August 10th 2010

 

The Galway Festival may have coincided with the opening rugby match at the Aviva Stadium but, unfortunately, Connacht/Munster were never at the races in their game against their Leinster/Ulster development counterparts who cruised to an emphatic 68-0 victory in the O2 Challenge that marked the historic first official match at the hugely impressive arena. The winners got some early scores on the board and, consequently, the game proved a damp squib. Overall, they had better players but they looked well drilled and seemed to have had decent preparation, whilst the losers looked like they had hardly met one another previously. Their handling particularly, at this level, fell far short of requirements in a most disappointing display.

Nevertheless, Mark Dolan (who led the squad out as captain), Callum Boland and Daniel Qualter can still reflect with pride on being involved in the first action at the Aviva. Buccaneers U-12’s too can bask in the glory of participation in the opening day’s fare despite losing to Portadown by two tries to nil.