The Junior Cup Team have been involved in both league and friendly fixtures in the past few weeks, with mixed fortunes. Back in mid January they suffered a heavy defeat to Clongowes J3's, who played a simple but effective brand of rugby. The forwards were effective and bringing the game to the visitors and getting over the gain line. It was no surprise that all their scores came from their forwards, with tries from Jose Fominaya, Sam Lawrence and Sakhile Khumalo (Mat Russell slotting two conversions). But Clongowes were slick and their passing game created havoc in the SCC defence. The game ended 50 points to 19 to the visitors. 

A week later they lost again to St. Michael's J3's. Thady McKeever was in great form and scored two tries (converting both) while Andrew Pollock also grabbed a five pointer. But again the defence was porous to say the least and St. Michael's scored a bucket of tries, winning the game comfortable 38-19. There was frustration amongst the players and coaches and plenty of "work-ons" for training.

Unfortunately, a few days later there was another heavy defeat - this time to Kings Hospital JCT. KH stormed to an early lead and our boys seemed to give up. Sam Lawrence and Jose Fominaya grabbed a couple of tries (Thady converted one) but it was one way traffic for the most part and the final scoreline did little to flatter. A comprehensive win 69-12.

The fixture congestion eased for the J's and the coaches, Aoife Thomson and Mr. Peter Stevenson, were able to really focus on a number of key skills in training. Defence was a big problem but also the boys were lacking confidence after some heavy defeats.

Earlier this week the JCT travelled to local rivals De la Salle Churchtown needing a boost. Fixtures between the two schools are generally close affairs, and keenly contested, and this was no exception. St. Columba's had to fight for every inch but succeeded in coming away with the victory. A hat-trick of tries from Sam Lawrence - a superstar in the making - along with another from slippery Matthew Russell (he also scored three conversions) saw the boys edge the fixture 28-22.

With confidence high, the boys played their second fixture of the week earlier today, against Gonzaga J3's. Sam again scored a brace while Thady and Sakhile also dotted down. Thady also added two conversions. It was a super performance - in attack and defence - with the boys winning 29-12 in the end.

So, as half term approaches, the boys can be satisfied with recent improvements but will hope to build upon recent performances as the season closes in the coming weeks.