McNamara takes Cup bid to max
Leinster 'A' 29 Cardiff Blues Select 10
It could just be that Noel McNamara is the best-kept secret in Irish rugby. The man from Clare is the new Ireland U-20 coach and is also in charge of Leinster's British & Irish Cup shadow side which has maximum points in Pool Two after their fourth try in the last minute at Donnybrook on Saturday evening.
The business of winning must co-exist with, or even give way to, the importance of development when it comes to this competition for Leinster.
"I am not sure they have to be mutually exclusive," said McNamara. "It is certainly about development for us and it is fantastic to see the mix out there from sub-Academy all the way up to the likes of Ross Molony and Ed Byrne, who have both captained the Leinster senior side."
Leinster climbed 17 points clear through a penalty try and a second from Ireland U-20 centre Ciarán Frawley, who also place-kicked.
Hooker Bryan Byrne and Molony, in the last minute, hammered out further tries to make it 10 points out of 10 from the opening two rounds.
"We want to be as competitive as we possibly can be and our target is to do well in this competition," said McNamara.
Leinster - J Larmour; M Silvester, C O'Brien (C Dean 64), C Frawley, T O'Brien (H O'Sullivan 74); C Marsh, N McCarthy (C Rock 69); P Dooley (E Byrne h-t), B Byrne, V Abdaladze (J Loughman 61), M Kearney, R Molony (capt), Josh Murphy, R Dunne (O Dowling 50), P Timmins.
Cardiff - L Rowlands; D Stuckey (D Blacker 64), H Millard (M Llewellyn 69), O Lane, K Evans; B Jones, L Jones (B Thomas 56); R Carre, K Myhill (J Page 73), W Davies-King (T Mably 71), S Moore, B Murphy, S Lewis-Hughes (H Barnes 67), O Davies (M Sieniawski 54), S Bennett (capt).
Ref - K Dickson (England)
Irish Independent
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