Establishing links and developing rugby in local schools. The U14s, mirroring an exercise undertaken by the U13s last month, are intent on continuing along a similar pathway after hosting St Ignatius College at Donkey Lane last Saturday, writes Jonathan Landi.

Beyond the confines of the bare result, and a St Ignatius College side, featuring six EIRFC regulars, ran out handsome 47-36 winners in very clement conditions, this proved to be a win-win situation for both sides and it should be roundly applauded.

In a 12-a side encounter, the EIRFC side flew out of the blocks by racing into a 26-0 lead, and the College looked to be staring down the barrel of a gun at this point.

To their credit, the College, having pulled back a couple of tries, continued to grow in confidence against more experienced opponents, and they turned the game on its head by putting their pace and power to good effect.

In an exciting contest, the College were sitting on a slender four-point lead at 40-36 up going to the final minute, but they made the game safe by scoring in the last play of the game.

Ciaran, Adam, Isaac, Ollie S all crossed for EIRFC in the early exchanges, with Harry D-L claiming his first two tries for the club.

EIRFC regulars David (2 tries), Liam S (1 try) and Patrick(1 try, 6 conversions) all scored for the College, and there were some fine individual scores from Joseph (2 tries) and Israel(1 try) which belied their relative lack of rugby experience.

Another to catch the eye was Aaron. Despite not getting on the scoresheet, he showed obvious rugby potential.

EIRFC coach Steve Corcoran said: “ Whilst it might be fair to say that the EIRFC coaches were a little disappointed with the final scoreline, given the length of the post-match debrief in the sunshine, both they and the spectators would almost certainly concede that ultimately rugby was the winner.

“Our thanks to Mr Roche and Mr Makins at The College, the club, and all the boys and parents who made it possible to stage the game on a Saturday morning.”