With the Rugby World Cup kicking off in earnest tonight as hosts England take on Fiji, those of us who can’t make the trip to the UK for the competition can at the very least soak up the third round of South East League rugby before the Leinster League kicks off for local sides next weekend.
Kilkenny v New Ross (A)
Kilkenny showed more of the form they’re familiar with when they put a heavy defeat on Carlow at Oak Park last Sunday, recovering from their opening SEL loss to Enniscorthy. Dearan McGrath returned for Kilkenny at scrum half while Canadian Andy Nyenhuis, who had a cracking season for Kilkenny’s Division 1B run, returned to action with a good first half before coming off to an ankle injury.
Both sides have a win to their names, Kilkenny streets ahead on points difference but this one should throw up a win for the Foulkstown men.
Carlow v Enniscorthy (A) – Postponed
For Carlow, it’s two losses in a row, first going down 16-14 to New Ross before the All-Ireland, then falling to sizeable 47 point shutout against Kilkenny at Oak Park last weekend (see photos here).
There’s still a few faces to make the return to the Carlow side but as they’re due to face last year’s Towns Cup finalists and Division 1A’s Enniscorthy they’ll have another hard test on their hands before kicking off their own Division 2A campaign.
Look for an Enniscorthy win here.
Update Friday 6.55pm: This fixture has fallen through and remains to be played at a later date.
Wexford Wanderers v Tullow (B)
Tullow sit bottom of section B, going down 39-5 to Wicklow at Black Gates on All-Ireland Sunday before falling heavily to Gorey at Clonattin last Sunday afternoon, that game running out 59-5.
With 15 tries against them in two games there’s ground to make up against Wexford Wanderers. Wanderers host Tullow at Park Lane at 2pm on Sunday, still with an additional game to place after last weekend’s clash with Wicklow was postponed.
Hopefully Sean O’Brien’s apperance at the World Cup this Saturday does something for Tullow this weekend as we’d like to see a win for the maroon and white.
South East League J1 – Section A
[table]
Pos,Team,P,W,D,L,PF,PA,PTS
1,Enniscorthy,2,2,0.0,96,22,8
2,Kilkenny,2,1,0,1,64,35,4
3,New Ross,2,1,0,1,21,73,4
4,Carlow,2,0,0,2,12,63,0
[/table]
South East League J1 – Section B
[table]
Pos,Team,P,W,D,L,PF,PA,PTS
1,Gorey,2,2,0,0,83,8,8
2,Wicklow,1,1,0,0,39,5,4
3,Wexford Wanderers,1,0,0,1,3,24,0
4,Tullow,2,0,0,2,10,98,0
[/table]