Karl puts the boot in for his province
LOCAL trio Karl Martin, James Reilly and Cathal Purcell were all part of the Leinster Clubs squad who took part in the week-long IRFU Under-18 Interpro Festival held at University of Limerick.
And while they didn’t win the tournament - Connacht claimed the overall honours - Leinster did clinch second spot with a convincing 29-7 victory over Munster in wet and windy conditions on Sunday afternoon.
Martin (from the Boyne club) and Ardee’s Reilly started that match, while Dundalk clubman Purcell was one of the replacements, and place-kicker Martin made light of the difficult conditions by accounting for nine points - three conversions and a penalty.
The inside centre also kicked two conversions in Leinster’s 33-29 defeat by Connacht Clubs & Schools in their first outing, while last Wednesday Leinster won their second game against Ulster Clubs 46-18.
In that match the influential Boyne player scored a try, penalty and four conversions for an impressive personal tally of 16 points, with Reilly also starting that match.
This was the first year of the campus-style festival where Under-18 school and club teams from all four provinces and IQ Rugby (Irish Qualified) experienced a professional-style ‘rugby camp’ environment.
The teams arrived in UL last Friday week for an orientation meeting outlining the events for the week and the following day was the first of three match days, with four games taking place on the 3G pitch at the university.
The first Sunday was marked down as a recovery day where all the competing players used the pool and ice bath acilities at UL under the tutelage of IRFU and provincial strength and conditioning coaches, while receiving advice on diet and nutrition.
The next day was earmarked for training, ahead of a Q&A seminar featuring Munster and Ireland players, and the week also featured development modules and a visit to Thomond Park.