LEINSTER finally got their hands on a big trophy when they lifted the Magners League title after Saturday night’s six try win over the Newport Gwent Dragons at the RDS. Captain Brian O’Driscoll received the cup on a day that saw front row Ollie Le Roux and flanker Keith Gleeson play their final games for the province.
“It’s fantastic, from a Leinster point of view and from my point of view, that we’ve had something to play for at the end of the season and we’ve gone and won the Magners League,” said O’Driscoll.
“The good thing about the Magners League is that it’s picked up so much kudos over the past few years, not just from the spectators but also the players. It’s now a very worthy competition. It was good to win it in the early stages of the competition because it was new and fresh but then it went off the boil.
“However, over the past few years, with Magners coming on board and teams really taking it very seriously, it’s become a very good competition and one that everyone wants to win.”
Leinster boss Michael Cheika was quick to praise Le Roux and Gleeson after their farewell performances.
“In one year Ollie has made such a significant impact on Leinster. He’s a brilliant player and he’s still in demand: the Stormers want him to go back and play Super 14 for the remainder of the South African season,” revealed Cheika.
“And what can you say about Keith? He’s the consummate professional. He was unbelievable at the breakdown. He stayed on his feet the whole game and every time the ball dropped on the ground he was on top of it.
“He won’t be playing next week so that’s his last game for Leinster and I think he went out playing his best football. He played brilliantly tonight, both of them did. Ollie scored two tries in the opening ten minutes, while Keith was winning ball everywhere. The reception that they got from the fans pretty much said it all.”
Meanwhile, the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) are ready to ask Connacht coach Michael Bradley to take temporary charge of Ireland as they await Declan Kidney’s arrival as Ireland boss after Munster’s Heineken Cup final against Toulouse later this month. Bradley will lead the Irish team on their tour to Australia and New Zealand in the summer allowing Kidney to finish the job with Munster before he succeeds Eddie O’Sullivan on a full-time basis.
Lawrie Wins
IRELAND’S domination of the European Tour fairways took another golden twist on Sunday when Castleknock’s Peter Lawrie scored a dramatic second playoff hole win over local hero Ignacio Garrido to win the Spanish Open in Seville.
Lawrie was favorite to win when he birdied four of his last six holes but Garrido holed a 30-foot putt on the last to force a tie.
The Dubliner landed a massive putt himself to keep the match alive on the first play-off hole then took full advantage when Garrido put his approach into the water at the front of the 18th second time around.
The Lawrie victory makes it three Irish wins in a row on the European Tour after Darren Clarke’s Asian Open success and Damien McGrane’s China Open victory.
“It’s nice to keep it in the Irish contingent,” said Lawrie. “It spurs you on — you play practice rounds with them and think, ‘Why can’t I do it?’”
Meanwhile, Belfast’s Michael Hoey made it a double for Irish golf last weekend when he won the Moroccan Classic on the Challenge Tour just hours after Lawrie’s victory.
“Irish golf is obviously in rude health at the moment,” said Hoey. “Seeing the likes of Damien McGrane and Darren Clarke win recently has made me even more determined to earn my place back on The European Tour. This is the first major step on that road.”
Kerry Wins
KERRY captured another All-Ireland title on Saturday night when their under-21 side were full value for their win over Kildare in the Thurles final.
“The effort that was put in was absolutely admirable,” said Kerry’s man of the match Kieran O’Leary afterwards. “Sean Geaney is an inspirational manager and he had us well prepared for this game. We knew we were up against it, Kildare are a fine side, but thankfully we got the job done.”
Meanwhile, Kerry captain Paul Galvin has revealed he is close to a return after his recent hamstring injury. “The hardest part is missing out on games during the captaincy,” said Galvin.
“It means an awful lot to me to be Kerry captain and at this stage I just want to lead the team out in a game.”
Fitz Backs Ger
CLARE legend Davy Fitzgerald is backing his old boss Ger Loughnane to make a major impact on the All-Ireland championship scene with Galway this summer.
“They have to be one of the favorites,” said new RTE pundit Fitzgerald. “With the amount of underage talent Galway have in winning minor and under-21, you have to think they are there or thereabouts. Ger has said himself, he would deem himself a failure unless he wins.
“He has said that publicly. He knows the talent is there and if there’s anybody who can get it out of them, Ger can be the man. Ger is good at what he does. I like his attitude this year.”
McDonald Okay
MAYO boss John O’Mahony has left the door open for Ciaran McDonald to return despite leaving him out of his squad for the forthcoming Connacht championship. “I never said that Ciaran McDonald was retired at any stage,” the Mayo boss said.
“Probably about 15 months ago when he was having the trouble with injury, he said to me that he would have to give it up because of his back and I persuaded him to continue on. I have nothing but admiration for Ciaran McDonald for what he has done for Mayo over the years. I continue to have that.
“Just with some other players that didn’t make the final cut, it doesn’t mean that they won’t play for Mayo either. What people need to understand is that the panel that we have announced for the championship would be based on what people have played over the last number of months and so on.
“Ciaran has been very frustrated himself and made huge efforts to come back from injury last year but wasn’t in a position to start a Mayo match since the 2006 All-Ireland final.”
Mick’s Pick
MANAGERIAL legend Mick O’Dwyer is backing his native Kerry to dominate the race for the All-Ireland football title again this summer. “The only people that will beat Kerry are themselves,” O’Dwyer told the Irish Examiner.
“Kerry have a great man in manager Pat O’Shea and a great team at the moment. I think they are well capable of winning five in a row. I can’t see anything competing with them at the moment. They certainly have the players.
“I think the standard is down all over the country. If you just look to the north at the moment, teams are not great there. In Leinster I don’t see any great teams there either. Dublin are rated the best but I don’t think they will win a championship to be honest.”
Injury Woes
LONGFORD have a lengthy injury list ahead of Sunday’s Leinster SFC opener against Westmeath including Noel Farrell (hamstring), Declan Farrell (quad), Paddy Dowd (back), Paul Kelly (ribs), Aidan Rowan (hamstring), Kevin Mulligan (ankle), Diarmuid Masterson (illness), Declan G. Reilly (hamstring) and the recently returned David Barden (dental operation).
Selector Martin Skelly explained, “We’ve had an extremely tough year with injuries and I don’t think we’ve been able to select the same starting 15 twice. We’re not crying but it makes life difficult when you have a limited pick like we do in Longford.”
GAA Shorts
THE Laois crisis continues after star forward Brian Beano McDonald opted out of the county football squad for the foreseeable future. “Things just weren’t happening for me and I made the decision to drop off the panel, but I have no qualms with the management and I would never question their decisions. I just thought that I haven’t had a break in 12 years and I’ll be able to give a bit more time to the club now,” said McDonald . . .
BRIAN Farrell is a doubt for Meath’s championship opener against Carlow on Sunday, May 18 after he injured a knee in a club game last week although the damage is not as bad as first feared. Veteran defender Darren Fay also faces a longer suspension that first anticipated after he was red carded playing for Trim against Kilmainhamwood on Sunday, just weeks after his part in the Parnell Park debacle against Dublin . . .
BARRY Lambert will miss Wexford’s entire All-Ireland hurling campaign due to an ongoing groin problem. Dennis Morton has been ruled out for three months after chipping a bone in his knee while Fergus Heffernan will miss two months due to a broken kneecap . . .
DUBLIN’S Bernard Brogan will join the Meath quintet of Nigel Crawford, Seamus Kenny, Brendan Murphy, Niall McKeigue and Shane McAnarney in appealing his eight-week suspension to the Central Appeals Committee after the recent Parnell Park controversy . . .
WESTMEATH captain Dessie Dolan remains a major injury doubt for his side’s Leinster championship opener against Longford on Sunday with a hamstring injury. Midfielder David Duffy is also struggling with an ankle injury.
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