News
Looking Back…John O’Donoghue Reflects on JC6N 1998
08 March 2011
If I said that the Six Nations was coming home to Munster, you would be forgiven for thinking that I was talking about another sport. Equally if I said that one of Ireland’s finest moments in the history of the Junior Six Nations took place in Skibbereen, you would probably think that I was a bit crazy.
But the first hosting of the Junior Six Nations in Ireland was actually in Skibbereen in 1998. And similar to last season’s superb results in Scotland, Ireland won our only other Junior Boys team and singles double in that event in wild wonderful West Cork. It was an amazingly successful tournament. The atmosphere in the town was festive. Everyone knew that the event was on and people were coming up to the players on the street and in the shops and asking questions and talking to them. Teams from all the countries really enjoyed the hospitality of the town and were treated like stars for the weekend. The Irish fans and team were jubilant when Eoin Byrne and Alan Monks won the Junior Boys team event and the Irish continued their good form when Alan nicked the singles event from Eoin in a thrilling final. The Irish boys had beaten Andrew Rushton and Justin Dodd from England in the semis and Eoin looked set to win the title when he led 19-16 in the third. Alan grabbed the title by serving 5 in a row to win 21-19 and add the Six Nations title to the Derby Junior Select which he had won a few weeks earlier.
Up until last year they were the best results of an Irish squad at the Junior Six Nations and in those days a very rare win. Last year’s superb results in Scotland with two wins in the team event followed up by Paul McCreery’s great win in the Junior Boys singles leave this year’s squad with the even greater pressure of matching those results while being the host nation. The ITTA is delighted to bring the event back to Munster for the second time and following on the recent success of the Schools International, UL Sports Arena is the superb facility again chosen to host the event.
While it might not match Skibbereen for passionate intensity, the University of Limerick Campus is an excellent venue and offers all the teams a high class modern facility in which to perform at the top of their game while also providing a warm and friendly atmosphere. Travelodge will provide the accommodation for the event.
It will be a very keenly contested tournament with strong teams in every age group from all the countries. The Irish squad will have a tough task to emulate last season’s achievements but we have a very even squad across the age groups with three strong players in all the teams. We look forward to the top quality competition and I would recommend any young players to try to get to the event and support the Irish team and watch the best juniors of the British Isles in action.
