Kilkenny Rugby Club has a tough few weeks ahead of them as they prepare to battle it out to stay in Division 1A of the Leinster League.
They’re locked into a relegation battle and have two more games to save their season, against Dundalk away on Saturday next and then Ashbourne at home on March 5, the same day as the first round of the Towns Cup.
Kilkenny, while strong this season, have had their share of bad luck with match cancellations through covid-19 as well as injuries and gaps in the schedule through no fault of their own.
Speaking on The Knock On rugby podcast here on scoreline, James Blanchfield says they’ll give the final two games all they can.
“I think for the sake of the South East we would like to see ourselves and Gorey stay up and be it Dundalk or Ashbourne go down,” said James.
“It’s hard to see that happen, it will be one or the other, we’re kind of praying as well that a Leinster team will finish seventh and a Leinster team gets promoted and maybe then we stay in the league, there’s a lot of variables out there, we are not going to go down without fighting”.
Will Kilkenny be in the same place again next year, or would they be better going down for a season, James says they have a bit of thinking to do.
“There needs to be another question asked of the club as well, if we’re in this position this year and we remain in Division 1A, which we all want to, do we find ourselves next year back in the same predicament”.
“We have to weigh up a lot of things but the objective, for now, is to stay in Division 1A and fight to the very very end”.
Listen back to the full interview on the Knock On podcast below, or watch it on YouTube below.