THE Towns Cup campaign for Tullow got off to a great start at the Black Gates on Sunday when we beat a very committed Clane side by a score of 22-6.
The win was badly needed given our recent form in the league but the players got the reward for the great work they are putting in on Tuesday and Friday nights and we now look forward to an away draw to our Division 1B rivals Wicklow in the next round.
It was a good weekend all round for the club with the under-21s making it to the Harry Gale Cup final and the under-15s also having a great win.
With a lot of sporting action cancelled around the province due to waterlogged pitches we were lucky that the match went ahead at all.
The muck and slop made handling very diffi cult and there were a lot of dropped balls.
What won the game for us was our set-piece and our defence which are too areas we have been working on and that was pleasing.
There is huge potential in this team and I feel this win can kick start our season.
Apart from the big crowd that was at the match we also had television cameras down recording footage for Area 22 which is on this Thursday night and hosted by Matt Cooper from Today FM.
I’m on the panel on Thursday night where we will be previewing the Six Nations, with particular focus on the Wales v Ireland game.
The week off from professional rugby action last week gave us all a chance to relax and refresh ourselves for the business end of the season, which we are just about to enter.
The Six Nations starts this week with a very tricky opener for Ireland against a Wales team that were the surprise package of the World Cup in New Zealand.
At the time of writing neither country’s starting teams have been announced but it’s likely that the Irish team will be very similar to the one we saw selected at the World Cup.
The Welsh team will be missing two key men at least in Rhys Priestsland at outhalf and Lions prop Gethin Jenkins who are both injured.
I feel that Wales caught us by surprise in the quarter-final and were able to shut down our one-dimensional attacking strategy too easily.
With former backs coach Alan Gaffney returning to Australia, Les Kiss, who is the defensive coach and also the man now responsible for the attack, will hopefully have added some new strings to our attacking bow and we can find weaknesses in the Welsh defence.
I suppose there is more pressure on Declan Kidney than Warren Gatland this time around and with three of the six countries carrying new coaches there is a great chance for Ireland to win a championship.
France are the worthy favourites as they play Ireland and England in Paris this year but I’m not convinced by Philippe SaintAndré’s coaching ability and with Top 14 action last weekend he is complaining that he will only have two days’ training with his new charges.
On paper, they have easily the most talented players and it’s really a case of how quickly they find their feet.
If Ireland can beat Wales we are looking at home games against Italy and Scotland and then an away trip to Twickenham where we have had a great record in recent years.
It’s hard to know what to expect from England.
They kept us entertained on and off the field at the World Cup and it must be difficult for their caretaker coach Stuart Lancaster when he hears about the job he wants on a full-time basis being advertised all over the world.
He has done a great job on the PR front so far but now his team must do the taking for him and it will be interesting to see if he broadens their style of play which was very conservative under Martin Johnson.
We have been spoiled by the quality and drama of the Heineken Cup already this season and I really hope that this Six Nations has the same impact.
It’s probably France’s to loose but I believe and hope Ireland have a right good chance of coming out on top.