I suppose there's no better way to begin this week's notes than to bask in the
collective glory of our national side's historic weekend and specifically to
congratulate the entire squad and management for their grand slam achievement.
The fact that
Credit must go to Declan Kidney for ensuring that the entire rugby community in
the country shares in the triumphant weekend and it's encouraging to see the
national coach take cognisance of the role we all play in the development of
players. Congratulations to everyone involved and let's hope it's only the
beginning of things to come.
Our U/20's couldn't have picked a better weekend to organise a tour to
Closer to home the senior side took on Bruff in a challenge game and had
a comfortable win. As usual with most of our challenge games results have
little bearing on the desired goal and several of the fringe players had a
chance to impress heading into the latter stages of the league. A dangerous and
needless incident in our loss to Cork Con resulted in a severe injury to our
club captain Fiach O'Loughlin which will probably see him miss out on the
remainder of the season. It's a cruel blow to Fiach who as we all know wears
his heart on his sleeve while playing and inspires those around him. With his
brother, and replacement scrum half Ross settling into life in the
The thirds bowed out of the Mc Inerney cup with a defeat to Bruff while
the second's game with Highfield was rescheduled for this Sunday in Coonagh at
3pm.
Our ladies took on a powerful Young Munster side in the All Ireland
plate semi final last Sunday and despite the early tight exchanges we proved
fitter and more organised as the game went on and eventually won by 11-0. It's
a testament to the ladies determination and self belief that they now find
themselves in an All Ireland final, a notion that may have seemed somewhat
fanciful at the start of the year. Laura O'Shea was in exceptional form on
Sunday and it was her superb break through the defence that yielded our try.
Linda Tracy added two penalties, and with pretty much full dominance all over
the park the ladies were more than comfortable winners. It's now on to
Portlaois next Saturday for a showdown with Malahide RFC at 2.30
Our U/16 boys and girls team jointly hosted a visiting Canadian club
last Friday and it proved an enormous success with the visitors enjoying the
hospitality both on and off the field.
This weekend sees a number of underage fixtures take place with the U/18's
top billing with a top of the table clash with Ennis. The neutrality of St
Senans ground in
The Presidents night is almost full to capacity with very few places available.
It's a question of first come first serve at this stage and Gerry Ryan takes
final bookings this Saturday.
Finally, tickets are available to club members for next Saturdays Munster V
Leinster clash in