Statement victory for unbeaten Virginia

There was more success for Virginia Rugby Club this week, as they beat Newry by an astounding 73-21 away from home.

The East Cavan club started the season brightly last weekend, with a comfortable home win against rivals Monaghan.

However, reflecting on the result, a club spokesperson quipped that a win at home is good, but a win on the road is even better.

Newry started strongly, stealing a scrum and lineout from Virginia as an early wake-up call. Virginia responded quickly, getting on the scoreboard and building a strong lead, inching further and further ahead until eventually they led 38-0 at half-time.

Was the result all but wrapped up, the second half was more chaotic. Virginia’s discipline issues from last week carried over into the tie, when Christopher Cahill picked up a yellow card. During the 10 minutes when Virginia were down to 14-men, Newry made us of their advantage.

The hosts scored twice to reduce the deficit, while a blocked kick inside Virginia’s 22 resulted in a Newry try.

As the game went into the final quarter, the Cavan side led 45-21 and finished strongly, racking up a big score and finishing with 52 points to spare.

After the game, Virginia’s Simon Deevy said that there were plenty of positves to take from the game.

“There were some strong tackles from Chris,” Deevy began. “As well as some good individual tries and valuable game time for Darragh McDaniels and Niall Quinn.

“However, communication lapses and a lack of concentration allowed Newry to score three tries. Virginia also conceded too many penalties, something that needs to improve going forward.”

Meanwhile, Man of the Match Christopher Cahill was full of praise for teammates.

“A good performance from the lads. At times we were very good and exploited gaps in their defence well,” Cahill said.

“The backline had pace to burn and the forwards carried strongly. We were ruthless at times.

“The main issue was discipline. I can’t talk after picking up a yellow myself, but 16 penalties isn’t good enough.

“Talking back to referees gets us nowhere and needs to be kept in check. When Sherry, Brodie and Conor went off, we lacked leadership. We need 15 lads communicating and stepping up.

“Our fitness was good and we finished strongly. Discipline is something we can fix immediately. We need to reset and go again,” he added.

Virginia try scorers: Luke Brodie, Jack Carroll, Rioghan Smith (2), Stuart Lochaden, Adam Sheriff (3), Jon Carr, Conor Cahill and Niall Quinn.