Offers so much more than kearny
@Kroenke Out: who isn’t.
@Kroenke Out:
Hard to argue with a statement based on opinion. Kearney has been outstanding this season. You’d probably have to follow the matches to know that. Larmour wont start for either Leinster or Ireland so relax. Need a tweak on his 15 skills and he’ll be brilliant.
Reminds me of Christian Cullen more than anyone else.
@Anton Dec: I know Kearney has been very good this season but so have both of them and I’m just saying I would prefer larmour to start as I like what he brings to the game
@Anton Dec: also based on form Fergus McFadden should be in the Irish 23
Fairplay to leinster. Clinical. Capitalized on all Ulsters mistakes. Larmour is class, reminds me of Stuart Hogg. Leinster best team im Europe. Team to beat. Hopefully munster can put 2 halves together against connacht
Leinstertainment
@Bill Madigan: Nice one Bill!
@Kieran Conroy: cheers Kieran COYBIB
Leinster are doing some great things!
Sky put the stats up after the game , if you didn’t know the result before reading you would have called it a close game based on the figures . Leinster 45% possession , Ulster 400+ attacking yards ( Leinster 550 … but two breakout tries is over 100m) . Defensively Ulster were slack.
Rory Best showed what a class act he is at the end signing autographs for the young Leinster supporters .
@Limón Madrugada:
Loved that. Totally in the spirit of the game. What other sport would you see that happen in?
Anton Dec, it happens in GAA all the time.
Ulster are playing woeful stuff at the minute. I don’t understand why McPhilips hasn’t been given more playing time, he was excellent when he came on yet Kiss insists on continuing with the failed Peter Nelson at out half experiment. Leinster were excellent, their defence is so impressive. Larmour is something special, everytime he touches the ball he creates something out of nothing. I think he deserves to be involved in the 6 nations as he very much looks like the future Irish 15.
@Noah Rossiter: Lealiafano was rubbish too, far too deep, McPhilips looked great when he came on.
@Mic: Lealifaano is guilty of that at times. The frustrating thing is that he played much flatter against Harlequins. There’s no consistency for Ulster across the board at the moment.
Larmour runs like Jason Robinson, except less lateral. Very nice prospect.
As a munster man you can only admire leinster, the way they play and their frightening strength in depth. As for ulster , thats shocking , lack of effort and heart. Last weeks result was a one off for ulster dictated by munster injuries , discipline and a red card. Mumhan Abu
@Chris Tobin: If Munster had kept 15 players on the pitch, they would have won comfortably last week. Of course discipline is part of the game, and the cards were probably deserved, but Ulster got lucky and I fear they read too much into that result.
Fierce attacking display from Leinster.
Ulster would make you cry. Leinster are a class team but they were nearly falling over each other scoring that last try. You would want to give the Ulster players a rocket after that game but how many times can you do it in one season?
Larmour and Porter looked international class tonight with Matty Rea, Timoney and McPhilips at least showing a bit of fight when they came on for Ulster.
Larmour needs to be a starter whether its at fb or wing. And Im not just talking about Leinster.
@Rudiger McMonihan: I agree that he is superb. He is a joy to watch. However if he gets a call up ahead of the likes of Healy or O’Halloran then it will only confirm Joe’s Leinster bias.
@John Rogers: sweet Jesus
@John Rogers: Yes because Matt Healy and Tiernan O’Halloran have the potential to be world class… If Stockdale was from Leinster people wouldve called Schmidt bias for picking him in the Autumn. Theres no pleasing some people.
@John Rogers: Healy and O’Halloran are very weak defenders and will probably be overlooked for the 6Ns squad.
@John Rogers: he has cut apart the best players in the country how could joe picking his best players be bias?
@John Rogers:so because he’s better than someone he can’t be picked because he’s from Leinster
@Peter Brophy: proper response
have to question what les kiss has done for Ulster…big money spent on bringing piatau in and he doesnt look bothered in defence. Iain Henderson continues be be either immense or completely absent. Brought in Gibbes to sort pack and with some boks in there have been improvements but defence is shocking
McFadden waa superb tonight, his aggression often not properly appreciated. If Arnold hadn’t been sent off last week, Ulster would have suffered a provincial decimation!
Another terrific performance by Leinster! An excellent rugby podcast for you rugby lovers.Google lastwordonrugby and click on ‘in the bin’.The lads cover every game in the premiership & pro-14.Great listening on a winters evening! It’s normally available on Weds.Roll on the 6N! COYBIB!
@Kieran Conroy: thanks for the recommendation, I’ll check it out. Normally stick with bloodandmud and eggchasers, though the latter aren’t interested in pro14 at all
@Simon Clarke: The guy called Paddy on the podcast is actually a crazy Munster supporter despite his accent!! I like it anyway.Very informative & good fun also.Cheers!
Ulster need to have a long hard look at themselves. What parts of their game ia actually up to scratch
Watching porter smash his way out of the 22 was a sight to behold. McFadden was brilliant and is in some form. Larmour Is crazy good. Him, Leavy and Carbery are the future of Irish rugby
@William Finnegan: Those 3 and a Lot more . Furlong is only 25 ffs . Deegan , J Ryan , Doris etc are all gonna be household names
Beyond depressing for Ulster fans.In a season of abject displays by Ulster, that was the worst.
Leinster as always were a cohesive and effective unit but they didn’t have to get out of 2nd gear, such was the ineptitude of Ulster’s performance. The number of elementary errors from Ulster was astonishing and unacceptable from players at this level. The one on one tackling in particular was an embarrassment. Even Stockdale and Piutau had a bad day.They made Fergus McFadden look world class!
Attitudes have to change if Ulster are ever going to seriously compete in the pro 14, let alone Europe.
@Brian McAll: McFadden always a true pro.
For all the calls that Les Kiss resign, they really should be directed at the professionals managing and directing the province for the last five years. In stark, and damning contrast with the other three provinces, there has not even been a trickle of young forwards rising through the academy structure. Ulster have struggled over the past (five?) years with packs who at the highest levels lack the technical skills, physical condition and aggression to compete. This deficiency has been masked by a number of high profile foreign recruits such as Afoa, Muller, Wanneburg, and van der Merwe. However Kiss is unfortunately reaping the consequences of many poor decisions over the last decade. Consequently he has an underpowered and one paced pack, which hasn’t been buttressed by a stream of young players over the last five or six years. It makes difficult compete at the business end of the pro14 or European cup.
I don’t believe Kiss will survive the year as coach, but I don’t see a change in coaching ticket being able to address these deficiencies in the short term. Certainly the recruitment of Moore and Murphy will buttress the pack, but loosehead, Ocho, and blindside flanker remain positions of weakness. O’Connor and Treadwell look like they could be a very good pairing but they are a young combination and will take time to mature. There are no easy answers, but Ulster need to accept that this season is over, and they must blood more young forwards if they are to prosper in the seasons to come.
Les Kiss gotta be worried about his future at the kingspan. As a lifelong Leinster supporter, the win was great but seeing Ulster implode game after game is not good for Irish rugby. They were absolutely rubbish this evening in RDS.
Why is Jordi going to Ulster ? What a player ,he was the lynch pin in the backrow,turnovers,tackles and his work was the catalyst for Leinster tries
Another excellent performance from Leinster. Amazing talent coming through. Looking forward to re-watching the game with the BBC2NI commentary. Disappointing from Ulster. Thet have some great talent but seem to be lacking either organisation or an edge.
Champagne rugby from Leinster
Ulster sheys Nooooooooooooooo!
Such a disgrace waste of money time and energy. To cap things off met Joey carberry and he said no he not going to Ulster hmm wise choice I reckon. Please go kiss and take journeymen with you
@John:
If they don’t qualify in Europe Les Kiss should resign but he was placed there by the IRFU so will they want to admit defeat and sack him/let him leave, I doubt it.
It appears he has lost the dressing room and as a result he is on borrowed time because if the players don’t want you, then you are history.
It’s only a matter of time
No the thing is who will be the next coach
Gibbs to step up
@Mark Smith: Ulster need a Kiwi alongside Gibbes to play the rugby needed to win Championships and develop local youngsters.
Kiss and Gibbes have not become bad coaches. The Ulster players have to take the blame. Missing tackles is not a coaching issue, it’s a commitment issue.
@Christiaan Theron:
Not sure what style of rugby will make Ulster a winning team, now or in the seasons to come.
Confidence would be worth 10-15 pts to them at the minute
It’s going to be a hard few season to come I fear
Team of individuals playing at the minute
No forwards coming throw in Ulster
This was so awful that even as a Leinster fanatic I was hoping we’d make a few mistakes and let in a couple of tries towards the end. Cooney and Stockdale are superb players, Jordi Murphy is going there, and they have a great stadium and passionate supporters. I really wish I could think of anything else positive to say about Ulster at the moment but I can’t. Losing Pienaar has been devastating, and in retrospect that was a stupid decision by the powers that be. Irish rugby needs a strong and competitive Ulster so serious effort, brainpower and resources (including making exceptions to rules) need to be invested soon!
@Kieran Magennis: in fairness to Ulster I think they’re slightly out of step with the rest of the provinces and this year it’s more noticeable . They’ve missed some influential players for the first half of the season Best , Bowe , Hendo , PJ , etc. The whole trial situation must be upsetting to say the least . This season Leinster are on the up and up Munster are doing quite well despite the upheaval and have brought on plenty of young talent Connacht are regaining their mojo , Ulster can beat anyone , just competed a comeback against Munster and are going well in Europe , but as rugby fans our references have become more demanding because the other provinces are going better this year .
@Limón Madrugada: Fair points. But I really think Leinster could have put another 10-20 points on the board if they needed to. Most of the match looked too much like a training game for them. I fear for Ulster unless there are numerous new players and new managers/coaches, and its a but depressing they look like depending too much on transfers from other provinces rather than rearing enough new players of their own.
@Kieran Magennis: transfers and imports I meant…
Ulster and connacht are simply useless
@Brian Jones: I certainly don’t agree about Connacht being useless and the a score line last week should confirm that to you.
As for Ulster they have a lot of work to do beginning at grassroots. We need a strong Ulster for the national side. Traditionally when Ireland have done well in the 5/6 Nations over the years there has been a strong Ulster presence. Competition is good.
@Brian Jones: I certainly don’t agree about Connacht being useless and the a score line last week should confirm that to you.
As for Ulster they have a lot of work to do beginning at grassroots. We need a strong Ulster for the national side. Traditionally when Ireland have done well in the 5/6 Nations over the years there has been a strong Ulster presence. Competition is good.
@Tom O’Gorman: 4 wins out of 13 games in the pro 14 would totally disagree with you. Connacht are not good this season…Treviso have won 6 games…