Plate pain for Sligo as Tuam boss decider
Sligo Rugby Club’s men’s second XV are overpowered by an in-tune Tuam at Galway’s Dexcom Stadium BOI Connacht Rugby Junior Plate Final Sligo Rugby Club Tuam RFC (Galway)
THE GAP between third place in the top tier of Connacht Junior Rugby and third place in the second tier was plain to see on Sunday afternoon last in Galway’s Dexcom Stadium.
Tuam RFC’s senior men’s first XV overpowered and demolished a second XV from Sligo Rugby Club that never looked like making a meaningful tilt at upsetting their opponents and making
ACTION MAN: Ewan Ripon playing for Sligo against Tuam on Sunday last. 14 45 a serious bid for the Bank of Ireland Connacht Junior Plate.
In a game with nine tries scored in total, head coach Enda Gavin’s troops registered the seventh and ninth on the list, both when the destination of this particular piece of silverware was long decided.
The massive power advantage that Tuam held in the pack, particularly when it came to the lineout and maul, gave the Galway club plenty of territory, and it pushed Sligo into penalty trouble – and once the yellow cards started flowing, Tuam piled on the punishment. Yet for all that, Gavin was still bubbling with positivity at the end of the game, and he explained why afterwards. “Tuam are on a different cycle to us, they’re seven years with the one coach and they’re a lot older than us.
“For us, this is a development year, and with five wins out of seven in the league [Connacht Junior League Division 1B] and getting to a provincial final, I’m happy with the year as a whole,” he said.
Enda’s father, James Gavin, has been central to Sligo Grammar School’s great run of success stories in recent years in the Connacht Schools Senior Cup, and that steady production line has borne fruit for Sligo Rugby Club this year, with the senior men’s first XV winning a Connacht Senior Cup title and the second XV making huge strides as well.
“This year we’ve had real trouble picking the 23 and that wasn’t always the way,” the younger Gavin said.
“You might have 40 people at training and that’s massive for the first XV, it’ll drive them on.
“But for this team, it’s great for development. There’s a lot of boys in that squad that have the quality to push on and compete for places with the first XV, and I expect they will. Games like this will stand to them and to the club in the long run.”
Certainly there was plenty to learn here, particularly in terms of how to handle a side that simply had so much extra heft.
Tuam’s power in tight exchanges forced Sligo to play on the edge in terms of their behaviour in the tackle and in the ruck, and referee Keith Haverty quickly started to penalise the underdogs, awarding six penalties to Tuam in the opening 15 minutes.
Each time, outhalf Carl Ward would kick for touch, and each time the connection between hooker Seán Maughan and Alan Finnerty in the lineout was flawless.
The rangy flanker was the target for all of the first five Tuam throws, and even though Sligo identified the tactic early, they were taking a lesson in the difference