On Friday 22nd September, Navan Rugby Football Club were honored to have the Leinster Rugby Senior Men's team in Balreask Old as they hosted Ulster Rugby in a Bank of Ireland sponsored Pre-Season Friendly.
(The Following Match report by Des Berry is taken from Leinsterrugby.ie)
Leinster Rugby shook off the cobwebs to move away from Ulster in the second-half of a match with all the hallmarks of a typical pre-season friendly at Navan RFC on Friday evening.
Slow to start, Leo Cullen’s charges ended the affair with a half-dozen tries, five of them in the second period as centre Liam Turner claimed a double.
It was difficult for either side to establish any true pattern of play in the first quarter as the players’ endeavour was not matched by their skill execution.
A James Culhane carry from the base of a scrum created the gap for Harry Byrne to grab the opening try, converted by Byrne.
The Northern Province was back on terms when loose-forward David McCann cracked the cover from close range for scrum-half David Shanahan’s conversion to level it in the 31st minute.
The stop-start nature of the game prevented the fluency needed to string consistent phases together as the half-time whistle blew.
The level of play improved almost immediately as Turner bolted over from a sweet move in which hooker John McKee’s initial break was finished off in the left corner.
Soon enough, Leinster were back on the front-foot with better cohesion in attack leading to centre Ben Brownlee’s try, converted by Sam Prendergast for 19-7 in the 55th minute.
The slew of replacements seemed to lead to a greater sense of urgency, wing Aaron Sexton’s speed slicing Leinster open for a fine individual try for Nathan Doak to add the extras.
The give and take continued with hooker Lee Barron denting Ulster from close range. Out-half Prendergast slotted the conversion.
The home side could not quite break free of their provincial rivals off and Conor McKee’s touchdown on the left-hand side, converted by Doak, made it a one-score at 26-21, moving into the final ten minutes.
However, Turner muscularly broke through two tackles for his second try. Prendergast converted and saved a trademark cross-field kick until the last play of the game for Andrew Osborne’s try to close the show.
MATCH SUMMARY:
Leinster:
L Turner 2 tries; H Byrne try, con; B Brownlee, L Barron, A Osborne try each; S Prendergast 3 cons.
Ulster:
D McCann, A Sexton, C McKee try each; N Doak 2 cons; D Shanahan con.
LINEUPS:
Leinster:
15. Chris Cosgrave 14. Tommy O’Brien 13. Jamie Osborne 12. Ciarán Frawley 11. Rob Russell 10. Harry Byrne 9. Cormac Foley 1. Jack Boyle 2. John McKee 3. Rory McGuire 4. Brian Deeny 5. Jason Jenkins 6. Max Deegan 7. Will Connors 8. James Culhane (Capt) Replacements: Lee Barron, Paddy McCarthy, Thomas Connolly, Ross Molony, Conor O’Tighearnaigh, Diarmuid Mangan, Scott Penny, Ben Murphy, Sam Prendergast, Andrew Osborne, Ben Brownlee, Liam Turner, Aitzol King, Jordan Larmour.
Ulster:
15. Will Addison 14. Rory Telfer 13. Stewart Moore 12. Jude Postlethwaite 11. Michael Lowry 10. Billy Burns 9. Dave Shanahan 1. Callum Reid 2. Tom Stewart 3. James French 4. Harry Sheridan 5. Kieran Treadwell 6. Dave Ewers 7. Marcus Rea 8. Dave McCann Replacements: Nick Timoney, John Andrew, Ben Griffin, Matty Rea, Cormac Izuchukwu, Greg Jones, Reuben Crothers, Lorcan McLoughlin, Conor McKee, Nathan Doak, Robert Baloucoune, Aaron Sexton, Ben Carson, Angus Curtis, Ethan McIlroy, Shea O’Brien.
