O’Neill backs Andrew's to cause the “upset of the cup” in their First Round clash with Mary'
Aaron O'Neill - St Andrew's Flickr 2017
Every January, a phenomenon hits the lives of many young schoolboy rugby players in the Leinster Province. This phenomenon is referred to as ‘cup fever’. It affects many a school teenager, particularly St Andrew’s fly-half Aaron O’Neill.
Despite this being his second season involved with the Senior Cup team at St Andrews, this first round draw against St Marys, his former school, must make it that bit more important. O’Neill is aware of this importance but insists that he must “not get too involved” with the “bits of lip” coming from the Mary’s end. He confesses that it will be strange “playing against the lads he has grown up with”. Yet if anything is to distract him from the potential tension, it’s the magic of the Senior Cup.
The Senior Cup is always a big ask for a school like St Andrews. They are always competing against schools without the issue of co-education or other sporting interests. Friday will be no different. This makes the school’s recent resurgence onto the Leinster schools rugby scene all the more remarkable. The flag-bearer for this revolution must be Jordan Larmour, who has propelled himself into the Irish Rugby picture this season with some outstanding performances. Also, both Andrew Porter and Greg Jones have announced themselves as solid provincial players and Peter Sullivan has been called up to the Irish u20’s Six Nations squad. It has left the school with terrific momentum for the future of their rugby programme, one that O’Neill is keen to capitalise on.
This year’s crop of players has a wealth of experience, with many being two-time Senior Cup squad members. This experience could prove to be vital. Despite this, O’Neill admits it’s been “an up and down season”, with good away wins against Kilkenny and Wesley shadowed by close defeats to Roscrea and Gonzaga. Their league campaign ended in the quarter final with a tough defeat away to St Gerards who O’Neill fancies as “lively outsiders for the cup this year”. However, the team “got to where they wanted” and are now focusing in on a very competitive first round game.
Last year, Andrews were unlucky to draw Belvedere in the first round. Although it was a heavy defeat, there is a general feeling that the draw has been kinder this year. O’Neill believes this Marys side are “beatable” but the odds will still be stacked against the Booterstown school come Friday. St Marys, still renowned as one of the major school rugby sides in Leinster will be looking for a routine way through to the Quarter-Finals. However, results would suggest it could be a close run affair.
Having witnessed the terrific cup run that the school put up a few years ago under Greg Jones’ captaincy, O’Neill is hungry for the success to continue to his generation and beyond. He tells me that “I know for a fact that the first years this year are a serious side so it would be nice to see them develop into a proper Senior Cup outfit.” And that is surely what this school is looking for when it comes to rugby, longevity. Unfortunately for Andrews, the only way to keep convincing people that they are an improving rugby school is through results. This can be a tough task when they are continuously drawing first-tier rugby schools in the first round of this prestigious cup. Last year’s defeat to Belvedere expressed this point perfectly, where a decent Andrews side was put to the sword 47-7 by the eventual winners of the competition in the first round.
O’Neill was part of that side last year, and will be looking to put that knowledge and experience to good use this time round. The belief within the Andrew’s camp seems strong, O’Neill tells me that “they’re all in on winning and everything’s going really sharp.” His confidence remains undiminished, he concluded by stating: “I’m seriously backing us to cause the upset of the cup so far.”