Ardcarne’s Mattie Keane is a member of the Leinster U18 Schools rugby squad who will travel to CBC Cork today to play Munster U18 Schools in the last round of their Interprovincial campaign.
Kick off is at 2.30pm.
Son of well know Solicitor Michael Keane and his wife Carol, Mattie is a student in Cistercian College Roscrea.
Following an impressive display in the 17-17 draw with Leinster at Templeville Road on September 13th, the Ulster U18 Schools side were heavily fancied to go a step further against Munster in Belfast last week. However, a highly charged Munster outfit ultimately had their northern counterparts licking their wounds at Deramore Park, running out comprehensive victors with a scoreline of 22-7.
The victory now means that both Munster and Leinster will have set their sights on silverware as they go head-to-head at CBC Cork on Saturday afternoon.
As impressive as Ulster were, Leinster coach Noel McNamara knows the capability of his side and expressed his dissatisfaction at the outcome. Speaking ahead of the Munster challenge McNamara said: “Overall, we were disappointed in some aspects of our performance against Ulster and feel that this is an opportunity for us collectively to put that right.
With home advantage Munster will be perceived to have the upper hand going into the contest and McNamara is only too aware of the task that faces his side: “Munster are going to be a huge test and we must up our intensity levels if we are going to get the desired performance and outcome.
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