Cl i f t on Col l ege v Bl ack r ock Col l ege Sat ur d ay 23r d N ovemb er 20 24 12:0 0 p m T he Cl ose, Cl i f t on Col l ege
Bl ack r ock Col l ege
Bl ackrock Col l ege has probabl y one of t he great est school boy r ugby hi st or i es. Spor t at Bl ackrock i s vi ewed as an i nt egral par t of a boy' s educat i on. The pr i nci pal spor t i n t he col l ege i s r ugby, wi t h Bl ackrock havi ng won t he Lei nst er
School s Seni or Cup 70 t i mes. It has al so won t he Lei nst er School s Juni or Cup 51 t i mes. Bl ackrock won t he i naugural cup compet i t i on hel d i n 1887 and has been consi st ent l y t he most successful t eam, wi nni ng t he cup at l east t hree t i mes i n ever y decade si nce.
Ret i red Bl ackrock r ugby uni on pl ayers i ncl ude Fergus Sl at t er y, Ni al l
Brophy, Hugo MacNei l l and Brendan Mul l i n (al l pl ayi ng before r ugby
uni on was professi onal ), for mer Br i t i sh and Ir i sh Li ons, Irel and and Lei nst er capt ai n Br i an O' Dr i scol l , Shane Byr ne, Vi ct or Cost el l o, Luke
Fi t zgeral d, and t he cur rent Lei nst er Rugby head coach and for mer Ir i sh i nt er nat i onal Leo Cul l en. Cur rent professi onal pl ayers i ncl ude Br i st ol and US
Eagl es' AJ MacGi nt y, Lei nst er and Irel and pl ayers Gar r y Ri ngrose and Jordi Mur phy, Munst er and Irel and' s
Andrew Conway and Joey Car ber y and mul t i pl e ot hers around Irel and and t he wor l d.
The Blackrock game is a very special game to be involved in, it?s the one that stood out for me. In the first fixture that we had ever played against them it was a great game and test for The College. - Loui e Trevet t (MH 2023)
Cl i f t on 1st XV
G Leyl and (NT)
J Mal ka (WaH)
L Ar ver (SH)
J Smi t h (MH)
O Wi l l i ams (WaH)
H Jones (SH) (VC)
J Yasuda (ET)
O Tayl or (MH)
F Kandavanam-Lovel l (ST)
L Poppl e (SH)
M Di xon (Wi H)
F St John (SH)
W Moore (MH)
G Gammel l (SH)
Bl ackrock 1st XV
Marcus Cul l en Har r y O' Nei l l
Sami Bi sht i (Capt )
O Har r i s (NT) (Capt )
Zac Ar ver (SH)
J St ewar t (NT)
Geof f Wal l
Conal Power
George Eggers
Mi chael O' Sul l i van
Br i an Wal sh
Al ber t Li ndner
Paddy Cl ancy (vc)
James Browne
Ber nard Whi t e
Johnny O' Sul l i van (vc)
Al ex Door l y
Joe Reddan
Ben Guer i n
Ronan Savage
Char l i e Mar t i n
Rudy O' Rei l l y
Al ex Aschenbrenner
Jack Dol an
Cl i f t on 2nd XV
N El l i ot t (WaH)
T Smi t h-Mi l ne (MH)
E Davi es (ET)
J Sul l i van (MH)
H Pol l i t t (Wi H)
T Hal l et t (MH)
M Rogers (MH)
M Jones (Wi H)
W Jephcot t (NT)
V Si mms (Wi H)
Z Ahmed (ET)
H Ni xon (Wi H) (Capt )
L Bowden (MH)
Bl ackrock 2nd XV
Char l i e O' Keef fe
Wi l l O' Sul l i van
Lorcan Gol den
Dani el Engl i sh
B Bi shop (WaH)
W Gemmi l l (MH)
A Ral l s (ET)
A Hai mes (ST)
R Morgan (NT)
H Grange (MH)
D Boyl e (Wi H)
R Davi es (SH), H Br unski l l (Wi H)
Ben O' Hal l oran (PL)
Jami e Shanl ey
Paddy Agnew
Tom Keaveney
Ben Crowl ey (Capt )
Luke Cof fey
Con Mason
Ruai r i Houl i han
Decl an Cadden
Ri cardo Tweedi e Rhys Keogh
Mat t hew Wyse
Eoghan Rowl ands
Char l i e O' Connor
Rober t Mur phy
Dani el Rogan
Gavi n Lai ng, Paddy Scal l y
We wel come Bl ackrock Col l ege for t hei r second vi si t t o Cl i f t on. Thei r r ugby success i s evi dent as t he cur rent hol ders of t he Lei nst er school s cup, but t he l i st of cur rent and past Ir i sh i nt er nat i onal s shows t hei r consi st ency and hi st or y i n set t i ng t he st andard of school boy r ugby. From t he Cl i f t on perspect i ve i t ' s
i mpor t ant we st ret ch t he capabi l i t i es of our pupi l s and embrace new chal l enges. Thi s game has become t he pi nnacl e of our f i xt ure l i st , and one where we as coaches and pl ayers l ook for ward t o seei ng how our st andard of pl ay can mat ch t he Lei nst er champi ons. Danny Grewcock
Wel come ever yone and t hank you al l for comi ng t o t he game, Thi s i s t he f i xt ure t hat t he boys have had ci rcl ed si nce we heard t he about f i xt ure l i st l ast year.
Af t er comi ng back f rom hal f t er m we have had a good st ar t t o t he bl ock wi t h wi ns agai nst Wel l i ngt on and Bl undel l ?s, and we hope t o keep t he moment um rol l i ng wi t h anot her wi n t oday. We expect t hi s t o be our most chal l engi ng f i xt ure yet and are ver y much l ooki ng for ward t o i t . It ?s ni ce t o wel come Bl ackrock t o our pi t ch t hi s year af t er our t ough l oss Dubl i n l ast year and hopeful l y can get on t he wi nni ng end of t he st i ck t hi s year. Agai n t hank you al l for comi ng and br i ngi ng t he suppor t - Ollie, NT
Go o d af t er n o o n ever yo n e an d w el co m e t o
Cl i f t o n Co l l ege f o r an exci t i n g d ay o f sch o o l
b o y r u gb y. On b eh al f o f t h e sen i o r r u gb y
sq u ad an d t h e sch o o l w e'd l i ke t o w ar m l y
w el co m e Bl ack r o ck 's p l ayer s, st af f an d p ar en t s
t o Th e Cl o se t o d ay, w i t h w h at p r o m i ses t o b e
t w o co m p et i t i ve an d p h ysi cal gam es.
As a t eam w e' ve w o r ked ex t r em el y h ar d
t h r o u gh o u t t h i s seaso n w h i ch h as p u t u s i n a
st r o n g p o si t i o n t o sh o w case so m e excel l en ce o f f t h e b ack o f So u t h
Am er i ca r u gb y t o u r as w el l as so m e gr eat r esu l t s agai n st H ar r o w , Si r
Th o m as Ri ch an d Bl u n d el l 's. To d ay i s n o d i f f er en t , an d w e'r e eager t o f ace
Bl ack r o ck w i t h t h e sam e i n t en si t y an d sp o r t sm an sh i p t h at m akes t h i s
sp o r t so sp eci al .
Ou r t r i p t o Du b l i n l ast year en d ed w i t h t w o t o u gh l o sses f o r o u r 1 st an d
2 n d XV, b u t t h e b o ys ar e l o o k i n g t o b o u n ce b ack an d gai n t h at w i n n i n g
f eel i n g t h at h as yet t o co m e agai n st Bl ack r o ck .
Fi n al l y I w o u l d l i ke t o say a h u ge t h an k yo u t o ever yo n e t h at h as co m e t o
w at ch t o d ay an d esp eci al l y t o t h e p eo p l e w h o h ave t r avel ed o ver seas, w e
ap p r eci at e yo u r su p p o r t . En j o y yo u r t i m e i n Cl i f t o n an d I'm su r e b o t h
gam es w i l l p r o vi d e yo u w i t h so m e r em ar k ab l e r u gb y. Harrison, WiH
A w ar m w el co m e t o al l an d esp eci al l y o u r
f r i en d s f r o m Du b l i n . Wh en I su b m i t m y sch o o l
cal en d ar en t r i es I k n o w t h er e i s a sen se o f
exci t em en t w h en t h i s f i x t u r e i s b o o ked i n .
To d ay t h e w eat h er m ayb e i n cl em en t b u t I am
su r e t h e co m p et i t i o n o n t h e f i el d w i l l w ar m al l .
Pl ease en j o y t h e m at ch es an d su p p o r t i n t h e
sp i r i t t h at r u gb y i s r en o w n ed f o r Matt Salter
