Wilson’s win Forster Cup
Wilson's Hospital School 27; Blackrock College 17
The senior boys rugby squad at Wilson’s Hospital School enjoyed a victory against a hotly tipped Blackrock College side to lift the 2024 Forster cup. It’s the first time Wilson’s have won this tournament, and the group were delighted to finish the season on a high.
From the get-go, Wilson’s started on the front foot. An early exit kick from Blackrock’s outhalf was charged down by young gun Mark Glynn. The ball eventually found its way to Yaw Appiah, who powered his way over for the first try of the game.
The side endured a barrage of attacks from the Dublin side, but held firm. On the half hour mark, a trick play from a scrum saw Shane McGuigan release Callum Mulligan into space. Mulligan then sent team captain Sam Mills into action. Mills did extremely well to evade the defending full back to work his way under the posts for the second of the day. That proved to be a pivotal score.
Mulligan dotted down for the first of his brace just before half time. John Zumerchik added the extras to give the midlanders a 19-point advantage heading into the second half.
The weather and pitch continued to deteriorate in the second half, and Wilson’s appeared to handle the conditions better with some good territory kicks and dominant carries. Callum Mulligan’s second came with 10 minutes to go. Yaw Appiah made a break from the halfway line to force his way into Blackrock’s half. James Heasley made another good carry, before Mulligan pounced on the ball. He glided his way around the defensive line to dive in the corner for the safety score.
To Blackrock’s credit, they never gave up and rattled off three tries in quick succession to finish the scoring at 27-17.
Congratulations to the squad and their coaches Mr Dunne and Mr Campbell. They have trained hard all season. For many of the Form 6 students on the team, this was a great way to end their rugby season at Wilson’s Hospital School.
The school community wish them well in their Leaving Cert exams and hope to hear more from them as they continue their lives and rugby.