BRUFF take on Dungannon this Saturday afternoon (2pm at Templeville Road, Dublin) in the All Ireland Rugby Club Final. The county Limerick side qualified for the ‘Bateman Cup’ final after winning the Munster Senior Cup and by then dispatching of UCD in the semi final. Speaking to Postsport this week, Bruff player coach Eoin Cahill was looking forward to the challenge ahead.
“Win or lose it will be a proud day for everyone involved in Bruff rugby club. To play in an All Ireland final is an amazing achievement, but to have these two trophies in our cabinet would be something that this club would never forget. Winning the Munster Senior Cup was an amazing feat and hopefully on Saturday we can go one step further and win the Bateman Cup”
When one looks back at who Bruff have beaten to reach the final, then you can only imagine that the will to win will be ever more present on Saturday. Shannon, Cork Con, Garryowen and UCD have all fallen to Bruff this season and with fellow Division 1B side Dungannon in the final, there will be nothing to fear for Bruff. A point Cahill agrees with.
“We know it will be a tough game, but we will not fear Dungannon. As they will not fear us. The two games in the league were hard fought and we came out with one win each. We had been in a bit of a rut prior to last weekend’s game against Clontarf, but we won that and all we are concentrating on now is the final on Saturday”
The win against Clontarf last weekend was not enough on the day to keep Bruff out of a relegation play off at the end of April, however, the win over the top team in the Division has given everyone a lift.
“We were delighted with the win and now we are all preparing for the final. Andrew Cashman will be missing, as will Brian Cahill. We had those lads against Dungannon before and they will be missed, but our squad is strong and we always rely on our own here in Bruff, so we will have the lads ready for the weekend”
