The Aviva Stadium was a happy hunting ground for Ulster and Leinster this afternoon as they completely overwhelmed their Munster and Connacht opponents winning the Combined Provinces game by 68 – 0.
Four young Ulstermen got on the score sheet with Luke Marshall (3), Craig Gilroy (2), Michael McAuley and Paddy Jackson all crossing the line with Leinster’s Andrew Boyle bagging three of his own to bring the try count to ten. Jackson converted nine.
Well, that was the list of scorers that we received via text message from and obviously tired and emotional Raging Raven. According to the IRFU report though the list of scorers was as follows
Scorers: Leinster/Ulster: Tries: Craig Gilroy 2, Luke Marshall 2, Sam Coghlan Murray, Andrew Boyle 3, Conor Spence, Michael McAuley; Cons: Paddy Jackson 6, Cathal Marsh 3
So no try for Paddy Jackson, but one for scrum half Conor Spence an only two trys for Luke Marshall.
The rest of the report as follows: -
Six first half tries, all converted by out-half Paddy Jackson, set the combined Leinster/Ulster selection up nicely for a comfortable victory as Irish rugby returned to its spiritual home.
The Connacht/Munster squad and management will have been disappointed with the result, but this was very much a day of celebration at the redeveloped Lansdowne Road venue and a chance of some of Ireland’s stars of the future to shine.
The provincial splits saw players from the Under-18 to Under-20 age grades join forces, and Dungannon and Ulster flyer Craig Gilroy made history by becoming the first scorer at the Aviva Stadium.
With just five minutes on the clock, the 19-year-old Gilroy wrote himself into the history books by latching onto a crossfield kick from Jackson and touching down in the corner.
The Leinster/Ulster team continued to impress throughout the opening half with five more tries before the interval.
Sam Coghlan Murray, who played for the Ireland U-18 Schools side earlier this year, got his name on the scoresheet with a well-taken score, while UCD’s Andrew Boyle and impressive captain Luke Marshall registered two tries each.
Ireland U-19 international Jackson showed tremendous accuracy with his place kicks, converting all six tries.
In the second half, the Connacht/Munster outfit improved, but it was only a matter of time before they conceded again and it was Boyle who went over just before the hour mark to complete his hat-trick. The Leinster prospect played in the recent IRB Junior World Championship for the Ireland U-20s, scoring in the play-off win over Samoa.
Leinster/Ulster’s next try came five minutes later, with the pacy Gilroy getting on the end of a classy chip from his provincial colleague Marshall.
Further tries from Ulster duo Conor Spence and Michael McAuley put the icing on the cake for the victorious Leinster/Ulster side, whetting the crowd’s appetite for the return of competitive rugby in the coming weeks.
Congratulations to Craig Gilroy (above) for scoring the first try at the new stadium and already the dogs are barking about the performance of some of the youngsters with one Shih Tzu telling the FRU that the afore mentioned Mr Gilroy is packing his bags for a trip to Portugal with the senior squad.
Old Raven did remain alert enough to claim a first of his own – managing to get a snap of the first vuvuzela player to be escorted from the Aviva Stadium by the Garda!
The crowd look on as the vuvuzela player is removed!
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Mr and Mrs Brunt
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Davy Boyd and family at the Aviva.
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A vuvuzela player being ejected by Gardi
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The "other end" what a waste. An opportunity lost. We now have 3/4 of a nice stadium.
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Sold out the morning after – Ulster played the shirts of their backs!
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No Ulster Leinster shirts to be found anywhere!
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One Response to “Ulster Dominate Aviva Opener”
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The new” Lansdowne” really is three quarters of a lovely stadium. I was genuinely taken aback at the lack of seats at the so called “dark end”. At that end with all the perspex and metal tubing it was difficult to make out the goal posts and must make it difficult for kickers. For the smokers and drinkers you cannot smoke or drink in your seat. Though on Saturday the stewards seamed to turn a blind eye. On the plus side having had a few before the match and at half time I was able to visit the restrooms before the match, at half time and after the final whistle and on each occasion there where no queues. Another plus was the playing surface it looked immaculate and unlike Wembley showed no signs of cutting up. Another minus is the new colour coding access each ticket has a colour and you go to that colours access gates to get in so be prepared for unnecessary and lengthy detours to get to your gate. I was diverted over a mile when I was only 200m away from the gate!
I can’t help but feel slightly disappointed with the stadium ,the houses behind the stadium now have more light than they ever had and the stadium is essentially a three sided ground. It is now easy to understand why the European Rugby Cup organisers said no to hosting the final there ………….. another opportunity lost by Irish Rugby.
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