Captain’s Preview | Bank Of Ireland Munster Senior Challenge Cup Final

The Bank of Ireland Munster Senior Challenge Cup final gets underway on Saturday at Cork Constitution as Highfield and Shannon meet to decide who will be crowned this season’s winners (4:30pm).

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We recently spoke to Highfield captain Jamie Shanahan and Shannon captain Harry Long to get their views ahead of Saturday’s showdown in Temple Hill.

Jamie Shanahan – Highfield RFC

“There is massive excitement amongst the team and the club. This is finals rugby; it is why we play the game.
“The last time Highfield won the title was nearly 60 years ago, the last time they were in the final was almost 20 years ago, and we have leant in on that a lot these past few weeks.

“We are after getting really close this year, we are playing some good rugby so yeah look there’s massive excitement. We have a big opportunity come Saturday, we know what Shannon are going to bring, they are going to bring grit, they’re a proud club, but we are the same so yeah it should be a good game and I am looking forward to it.

“It would be massive to win this weekend. We spoke before the semi final, and we have spoken this week that again it’s 60 years since this club have been able bring this cup back here, so there is going to be a bit of emotion around the whole occasion. But it is more of an opportunity as we see it.

“There’ll be a bit of nerves, of course, amongst the squad as for a few this will be their first time playing finals rugby, but we will have to take it as a massive opportunity and hopefully we’ll be able to come back up to the club on Saturday evening with a cup in our hands.”

Harry Long – Shannon RFC

“We are really looking forward to this weekend’s game. There has been a great buzz around the club since we won the semi final against Cork Con, so yeah we are just really excited to get onto the pitch Saturday afternoon.

“It is a really special competition, you can see the history the club have with it, winning it 19 times, we are really looking forward to Saturday and hopefully it will be a great game.

“Preparations have been going really well. As I said there has been a great buzz around the club, between supporters and the team itself, so yeah at this stage we are just excited to get out on the pitch and put our best foot forward.

“We took a lot of learnings away from our Semi Final against Cork Con. With us being Division 2A and Con being 1A it was a really physical game, so we saw the physicality that they brought, and we have learned from that and will bring it forward into the final as we know Highfield are also a really physical team.

“It would mean a lot for all of us in the club to win this weekend, you can see the supporters coming to all the matches, they’re all really excited for the game because it has been nearly 20 years since we last won the final, so it would mean a lot for all of us as a club to win the game this weekend.”