Leinster Rugby v Glasgow Warriors

ISSUE 08 | LEINSTER RUGBY OFFICIAL MATCHDAY PROGRAMME 

JACK 

DUNNE 

RORY 

O'LOUGHLIN 

DAN 

SHEEHAN 

Frawley 

Ciarán 

FEB 

28 

20 

21 

KICK OFF 17:30

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FOR 

ACTION 

A sea of blue 

rising since 1879.

#LEIVGLA 

Newstead Building A, UCD, 

Belfield, Dublin 4 

Telephone: 

012693224 

Fax: 

012693142 

E-mail: 

information@leinsterrugby.ie 

www.leinsterrugby.ie 

EXECUTIVE MANAGEMENT 

President: John Walsh 

Chief Executive: Michael Dawson 

Honorary Secretary: Stuart Bayley 

Honorary Treasurer: Michael McGrail 

RUGBY MANAGEMENT 

Head Coach: Leo Cullen 

Senior Coach: Stuart Lancaster 

Head of Rugby Operations: 

Guy Easterby 

Assistant Coach: Robin McBryde 

Backs Coach: Felipe Contepomi 

Kicking Coach: Emmet Farrell 

Contact Skills Coach: Hugh Hogan 

PROGRAMME CREDITS 

Editorial Team: Marcus Ó Buachalla 

& Ryan Corry 

Advertising: Gary Nolan 

Design: Julian Tredinnick, 

Ignition Sports Media 

Photography: Sportsfile 

Chief Steward: Sword Security 

Ambulance: St. John’s Ambulance 

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www.leinsterrugby.ie | 3 | From The Ground Up

JOHN WALSH 

WEL COME 

On behalf of Leinster Rugby, we 

welcome Glasgow Warriors to 

the RDS Arena for Round 13 of the 

Guinness PRO14 and a fixture that 

has some fond memories and not 

so fond memories for both Leinster 

and Glasgow Warriors fans. 

A warm welcome to the Warriors 

management team of Danny Wilson 

(head coach), assistant coaches Jonny 

Bell (European Cup winner with Ulster), 

Kelly Brown and Kenny Murray. We 

also welcome home Irish International 

Ian Keatley who won a Bank of Ireland 

Leinster Schools Senior Cup with 

Belvedere College and played his Leinster 

rugby with Suttonians, UCD and Clontarf. 

We also welcome team captains, Ryan 

Wilson and Fraser Brown, and players for 

their first visit of the year to the RDS. The 

home of Leinster has been an empty rugby 

cathedral for a year now and it is a far 

cry from the special occasions that have 

previously involved both clubs. 

Cast your mind back to May 29, 2019, 

when we played in front of 47,170 fans in 

Celtic Park in the Guinness PRO14 Final 

on a rain-soaked day. 

Leinster emerged with a narrow threepoint 

win in a fiercely fought and tense 

encounter. With a late unconverted try 

scored by the Warriors in the 74th minute 

and Leinster full back Rob Kearney in the 

sin bin it was with much relief that Johnny 

Sexton lifted the trophy with the departing 

Seán O’Brien. 

Just a few weeks previous to that final the 

sides had met in the RDS Arena in what 

was one of the highest scoring games 

between the sides with Glasgow Warriors 

outscoring Leinster 39-24 in a try-fest that 

saw them edge us by five tries to four. 

This was Warriors’ first win in Dublin since 

September 2011. 

We also met in the 2014 PRO12 Grand 

Final held in the RDS Arena on a sunny 

May afternoon in front of a sell-out crowd 

of 19,200 with a most impressive victory 

for Leinster. Skippered by Jamie Heaslip, 

we had scores from Zane Kirchner (two), 

Shane Jennings and Gordon D’Arcy which 

were converted by Jimmy Gopperth who 

also added two penalties to his tally. 

Out-half Finn Russell scored all of 

Glasgow’s points with four penalties in the 

first half. The occasion also saw the final 

appearance of BOD and Leo Cullen in 

Leinster blue, with Brian only lasting nine 

minutes before a calf injury brought the 

curtain down on what was a stellar career 

for Leinster. 

The bitter taste of defeat in the 2014 Final 

thankfully did not last long as Glasgow 

Warriors faced Munster in the 2015 

PRO12 Grand Final staged at Ravenhill to 

record their first League title. 

I am reminded that nine of the Glasgow 

squad are involved in the Scottish squad 

and that eight of them played in the 

memorable and much deserved Guinness 

Six Nations victory over England in 

Twickenham this year. 

Over 111 Scottish international players 

have featured for Glasgow Warriors over 

the years. The introduction of professional 

rugby in 1996 has resulted in significant 

challenges for all the home country unions 

as they come to terms with the finances of 

funding and growing the sport of rugby. 

We have been very fortunate in Ireland 

that all of our four provinces have had 

successes both in the European Cup and 

Celtic League competitions. 

Similar success has to date eluded 

Edinburgh with only Glasgow Warriors 

achieving a League title since a 

restructuring programme that has seen 

the original four professional sides 

consolidated into Glasgow Warriors and 

Edinburgh. 

These are very tough times for our sport 

and countries due to the catastrophic 

Covid-19 pandemic. 

Philip Browne (CEO of the IRFU) stated 

in the programme notes for the Ireland v 

France digital match programme that the 

Union and the combined Irish provinces 

will loose in excess of €29 million in 

revenue between January 2021 and June 

2021. 

In our province the impact on our 

domestic game has also been very severe 

for the past two playing seasons. Our 73 

clubs, 120 schools, 13 third-level colleges 

and 18 mixed-ability teams that comprise 

of in excess of 15,000 players have been 

deprived of approximately 6,300 fixtures 

during this period. 

Our loyal band of nearly 13,000 annual 

Leinster season ticket holders have also 

had to look from the outside in at the RDS 

Arena and AVIVA Stadium. We will face 

a formidable challenge to re-energise 

and re-finance our domestic rugby 

programme that contributes so much to 

our communities in terms of well-being and 

social engagement. 

I also wish to acknowledge and thank all 

of the Leinster partners and sponsors for 

their support and commitment over the 

last 12 months during these tough times 

and we are very appreciative of having 

them on our team. We look forward to a 

more positive future and strengthening our 

relationships. 

Our nation is now experiencing a new 

assault from the Covid-19 pandemic and 

all in Leinster Rugby are fully cognisant of 

the impact that this brings to our lives not 

to mention our sport. Once again a heavy 

burden has fallen on our medical and 

front line workers in the fight to defeat this 

unseen enemy. 

All involved in Leinster 

Rugby must be 

prepared to give 

their full support to 

those on that team 

and adhere to the 

medical advice that 

we receive. 

John Walsh 

PRESIDENT, 

LEINSTER RUGBY 

2020/21 


Leo Cullen 

HEAD COACH WELCOME 

Good evening all, 

Before discussing the game this 

evening against Glasgow Warriors 

I would like to address the sudden 

passing this week of my former team 

mate Gary Halpin. 

We were all saddened when news 

broke on Wednesday morning of his 

sudden passing. Gary played with 

Ireland and for Leinster Rugby and I 

was also fortunate to play with him in 

Blackrock College RFC. 

He was without doubt one of the 

most hilarious characters to ever have 

stepped foot in a rugby dressing room. 

Our thoughts and condolences go out 

to all Gary’s family and friends at this 

challenging time. 

A warm Dublin welcome to Danny 

Wilson and his team for this evening’s 

game. 

We’ve enjoyed some great tussles with 

the Warriors in recent seasons and 

we’re under no illusions about what a 

tough assignment we have ahead of 

us today. 

This evening’s game will be one to 

remember for our own Cillian Reardon, 

formerly of Leinster, who is now part of 

the Glasgow side. ‘Killer’ has played 

a hugely important role in so much of 

Leinster’s success in recent times and 

we wish him well with his new club 

(after tonight that is!). 

Our last three games in the Guinness 

PRO14 have been on the road so it’s 

great to be back at the RDS. 

Those three games gave us an 

opportunity to hand a debut to young 

Jamie Osborne, still only 19 years of 

age, who came off the bench against 

Scarlets, while we were also delighted 

to see Marcus Hanan make his Leinster 

debut against Dragons last Friday. 

Well done to both players and we 

expect them both to have great careers 

ahead of them. 

Both Marcus (Clane RFC) and Jamie 

(Naas RFC) have come through the 

club system and their first senior caps 

are a fantastic reflection on all the 

coaching and development work that 

goes on at underage club level and 

at Shane Horgan Cup level where 

our club players represent their 

Areas. 

With so many players currently away 

on Ireland duty, this Six Nations period 

represents a golden opportunity for 

our up-and coming young players, so 

it’s been brilliant to see some of our 

Academy guys get quality game time 

in the senior ranks. 

This is the pathway that has unearthed 

so many Leinster players over the years 

and, as always, it will serve the club 

well into the future. 

Thanks to all the team’s sponsors, 

in particular Bank of Ireland, for their 

continued support. It was great to 

catch up with some of our sponsors on 

a video call recently – the new way 

of keeping in touch! Your backing of 

the team throughout the pandemic is 

greatly appreciated by us all and we 

look forward to seeing you in person 

again soon. 

The next few weeks are hugely 

important in determining the success 

of our season. After Glasgow this 

week, we take on Ulster who are hot 

on our heels in the Guinness PRO14 

Conference. 

There is literally no room for 

slipping up now as the final 

is scheduled for the weekend 

immediately after the last round 

of the Six Nations. 

The week after that, we are due to 

be playing in the Champions Cup 

play-offs which is a hugely exciting 

prospect. Lots to look forward to! 

In rugby, as in society, there is still 

plenty of uncertainty as to what things 

will look like, but we are optimistic 

now with vaccines being rolled out 

that we will be able to have you, our 

supporters, back in rugby grounds 

before too much longer. It’s what we 

miss the most, and what we’re most 

looking forward to having back. 

In the meantime, look after yourselves 

and continue to stay safe with your 

loved ones. 

Thanks so much for supporting the 

team and enjoy the game this evening. 

Leo 


JOANN 

HOSEY 

PROVINCIAL DIRECTOR 

BANK OF IRELAND DUBLIN 

IT’S GREAT TO 

BE BACK IN 

GUINNESS PRO14 

ACTION AT THE 

RDS ARENA, WITH 

LEINSTER’S LAST 

HOME OUTING 

COMING ALL THE 

WAY BACK IN 

THE FIRST WEEK 

OF JANUARY. 

BETWEEN 

CANCELLED 

FIXTURES DUE TO 

COVID-19 AND A 

SERIES OF AWAY 

MATCHES, IT HAS 

BEEN A WHILE 

SINCE THE BOYS 

IN BLUE LINED 

OUT AT HOME. 

Since suffering defeat to Connacht at 

the beginning of 2021 the team has 

rebounded strongly, racking up a 

series of wins against Ulster, Munster 

and Scarlets. So it was gratifying to 

see Leo Cullen receive the inaugural 

PRO14 Coach of the Month for 

January, although we’re sure that he 

was quick to share that success with 

his fellow coaches, backroom team 

and his players. 

The recent run of fixtures has seen Max 

O’Reilly, Andrew Smith, Greg McGrath, Jamie 

Osborne and Marcus Hanan all win their first 

Leinster caps, a proud moment for them and 

their families. And that’s before we mention 

the Leinster contingent who played for Ireland 

in the opening rounds of the Six Nations, 

earning further international honours despite 

the bounce of the ball going against the Irish 

team so far. 

Both the provincial and international matches 

have brought a level of colour and excitement 

into our lives as the public health restrictions 

continue to be enforced, and it has been 

wonderful to have live sport to enjoy from the 

comfort of our own homes. 

It is now 12 months to the day since fans 

attended a game at the RDS Arena, which was 

coincidentally also against Glasgow Warriors, 

and the players, staff and the administrators 

have performed wonders in continuing to bring 

us these games during these challenging times. 

As a proud sponsor of Leinster Rugby from 

the grassroots to the senior team, the next 

challenge for all involved is to get our domestic 

game back up and running in some shape or 

form. We also look forward to starting that 

process for our Bank of Ireland Schools of 

Excellence and our Summer Camps when it is 

safe to do so. 

Until then, we will continue to play our part in 

enjoying the rugby from a safe distance and 

adhering to the public health guidelines. 

Enjoy the game, 

JH 


FOLLOW ALL THE ACTION ON 

PRO14.RUGBY 

YOUR GUINNESS 

PRO14 HOME 

LATEST NEWS, LIVE MATCH 

CENTRES, STATS & MORE 

VISIT NOW 

WWW.PRO14.RUGBY

GUINNESS PRO14 CAMPAIGN TO CONCLUDE IN 

MARCH AHEAD OF NEW “RAINBOW CUP” WITH 

SOUTH AFRICA’S TOP FOUR ‘SUPER’ TEAMS 

The current Guinness PRO14 campaign will 

end in March allowing South Africa’s four 

‘Super’ teams and our existing clubs to 

finish the season with a 16-team “Rainbow 

Cup” competition ahead of the British & 

Irish Lions tour. 

After consulting with key PRO14 stakeholders, the Guinness 

PRO14 Rainbow Cup was chosen as the best pathway to 

finish up the current campaign and introduce South Africa’s 

four ‘Super’ teams: the Vodacom Bulls; Emirates Lions; Cell 

C Sharks and DHL Stormers. This decision also allows our 

European-based sides to earn qualification for European 

Professional Club Rugby (EPCR) tournaments in 2021/22 in 

a fair and equitable manner. 

Ahead of the 2021 British & Irish Lions tour to South Africa, 

the Guinness PRO14 Rainbow Cup will provide a groundbreaking 

spectacle for fans who will see international star 

players from north and south establish new rivalries in their 

bid for the ultimate Test selection. 

Right through until the last kick of the ball in the Rainbow 

Cup in June, fans will be able to watch it all unfold with our 

broadcast partners Premier Sports, eir Sport, S4C, TG4, 

DAZN and Super Sport. 

How it will Work 

• The 2020/21 Guinness PRO14 campaign will finish after 16 

rounds with the Conference winners facing each other in a 

final in late March 

• Qualification for EPCR tournaments in 2021/22 will be 

decided by rankings after Round 16 

• On April 17, 2021, the Guinness PRO14 Rainbow Cup will 

kick-off and introduce the Vodacom Bulls, Emirates Lions, 

Cell C Sharks and DHL Stormers and their World Cupwinning 

Springboks 

• The Guinness PRO14 Rainbow Cup will consist of a pool 

stage (two pools of eight teams) and a final between the 

two pool winners 

FINAL CHAPTER OF GUINNESS PRO14 

fixture list will aim to ensure home and away in-conference 

fixtures are completed and each team plays all of its 

cross-conference matches also. Further clarification will be 

available when fixtures are confirmed. 

The scheduled dates for the conclusion of the 2020-21 

Guinness PRO14 campaign are: 

R12: February 20 

R13: February 27 

R14: March 6 

R15: March 13 

R16: March 20 

Final: March 27 

Once Round 16 has been completed, the top-ranked teams 

from each conference will qualify for the 2021/22 Heineken 

Champions Cup. Requirement for play-offs is under review. 

GUINNESS PRO14 “RAINBOW CUP” 

FORGING NEW RIVALRIES 

With South Africa preparing to host their first British & Irish 

Lions tour since 2009, the World Cup champions will see 

their ‘Super’ teams – the Bulls, Lions, Sharks and Stormers 

take on the very best that Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales 

have to offer. 

Players aiming to make the British & Irish Lions squad will 

find no better trial environment to test themselves in, as 

they go up against the likes of Siya Kolisi, Pieter Steph du 

Toit (both DHL Stormers), Duane Vermeulen (Vodacom 

Bulls), Elton Jantjies (Emirates Lions) and former Guinness 

PRO14 top-try scorer Makazole Mapimipi (Cell C Sharks). 

The Guinness PRO14 Rainbow Cup will kick off on April 17 

with two pools of 8 teams made up of two Irish, two South 

African, two Welsh, one Italian and one Scottish club. Each 

team will play one game against each pool opponent and 

the sides that finish top of their pools will face off in a final 

on June 19. 

Across 57 matches, the Guinness PRO14 Rainbow Cup will 

feature the best of the Springbok talent going toe-to-toe 

with some of the British & Irish Lions’ biggest names – every 

one of them keen to lay down a marker to their respective 

selectors ahead of what will prove to an historic tour. 

Rounds 12 to 16 will take place from February 20 and 

conclude on March 20. A final will then take place at the 

home venue of the highest-ranked team. This abbreviated

Did you 

know? 

• Leinster Rugby’s only 

defeat in any competition this 

season was 24-35 at home to 

Connacht in Round 10 of the 

Guinness PRO14. 

• The Leinstermen’s most 

recent defeat to a Scottish 

opponent was when today’s 

opponents visited the RDS in 

April 2019. 

• Glasgow Warriors 

have won only once in the 

Guinness PRO14 since the 

end of November: 23- 

22 against Edinburgh at 

Scotstoun on 16 January. 

• Since rugby resumed in 

August the Scotsmen have 

won just twice away from 

home, against Edinburgh on 

28 August and Cardiff Blues 

on 29 November. 

• Leinster have won their 

last four PRO14 clashes 

against the Warriors whilst 

the Scotsmen have won twice 

before at the RDS Arena in 

September 2011 and April 

2019. 

#LEIVgla 

Overall Guinness 

PRO14 head to head 

record: 

40 25 13 2 

PLAYED Leinster won Leinster lost DRAWs 

COMPARISON 

Last 3 PRO14 results: 

LEINSTER 

23 Jan - Munster (A) 

W 13-10 

30 Jan - Scarlets (A) 

W 52-25 

19 Feb - Dragons (A) 

W 35-29 

Conf A: 

1st - W11 D0 L1 - 55pts 

WLWWWW 

(25pts) 

Scott Penny 7 

Harry Byrne 61 

PRO14 

2020/21 

PRO14 

form 

Top try 

scorer 

Top points 

scorer 

GLASGOW 

2 Jan - Edinburgh (A) 

L 7-10 

16 Jan - Edinburgh (H) 

W 23-22 

19 Feb - Ulster (H) 

L 13-19 

Conf A: 

4th - W3 D0 L8 - 16pts 

LWLLWL 

(11pts) 

3 Huw Jones 

30 Pete Horne 

Date Venue L G Leinster scorers Glasgow scorers 

Fri 3 Nov 17 

Scotstoun 

Stadium 

21 31 Adam Byrne(T) Ross Byrne(3C) Jamison 

Gibson-Park(T) Rory O'Loughlin(T) 

Sat 13 Apr 19 RDS Arena 24 39 Ross Byrne(2C) Dave Kearney(2T) Rob 

Kearney(2T) 

Sat 25 May 19 Celtic Park (TF) 18 15 Cian Healy(T) Garry Ringrose(T) Johnny 

Sexton(C/2P) 

Sat 30 Nov 19 

Scotstoun 

Stadium 

23 10 Ross Byrne(2C/3P) Cian Kelleher(2T) Ruaridh Jackson(2T) 

Fri 28 Feb 20 RDS Arena 55 19 James Lowe(2T) Ciaran Frawley(2C) Harry 

Byrne(3C) Scott Fardy(T) Ryan Baird(3T) Dave 

Kearney(3T) 

Mon 2 Nov 20 

Scotstoun 

Stadium 

32 19 Michael Bent(T) Harry Byrne(3C/2P) Scott 

Penny(T) Luke McGrath(T) Jimmy O'Brien(T) 

Pete Horne(4C/P) Nick Grigg(2T) George 

Horne(2T) 

Sam Johnson(T) Adam Hastings(4C/2P) 

Matt Fagerson(T) Tommy Seymour(T) George 

Horne(T) Zander Fagerson(T) 

Adam Hastings(C/P) Matt Fagerson(T) Grant 

Stewart(T) 

Pete Horne(C) Kyle Steyn(T) Alex Allan(T) 

Tommy Seymour(T) Ruaridh Jackson(C) 

Pete Horne(2C) George Horne(T) Tom 

Gordon(T) D'arcy Rae(T) 


Frawley 

CIARÁN 

WITH A SUNDAY 

KICK-OFF FOR THE 


GAME AGAINST 

GLASGOW 

WARRIORS, THE 

WEEKLY SCHEDULE IN 

LEINSTER RUGBY HAS 

BEEN THROWN OUT 

A BIT THIS PAST FEW 

DAYS. 

A FRIDAY GAME IN 

RODNEY PARADE, 

FOLLOWED BY A 

TWO-DAY WEEKEND 

AND A BONUS 

MONDAY OFF. 

A BONUS THAT IS, IF 

YOU WERE INVOLVED 

AGAINST DRAGONS. 

From The Ground Up | 14 | www.leinsterrugby.ie


Unfortunately for Ciarán 

Frawley, a niggle picked up in 

training early last week ruled 

him out of contention for the 

trip to Wales so he had to wait 

around longer than most for his 

shot at a jersey again. 

Thankfully, he has passed all of his 

markers this week and is good to go to 

face old rivals Glasgow. 

“Yeah it was a frustrating one alright 

and I’ve had a few of them this season. 

Just as you’d be coming up to a block 

of games where the Irish lads would be 

in camp I’d pick up a knock or a niggle. 

Nothing too serious but serious enough 

to keep you out for the week. 

“Thankfully though training has gone 

well this week and the body feels good 

so I can’t wait now for Sunday.” 

With Monday off, Tuesday was the first 

day of the week so an extra day for the 

analysts and the coaching team to pick 

apart the win against Dragons. 

Frawley was an interested observer to 

the debrief. 

“Look we came away with a bonus point 

win away from home which was brilliant. 

When you have so many guys away and 

teams target you especially during this 

period, it can be tricky. 

“Then you could see how bad the pitch 

was and chatting to the lads it was even 

worse to play on than what we could see 

on TV, so all in all to come away with 

the five points and just keep us tipping 

away and just out of reach of Ulster 

was good. 

“But then you flip it and look at the 

late tries we conceded or indeed our 

discipline where we gave them easy 

access into the game at times and that 

will be the focus now this week ahead of 

Glasgow because we know that they can 

punish us with the boot and from play. 

“So plenty of positives to take from the 

game but also plenty to work on and I 

think that’s a nice spot to be in.” 

He mentions the penalties and it was 

certainly noticeable against Dragons that 

discipline was slightly off. Indeed Leinster 

conceded more penalties in the first half 

alone than they had in the full 80 minutes 

the week before against Scarlets. 

“It was high alright. I think we conceded 

16 in total to their seven or eight so we 

have to be better than that. We looked 

at a few things but it’s on us to address 

it.” 

How do you go about addressing 

discipline though? 

“We always talk about performance 

and having the right mindset and I 

really think they bounce off each other, 

complement each other. So a lot of it is 

mental and making sure that all 15 of 

you are tuned in to what is needed in 

that next moment because often times 

what can happen is one slip up, leads to 

another and another. 

“It has that snow ball effect so definitely 

I think as a collective we know that our 

focus and our attention can be better. 

Also in those phases of the game 

when fatigue sets in, when we are 

wrecked, you have to stay fully 

focused on the job at hand. 

“We may have kept Dragons 

out in terms of tries last week 

in the first half but they had 15 

points on the board and you 

can’t give teams that access. 


“IT’S JUST SO 

COMPETITIVE 

HERE. YOU VERY 

MUCH STAY IN THE 

MOMENT AND PUT 

YOUR HAND UP 

FOR SELECTION AS 

OFTEN AS YOU CAN 

AND AFTER THAT 

YOU JUST HOPE IT 

GOES WELL.” 

“It will catch up on you and we certainly 

don’t want that to happen this weekend. 

We want to get back to basics, get back 

to doing what we do well and hopefully 

that will be good enough.” 

While there have been frustrating 

moments this season for Frawley with 

the niggly injuries, the 23-year-old from 

Skerries is relatively happy with where 

he is at. 

Of his 33 caps to date in Leinster blue, 

he has won seven of them this season, 

six as a starter. 

However it is where he is starting 

and how he is performing that 

is getting lots of traction with 

supporters and the media and 

even talk of a call up to Andy 

Farrell’s Ireland squad in some 

quarters. 

What does he make of 

the clamour around his 

performances in the Leinster 

number 12 jersey? 

“Look it’s flattering and all that but 

as you know here in Leinster we 

are just so focused on the here and 

now. This week. What do I need to do 

this week to do well and perform for 

Leinster? 

“There is no point looking at the squad 

around you and saying I’m going 

for that jersey or that fella because 

very quickly you lose sight of what’s 

important and anyway there will be 

another young fella behind you ready to 

take your spot. 

“It’s just so competitive here. You very 

much stay in the moment and put your 

hand up for selection as often as you 

can and after that you just hope it goes 

well.” 

How did selection in the number 12 

jersey come about? 

As he explains it’s not something 

completely alien to him but by the same 

token it’s not something that was on his 

radar either. 

“I probably first got to play in that 

position with the Ireland U-20s. Nigel 

Carolan was our coach then and we 

had I think six or seven out-halves in and 

around the squad. 

“We were coming up to the first game 

against Scotland and one of the other 


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players, Rory Butler, picked up a head 

injury so he was ruled out of the game 

and Nigel wanted to see how I went 

at centre. 

“It’s a chance to represent your country 

so I jumped at it and threw everything 

I had at the chance and thankfully it 

went OK through the Six Nations and 

then the World Cup. 

“I then came back into Leinster and 

into the Leinster Academy and I was 

slotting back in to out-half and playing 

there with Leinster ‘A’ and that’s where 

I stayed until last season really.” 

How does that positional switch 

conversation go for a young out-half? 

It would be easy to feel undermined 

by a conversation like that but the 

transition according to Frawley felt very 

natural, very organic and by the end 

he was striking up a partnership as a 

centre with the out-halves at the club. 

“It wasn’t like we had a conversation 

and we settled on it. It was very 

natural. There were four out-halves at 

training this day and typically we 

select three teams in training. Johnny 

was 10 for one, Ross was 10 for 

another and then they said they’d try 

Harry and myself in the third team 

together. 

“I still remember the session. It was 

down in Energia Park a week or so 

before the first lockdown and it was 

just selected with Harry at 10 and me 

running at 12 outside him. It went well 

and then Stuart (Lancaster) came up 

to me afterwards just chatting about 

it and praising how well Harry and 

I looked together out there and I 

suppose the idea was planted then 

and it has just taken off from there.” 

“ON SUNDAY WE HAVE TO MAKE SURE 

WE ALL FRONT UP THOUGH BECAUSE WE 

WILL BE STRESSED AT DIFFERENT POINTS 

BY THIS GLASGOW TEAM.” 

His first game in the number 12 jersey 

was towards the tail end of last 

season against Ulster but of course 

due to Covid-19 that was only played 

in August in an empty Aviva Stadium. 

He had Ross Byrne at 10 with him that 

day and Rory O’Loughlin outside him 

in a 28-10 win against their provincial 

rivals. 


“Lockdown or certainly that period 

where we were training and building 

after lockdown probably helped 

because I was able to focus on the role 

without the pressure of a game coming 

up quickly so by the time the Ulster 

game came around, I felt I had plenty of 

reps under my belt. 

“To be fair whether it’s players inside 

you like Johnny, Ross or Harry or players 

outside you at 13 like getting those few 

reps with Robbie (Henshaw) in Europe, 

there is just quality everywhere at the 

club so that helps massively. You can 

just focus on the role that you have been 

given.” 

He was handed the number 12 jersey 

in all but one of his games so far this 

season including a first start and a first 

try in Europe against Montpellier away 

in France. 

“Unfortunately, I only played maybe 

10 minutes in that first game against 

Dragons with Johnny because I had to 

leave with a head injury so that was 

disappointing but I have played a lot of 

rugby now with Ross and Harry selected 

so I feel comfortable playing with them. 

I’ve really enjoyed it.” 

What does he feel he brings to the role? 

“Well I managed to put on a little bit of 

extra weight during lockdown but I still 

feel that I look a bit like a string bean out 

there! I need to bulk up a bit more into 

the jersey. 

“But I suppose having played 10 I know 

what ideally you want from those outside 

you and I have an eye too for what the 

10 is trying to deliver so at times I’d like 

to think that I can bring that to the game 

plan that Leo and the coaches are trying 

to implement. 

“The other thing too is that before I was 

playing a lot of my rugby coming off 

the bench and covering 10, whereas 

now I am starting more games at 12 

and I think that is really benefitting my 

game and my confidence and it’s great 

experience to get.” 

This weekend it will be Harry and Rory 

O’Loughlin to his left and his right. 

“Like I said earlier it’s brilliant just to 

have that class all around you and 

you’ve seen how brilliant Locko can be 

in that 13 jersey and what he brings to 

the game so it’s great this weekend to be 

lacing up with him outside me. 

“Harry has played a lot of rugby for us 

this year and he has led the team really 

well. On Sunday we have to make sure 

we all front up though because we will 

be stressed at different points by this 

Glasgow team. 

“They came here in 2019 and beat us 

and managed to get three tries against us 

earlier this season so they know how to 

play us and when they click they are very 

dangerous. 

“Everyone in the 23 needs to be on top 

of their game to get over the line.” 

In that match day 23 against Glasgow 

will be other players that have taken 

a very similar path to himself, Greg 

McGrath and Jamie Osborne who also 

came from the club system. 

Indeed, over the last two games two 

players from the club pathway have 

made their debuts for Leinster, 

Marcus Hanan from Clane 

RFC most recently against 

Dragons and Osborne 

from Naas RFC 

against Scarlets. 

While Wexford 

Wanderers’ old 

boy McGrath made 

his debut against 

Connacht Rugby. 


“GETTING THE 

OPPORTUNITY 

TO PLAY WITH 

YOUR AREA 

IN THE SHANE 

HORGAN CUP 

GIVES YOU THAT 

OPPORTUNITY TO 

BE IN THE SHOP 

WINDOW IF 

YOU LIKE.” 

“Look at how well Jamie did on his debut 

against Scarlets? Unbelievable. He’s a 

big boy for his age (19) but he has some 

serious skills and can play. Definitely one 

for the future. Solid head on his shoulders 

and has the mentality for it. 

“I wouldn’t be as familiar with Greg or 

indeed with Marcus as they are forwards 

but they have settled into the set up really 

well over the last few weeks and months 

and everyone were delighted for them 

both to make their debuts over the last few 

months. 

“I was only talking to Marcus during the 

week about his road to this point and the 

similarities in 

our stories. 

“Coming 

through 

the Shane 

Horgan Cup 

route, playing 

for our Area teams and 

then coming in here. It’s 

great to see Greg, Jamie 

and Marcus but we need 

more. We need more 

lads coming through 

the club system 

and coming 

in to play for the club and hopefully there 

will be many more lads.” 

Frawley is of course the pride of Skerries 

Community College, of Skerries RFC and 

of the North East Area. 

McGrath as mentioned is of Wexford 

Wanderers and of the South East Area, 

Osborne is of Naas RFC and of North 

Midlands and Hanan for his part is 

of Clane RFC and also of the North 

Midlands Area side. 

While Seán O’Brien was the original 

poster boy for this pathway, there are 

more and more players coming through 

this pathway and the last two weeks has 

reinforced that. 

“It’s a brilliant pathway and the support 

that is there for lads. Getting the 

opportunity to play with your Area in 

the Shane Horgan Cup gives you that 

opportunity to be in the shop window if 

you like. 

“It’s then up to you. When you get into 

Leinster age grade sides and whatever 

maybe at first you are conscious of the 

different pathways but very quickly you 

realise, we are all in this together. 

“There is pressure but I don’t think it’s 

because of where you are from because 

I think everyone feels that pressure 

regardless. 

“The standards applied by Leinster are 

applied across the board no matter where 

you’re from but very quickly you buy into 

the system of play that Leinster have and 

you just build your experience then over 

the years. We all want the same at the 

end of the day. 

“All wanting to play for Leinster no matter 

the background or the pathway.” 

You forget as Frawley discusses the 

pathways that he is himself still so young 

and with so much potential and rugby 

ahead of him. 

Indeed with Seán O’Brien now plying 

his trade in London Irish, Frawley is in the 

same conversation as Tadhg Furlong, Peter 

Dooley, Adam Byrne, Conor O’Brien, 

Michael Milne and all the other club 

players that have made the breakthrough 

to the senior ranks of Leinster Rugby. 

He is part of that next generation of 

players now. Inspiring the next Greg 

McGraths, Jamie Osbornes and Marcus 

Hanans. 

And no better way of inspiring them than 

with another big performance in the 

number 12 jersey of Leinster Rugby. 



RODNEY PARADE 

19 FEBRUARY 2021 

REF: BEN WHITEHOUSE 

29 35 

Jordan Williams (Josh Lewis 

63); Jonah Holmes, Aneurin 

Owen, Jack Dixon, Ashton 

Hewitt; Sam Davies, Rhodri 

Williams (Luke Baldwin 63); 

Brok Harris (Greg Bateman 

50), Richard Hibbard (Ellis 

Shipp 48), Lloyd Fairbrother; 

Joseph Davies, Ben Carter; 

Matthew Screech (Dan Baker 

30), Ben Fry, Huw Taylor (Joe 

Maksymiw 56). 

SCORERS 

TRIES: Luke Baldwin, 

Josh Lewis. 

CONS: Sam Davies (2). 

PENS: Sam Davies (5). 

Max O’Reilly; Cian Kelleher, 

Rory O’Loughlin, Ross Byrne 

(David Hawkshaw 77), Dave 

Kearney; Harry Byrne (Jamie 

Osborne 63), Luke McGrath 

(Rowan Osborne 67); Peter 

Dooley (Marcus Hanan 65), 

James Tracy (Dan Sheehan 

57). Tom Clarkson (Greg 

McGrath 65); Ross Molony 

(Devin Toner 57), Ryan Baird; 

Josh Murphy (Scott Fardy 67), 

Scott Penny, Jack Conan. 

SCORERS 

TRIES: Peter Dooley, Scott 

Penny, Josh Murphy, Penalty 

Try, Dan Sheehan. 

CONS: Ross Byrne (4). 

“IT’S A WHOLE 

DIFFERENT 

GAME WHEN 

YOU GET OUT 

THERE, IT’S 

VERY FAST. 

I’M STILL 

SO EXCITED 

ABOUT IT AND 

COULDN’T 

STOP 

SMILING.” 

Debutant Marcus Hanan 

reflects on his first cap 

for the province 


“A BIT SURREAL 

WALKING OUT 

INTO AN EMPTY 

STADIUM BUT 

IT’S REALLY 

SPECIAL TO 

WIN 100 CAPS. 

HASN’T BEEN AN 

EASY JOURNEY, 

THERE’S UPS 

AND DOWNS 

BUT I’M 

INCREDIBLY 

PROUD.” 

Jack Conan 


IRFU President Des Kavanagh 

in conversation with Karen Ann Ennis 

Chairperson of the Leinster Rugby Youth PR Committee 

ON OCTOBER 23, 2020, DES KAVANAGH WAS ELECTED 

THE 132ND PRESIDENT OF THE IRFU. DES IS THE FIRST 

REPRESENTATIVE OF LEINSTER YOUTH RUGBY TO HOLD THIS 

POSITION AND THE SECOND PRESIDENT FROM A JUNIOR CLUB. 

Des has a distinguished career 

in representative roles in rugby 

at club, provincial and national 

levels including Carlow President 

2000-01, Leinster President 2008- 

09, Leinster secretary 2009-2012 

and IRFU Executive from 2011. 

Within these posts, Des also sat on 

several special committees many of which 

he chaired including the IRFU Junior 

Rugby Committee, the Disability Rugby 

Committee, the Clubs and Volunteers 

Committee and, in recent years, the Spirit 

Committee. A truly remarkable roll of 

honour. 

THE FORMATIVE YEARS 

In his youth, Des became involved 

in rugby for a short period of time. 

However, underage club rugby didn’t 

really exist, there was no structure to 

youth rugby and he moved on to other 

sports. 

In 1971, he commenced training as a 

Psychiatric Nurse, then practiced for 

20 years. He engaged in postgraduate 

studies in the RCSI Faculty of Nursing. 

Des was always involved in the union 

for the Psychiatric Nurses Association, 

but was moving towards a career in 

management when the opportunity came 

first to become National Chairman and 

then General Secretary of the Union. 

Des’ wife Marie was a huge influence in 

encouraging him to allow his name to go 

forward for a national role. 

During this time, Des played some 

basketball for a while but eventually 

focused on his new marriage, showing 

Boxer dogs and doing post graduate 

studies in RCSI where he was awarded a 

Fellowship in 1985. 

Des and his wife Marie are hugely 

enthusiastic about Boxer dogs and, 

between 1976 and 1990, they showed 

Boxer dogs throughout Ireland and the 

UK. In the mid-80s, they became the most 

successful Boxer kennel in Ireland. 

Des and grandson Rian at half time 

mini game RDS 

Then with their family growing up and 

the children starting to play sports they 

decided to focus on them and the Boxer 

dogs took a back seat. However, they 

retained their interest and still have 

dogs. They have continued to judge 

internationally in countries such as 

Canada, Finland, South Africa, Germany 

as well as the UK and Ireland. 

Around 1990 Marie, with Des’ 

encouragement, brought the two eldest 

boys to their local rugby club in Carlow. 

Graham started off as an U-10 and a 

few weeks later Wesleigh started off as 

an U-8. 

Des recalls he went in every Saturday 

to the club to watch them train or play 

games. It was during one of these 

Saturday morning drop-ins that a Club 

Rep asked him to help with the coaching. 

Des didn’t feel this was his forte and 

declined. Sometime later he was 

approached again and this time found 

himself refereeing a game between two 

groups of U-12s. 

A little precocious chap called Barry 

White kept telling him he hadn’t a clue 

about the laws of the game. As Des 

laughingly told me, he was right, he 

thought laws were for the guards and not 

rugby!!! So, he told people in the club he 

would do anything except coaching. 

The then Carlow RFC Youth Co- 

Ordinator, Derek Harte, took him under 

his wing and convinced him to become 

Youth Co-Ordinator, which he did for 

eight or nine years. This was the start 

of Des’ progression through the ranks 

in rugby circles leading him to where 

he is now as President of the IRFU. It 


was clearly an area that played to his 

strengths of organisation and being 

involved with people. 

During his time as Youth Co-Ordinator he 

observed that whilst the club had very 

good teams that would reach semi-finals 

they rarely progressed beyond that, so he 

arranged games with clubs from Munster 

and Connacht, like Corinthians, to give 

players experience of playing different 

teams with different approaches to the 

game. This bore fruit as Carlow teams 

went on to win multiple titles as well as an 

All-Ireland title at U-18. 

He found himself getting more and more 

involved, attending South East Area 

meetings and Leinster Youth AGMs and it 

wasn’t long before he became South East 

Youth Secretary. In 2000, he became 

President of Co. Carlow, and during his 

tenure the club was promoted to AIL 

Division 1. In 2001, Des was appointed 

secretary of the Leinster Youth Section 

and represented them on the Leinster 

Branch Executive Committee. 

He recalls an incident from his first 

meeting as chair of the Leinster Youth 

Committee: “I had just heard before the 

meeting that Leinster had appointed a 

new CEO. As I was commencing the 

meeting, a guy came in dressed in a 

Des and Charlie taking a break in the garden 

million dollar suit, looking very officious. 

“I welcomed the new CEO. Hugh 

Woodhouse said ‘That’s great Des, 

where is he?’ I looked at the new arrival 

and the whole place burst into gales of 

laughter. He was a Metro rep!” 

PLAYER DEVELOPMENT 

PATHWAYS 

It was during the 1990s that Des felt 

a shift in attitude to the role that youth 

rugby was bringing to the game. He 

specifically feels that the emergence of 

players such as Shane Horgan and Mark 

McHugh through the area programmes 

was the catalyst for people to start asking 

the question of where these players had 

come from, learning quickly that they had 

come through the club youth structure. 

Since then, things have greatly improved 

for the club structure. Leinster Rugby has 

been very proactive in identifying young 

players with potential and seeking to 

develop them. 

Proposed high performance units in 

each area (Dublin and Carlow IT 

already open) ensures that players in the 

15/16 age group upwards get the most 

appropriate advice on their personal 

development through diet and physical 

development for the game. 

Another change that Des has seen over 

the years is where clubs previously 

fielded at U-14, 16 and 18 while this 

has evolved to each age grade/year 

from U-13 to U-18. He recalls that clubs 

all played in the one competition and 

it was recognised that this imbalance 

for stronger and weaker teams was 

unsustainable for the development of 

the club game, so a two-tier competition 

system was developed. 

PLAYER RETENTION 

I asked Des what he feels we can do 

differently to encourage players to stay in 

the game so that they are not lost to other 

disciplines. He explained that the IRFU 

have developed a Youth Council in the 

past three years and one of its projects 

has been to examine this particular 

question. 


EVERY FIXTURE 

EVERY TRY 

EVERY TACKLE 

ALL IN 

ONE APP

A booklet with the findings from this 

research has been recently published. 

Giving an example on age profiles, 

when Carlow played AIL Division 1 

the average age of players was in the 

late-20s whereas today the age profile of 

players is early-20s. 

Part of the reason for drop-outs is due 

to the physicality of the game, players 

want to keep fit but don’t want the risk of 

possible injuries that may occur because 

of career concerns. 

Ultan O’Callaghan, when he worked 

with the Munster Branch, looked at 

alternatives in the game such as touch 

rugby and Sevens rugby in order to 

retain players. Sunday’s Well in Cork got 

involved with COPE, a disability service 

provider that promotes sport for players 

with disabilities, which led to the mixedability 

game. 

This encouraged men and women 

who had previously played rugby, 

and wanted to re-enter the game, an 

opportunity to coach and play within a 

team with a mix of ‘able-bodied’ and 

players with disabilities. 

Des feels we need to be open minded 

in what can be done in order to retain 

players. Managing the expectations of 

not just the players but also the parents is 

another area that can be challenging. 

A possible solution to this is some 

competitions, with the exception of cup 

competitions, should allow for all players 

on the panel to have a minimum of say 

20 minutes on the pitch. 

EDEL GIBBONS, PRESIDENT 

OF CARLOW RFC, ON DES 

KAVANAGH: 

“Since my very first 

Introduction to County Carlow 

Rugby Football Club in the mid 

90s, ‘still here’. I will forever 

remember Des and his team 

of volunteers hovering around 

the clubhouse arranging Youth 

training sessions and indeed 

matches at all levels. As the 

years passed we have crossed 

paths on many different 

club committees helping to 

manage our club. Des still finds 

time to approach our main 

pitch on the odd Saturday 

and Sunday afternoon. He was 

also a very convincing force in 

helping to set up our Carlow 

Bees inclusive team.” 

Timings of when games are played could 

be another solution especially where 

facilities in clubs are under pressure over 

a weekend. Friday night games under 

lights create an atmosphere attracting 

people into the club on a possibly 

otherwise quiet night. Having alternative 

models to the game is important to retain 

a player that might be lost. 

Nurturing the players with elite prospects 

whilst also at the same time including the 

players who enjoy the game and will 

ultimately stay involved in club rugby. 

Another aspect of this is the education of 

the players and parents, whilst there are 

always hopes and aspirations there must 

also be a comprehensive understanding 

of other areas of the development of 

the player such as diet, strength and 

conditioning and management of this. 

Identifying people in our clubs with 

particular skill sets, for example a 

dietitian, who can impart this knowledge, 

can be key to the proper development 

of players. Identifying people within our 

clubs who have the knowledge and /or 

skills is one aspect, but as Des pointed 

out, not too many people will put up their 

hands and volunteer. Sometimes people 

need to be asked the question, ‘Can you 

help…?’ 

THE LEAD IN TO IRFU 

PRESIDENCY 

His administrative and organisational 

experience gleaned from his day job 

as General Secretary of the Psychiatric 

Nurses Association of Ireland made him 

a key figure for the rugby fraternity at all 

levels. 

Following on from his role as President 

in Carlow RFC, Des was elected as 

secretary to the Leinster Youths Committee 

and within a couple of years he was 

contacted by Dorothy Collins about the 

Presidency of the Leinster Branch. 

Des was elected President of Leinster 

Rugby in 2008-09 when they won their 

first Heineken Cup. Uniquely the new 

President never played competitive rugby. 

Des recounts the time he travelled to the 

final in Edinburgh when Leinster played 

Leicester. 

A fond memory for Des at this final is 

when he was sitting with the President of 

Leicester on one side, himself on the other 

and Jean Pierre Lux, RIP, in between them. 

Mr Lux was Chairman of the ECR at that 

time (1999-2014) and he kept grabbing 

Des’ hand each time Leinster scored but 

couldn’t let it be seen he wanted Leinster 

to win… this memory certainly brought a 

chuckle to Des. 

Following his term as President of 

the Branch he served as the Branch 

Honorary Secretary from 2009 to 2012. 

Following election to the IRFU in 2011 

he has served in a number of positions 

including Chairman of the Junior Rugby 

Committee, Disability Rugby Committee, 


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THE SPIRIT OF PRO14 RUGBY 

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Clubs and Volunteers Committee and in 

recent years the Spirit Committee. 

Des described the roles within the IRFU 

as a learning experience. To manage 

the balance between work and rugby 

he explained that as he was coming to 

retirement from his job he was able to 

control attending meetings in the IRFU by 

combining work-related meetings on the 

same day. 

Transitioning from his roles at Leinster 

Branch level, where most of his work was 

done in the evenings and weekends to 

the IRFU where most meetings are during 

the day was a challenge. 

“The role I will describe is the role I 

should be carrying out if it was not for 

COVID. As President, I attend a lot of 

meetings and chair the IRFU Committee 

meetings. I would also be involved in a 

lot of consultations with colleagues re: 

challenges/developments. 

“Weekends would be completely given 

over to the role, as the President would 

normally attend and speak at a variety 

of dinners in clubs around the country. I 

have always seen this as a very important 

role as it allows the President to speak 

with club members about changes that 

are needed or which are happening. I 

had hoped to speak a lot about inclusion 

which is one of our key values. 

Charlie showing his true colours 

DARA DONOHOE, CHAIRMAN OF 

LEINSTER YOUTH COMMITTEE, ON 

DES KAVANAGH: 

“As current Leinster Youth 

Chairman, I am acutely aware 

of the time and commitment 

that Des has selflessly given 

to numerous committees, for 

both Leinster and Irish Rugby, 

over the past 30 years. Des’ 

appointment to President of 

the IRFU, is reflective of his 

years of dedication to the 

sport. He is a truly inspirational 

person who gives every youth 

volunteer, club member and 

committee member across 

Leinster, something to aspire 

to. On Behalf of Leinster 

Youth Committee, I wish Des 

every success in his tenure as 

President of IRFU.” 

“In recent years we have sought to 

encourage female leaders in the game. 

The concept of women in leadership roles 

in rugby is hugely important. I like to 

emphasise the importance of women in 

roles across the entire game and not just 

pigeonholed in women’s rugby.” 

What's the hardest thing for you about 

being President of the IRFU? How do you 

address that? 

I have never thought of anything as being 

hard. To be given this role is an honour, a 

privilege, something I and my family will 

treasure forever. 

What comes easiest to you as President? 

The easiest part and the most important 

part is to have the opportunity to thank 

all of our volunteers for the work they do 

in our clubs, our schools, our colleges, 

provinces and nationally. 

What's the newest, freshest approach you 

are bringing to your role? 

I think every President brings unique 

knowledge, experience and skills to the 

role. I am delighted to be the first person 

coming from a Youth rugby background. 

I hope I also bring particular skills in 

chairing meetings. Coming from my 

background in Psychiatric Nursing 

I believe I can understand and 

appreciate the uniqueness of people 

and their varying characteristics and 

idiosyncrasies. 

Name one thing about yourself that most 

people don't know. 

That I am an enthusiastic gardener. I love 

the physical tiredness I get from physical 

labour! 

Can you give me an outline for ‘A day in 

the life of the President of the IRFU’? 

Very difficult in COVID times. However 

your question reminds me of a day as 

Vice-President where I woke up in a hotel 

room on a Saturday morning and after 

breakfast went to some Youth finals in 

Dublin, then onto a Women’s final in Cill 

Dara, followed by another final in Athy 

before returning to Dublin to speak at a 

club dinner. 

What is a quote that inspires you? 

‘When thinking of the words to say, keep 

them short and sweet. You never know 

from day to day the ones you have to 

eat.’ 

If I was to offer advice it would probably 

be, invest in our young people. Where 

we don’t invest, we harvest problems. 

When engaging with young people 

embrace the values of respect, inclusion, 

fun, integrity, excellence. 

During the week that Des was elected 

President of the IRFU, Ed Byrne, also of 

Co. Carlow RFC got capped for Ireland. 

Both of these honours were first such 

achievements for the club in its almost 

150 years of history. These honours 

have brought immense joy and pride 

to club members and the wider Carlow 

community. 

Des highlighted the friendship that he and 

his wife Marie and five family members 

have gained through rugby. Their three 

sons who came through Carlow rugby 

from minis, along with playing other 

sports, stayed with rugby and are now 

underage coaches in Carlow, Clane 

and Clonmel. The Kavanagh family 

have stayed with rugby because of the 

friendship gained there. 

In his apprenticeship to the highest office 

in Irish rugby, Des Kavanagh has given a 

truly remarkable service to rugby at club, 

province and national levels. 


Leo 

Kids 

the Lion's 

Corner 

spot the 

differences 

ANAGRAMS 

Can you un-jumble the 

names of these players? 

BY IN 

RADAR 

OR 

INVENTED 

GUESS 

WHO? 

Can you name these 

three players? 

ANSWERS 

ANAGRAMS 

Ryan Baird 

Devin Toner 

GUESS WHO? 

Seán Cronin 

Ross Byrne 

Josh van der Flier 


AJ Products provides unique 

solutions for office, 

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environment 

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QUEST10NS 

with... 

James Tracy 

1. What do you remember about your first day 

at Leinster Rugby? 

Feeling intimidated by the senior players I 

grew up watching on TV! 

2. What has been your most memorable moment 

playing with Leinster Rugby? 

Winning in Bilbao... and the celebrations that followed. 

3. If you had to pick a teammate to be CEO of Leinster 

Rugby, who would it be? And why? 

Sean Cronin. He has the Merc and ‘the suit’ 

for the job! 

4. What piece of advice would you give to 

your 18-year-old self now? 

Buy Bitcoin. 

5. What is a clever life-hack that you use? 

USB type-C to lightning iPhone charger instead of the 

normal one! Charges 3 times faster. 

6. Who were your top five artists on 

Spotify Wrapped 2020? 

24kGold, AJ Tracey, the Biebs, Cardi B, 

Swedish House Mafia. 

7. What's the best nickname you've heard? 

And what's the origin? 

Chicken soup. No further comment. 

8. What fictional TV/book character would you 

most like to meet in real life? 

Rosie and Jim. 

9. If you could know the absolute truth to any question, 

what would you want to know? 

Who stole Bosco? 

10. What have you been watching on 

NETFLIX/TV lately? 

The Undoing. 



2020/21 squad 

VAKH ABDALADZE - #1263 

DOB 6 FEBRUARY 1996 

From KUTAISI, GEORGIA 

Height 1.85M (6’ 1”) 

Weight 117KG (18st 6lbs) 

Position PROP 

Club CLONTARF FC 

Leinster Debut 2 DECEMBER 2017 

Honours IRELAND U20S (2 caps) 

MICHAEL BENT - #1212 

DOB 25 APRIL 1986 

From HAWERA, NEW ZEALAND 

Height 1.85M (6’ 1”) 


Position PROP 

Club DUBLIN UNIVERSITY FC 


Honours IRELAND (4 caps) 

ED BYRNE - #1222 

DOB 9 SEPTEMBER 1993 

From CARLOW 

Height 1.80M (5’ 11”) 


Position PROP 

Club UCD RFC 

Leinster Debut 9 FEBRUARY 2014 


ROSS BYRNE - #1236 


From DUBLIN 

Height 1.88M (6’ 3”) 


Position OUTHALF 

Club UCD RFC 

Leinster Debut 4 SEPTEMBER 2015 


WILL CONNORS - #1264 


From DONADEA, KILDARE 

Height 1.94 (6’ 4”) 


Position BACK ROW 

Club UCD RFC 



RYAN BAIRD - #1278 

DOB 26 JULY 1999 

From DUBLIN 

Height 1.98M (6’ 6”) 


Position SECOND ROW 


Leinster Debut 27 APRIL 2019 


ADAM BYRNE - #1213 


From KILDARE 

Height 1.93M (6’ 4”) 


Position WING / FULL BACK 

Club UCD RFC 


Honours IRELAND (1 cap) 

HARRY BYRNE - #1280 


From DUBLIN 

Height 1.88M (6’ 2”) 



Club LANSDOWNE 



JACK CONAN - #1223 


From BRAY, WICKLOW 

Height 1.93M (6’ 4”) 


Position NO. 8 

Club OLD BELVEDERE RFC 



SEÁN CRONIN - #1202 

DOB 6 MAY 1986 

From LIMERICK 

Height 1.80M (5’ 11”) 


Position HOOKER 

Club ST. MARY’S COLLEGE RFC 

Leinster Debut 28 OCTOBER 2011 



MAX DEEGAN - #1256 

DOB 1 OCTOBER 1996 

From DUBLIN 

Height 1.93M (6’ 3”) 


Position NO. 8 

Club LANSDOWNE FC 



CAELAN DORIS - #1268 


From MAYO 

Height 1.94M (6’ 4”) 




Leinster Debut 28 APRIL 2018 


SCOTT FARDY - #1257 


From SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA 

Height 1.98 M (6’ 6”) 

Weight 111 KG (17st 7lbs) 


Club UNASSIGNED 


Honours AUSTRALIA (39 caps) 

TADHG FURLONG - #1220 

DOB 14 NOVEMBER 1992 

From WEXFORD 

Height 1.85M (6’ 1”) 


Position PROP 

Club NEW ROSS RFC / CLONTARF FC 

Leinster Debut 1 NOVEMBER 2013 

Honours IRELAND (46 caps) AND 

BRITISH & IRISH LIONS (6 caps) 

CIAN HEALY - #1142 

DOB 7 OCTOBER 1987 

From DUBLIN 

Height 1.85M (6’ 1”) 


Position PROP 


Leinster Debut 5 MAY 2007 



DAVE KEARNEY - #1158 

DOB 19 JUNE 1989 

From LOUTH 

Height 1.81M (5’ 11”) 






CIAN KELLEHER - #1234 

DOB 7 AUGUST 1994 

From DUBLIN 

Height 1.85M (6’ 0”) 


Position WINGER/FULL BACK 




PETER DOOLEY - #1230 

DOB 4 AUGUST 1994 

Birthplace OFFALY 

Height 1.85M (6’ 1”) 


Position PROP 




JACK DUNNE - #1276 


From DUBLIN 

Height 2.02M (6’ 7”) 



School ST. MICHAEL’S COLLEGE 




CIARÁN FRAWLEY - #1265 

DOB 4 DECEMBER 1997 

From DUBLIN 

Height 1.92M (6’ 3”) 

Weight 95.6KG (15st 1lbs) 


Club UCD RFC 



JAMISON GIBSON-PARK - #1247 


From GREAT BARRIER ISLAND, NEW 

ZEALAND 

Height 1.76M (5’ 9”) 


Position SCRUM HALF 

Club UNASSIGNED 



ROBBIE HENSHAW - #1251 


From ATHLONE 

Height 1.91M (6’ 3”) 


Position CENTRE / FULL BACK 

Club BUCCANEERS RFC 




HUGO KEENAN - #1253 


From DUBLIN 

Height 1.85M (6’ 1”) 


Position FULL BACK 

Club UCD RFC 



RÓNAN KELLEHER - #1277 

DOB 24 JANUARY 1998 

From DUBLIN 

Height 1.85M (6’ 0”) 







JORDAN LARMOUR - #1258 


From DUBLIN 

Height 1.78M (5’ 10”) 


Position WING 




JAMES LOWE - #1262 


From NELSON, NEW ZEALAND 

Height 1.88M (6’ 2”) 



Club CLONDALKIN RFC 



ROSS MOLONY - #1233 

DOB 11 MAY 1994 

From DUBLIN 

Height 2.00M (6’ 6”) 



Club UCD RFC 



ROWAN OSBORNE - #1281 


From EADESTOWN, KILDARE 

Height 1.71M (5’ 7”) 





Honours IRELAND SCHOOLS 

JIMMY O'BRIEN - #1272 


From KILDARE 

Height 1.84M (6’ 0”) 


Position CENTRE 

Club NAAS RFC 



RORY O'LOUGHLIN - #1248 

DOB 21 JANUARY1994 

From DUBLIN 

Height 1.88M (6’ 2”) 



Club OLD BELVEDERE RFC 



CIARAN PARKER* - #1288 

DOB: 5 OCTOBER 1995 

From: STOCKPORT, ENGLAND 

Height: 1.88M (6’ 2”) 

Weight: 120KG (18st 10lbs) 

Position: PROP 

Club: UNASSIGNED 

Leinster Debut: 23 OCTOBER 2020 

Honours: ENGLAND U20S 

*on loan from Jersey Reds September – December 2020 

DAN LEAVY - #1231 

DOB 23 MAY 1994 

From DUBLIN 

Height 1.91M (6’ 3”) 


Position FLANKER 

Club UCD RFC 



LUKE McGRATH - #1206 


From ONTARIO, CANADA 

Height 1.75M (5’ 9”) 



Club UCD RFC 



JOSH MURPHY - #1261 


From DUBLIN 

Height 1.96M (6’ 5”) 



Club UCD RFC 



CONOR O'BRIEN - #1260 


From WESTMEATH 

Height 1.90M (6’ 3”) 






TOMMY O'BRIEN - #1283 

DOB 28 MAY 1998 

From DUBLIN 

Height 1.83M (6’ 0”) 



Club UCD RFC 



HUGH O'SULLIVAN - #1270 


From MEATH 

Height 1.79M (5’ 9”) 






SCOTT PENNY - #1271 


From DUBLIN 

Height 1.85M (6’ 0”) 



Club UCD RFC 




ANDREW PORTER - #1246 


Birthplace DUBLIN 

Height 1.84M (6’ 1”) 


Position PROP 

Club UCD RFC 



RHYS RUDDOCK - #1167 


From DUBLIN 

Height 1.91M (6’ 3”) 






JOHNNY SEXTON - #1127 


From DUBLIN 

Height 1.88M (6’ 2”) 




Leinster Debut 27 JANUARY 2006 

Honours IRELAND (96 caps) AND BRITISH & 

IRISH LIONS (14 caps) 

DEVIN TONER - #1128 


From MEATH 

Height 2.08M (6’ 10”) 




Leinster Debut 27 JANUARY 2006 


JOSH VAN DER FLIER - #1228 


From WICKLOW 

Height 1.87M (6’ 2”) 



Club UCD RFC 



GARRY RINGROSE - #1237 


From DUBLIN 

Height 1.87M (6’ 2”) 



Club UCD RFC 



JAMES RYAN - #1259 


From DUBLIN 

Height 2.04M (6’ 7”) 



Club UCD RFC 



DAN SHEEHAN - #1286 


From DUBLIN 

Height 1.91 M (6’ 3”) 






JAMES TRACY - #1211 


From KILDARE 

Height 1.85M (6’ 1”) 



Club UCD RFC 



Coaching Staff 

LEO CULLEN 

HEAD COACH 

STUART LANCASTER 

SENIOR COACH 

ROBIN MCBRYDE 

ASSISTANT COACH 

FELIPE CONTEPOMI 

BACKS COACH 

EMMET FARRELL 

KICKING COACH AND 

LEAD PERFORMANCE ANALYST 

GUY EASTERBY 

HEAD OF RUGBY OPERATIONS 

HUGH HOGAN 

CONTACT SKILLS COACH 


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Anderson 

Athy RFC and 

Family 

the 

LIKE MANY PROVINCIAL RUGBY CLUBS IN LEINSTER, 

ATHY RFC IS A COMMUNITY BASED CLUB WITH DEEP 

ROOTS IN ATHY AND SURROUNDING RURAL AREAS. A 

STRONG THREAD THROUGH ITS COMMUNITY ROOTS 

IS THE INVOLVEMENT SINCE ITS FOUNDATION OF 

MANY GENERATIONS OF THE SAME FAMILY AS PLAYERS, 

VOLUNTEERS, ADMINISTRATORS, REFEREES, ETC. 

Many family names have 

featured strongly through the 

club’s history since its foundation 

such as Taylor, Duncan, Speirs, 

Carbery and Anderson. 

The great grandfather and grandfather 

of current Munster and Ireland out-half 

Joey Carbery, who were also named 

Joe, captained Athy RFC in 1933-34 and 

1965-66 respectively, while his father, 

Joey Snr, played out-half for the club in 

the early 1990s, as did Joey himself up 

to U-19 level. 

But in all of this, probably no family name 

has stronger association with Athy RFC 

since 1880 than that of the Anderson 

family, a family involved with the club 

right up to the present day. 

Athy RFC was founded in the 1879-80 

season and as such is one of the oldest 

rugby clubs in Ireland. Records from the 

early days of the club are scarce, but it 

is known that one of the founding names 

was Robert Anderson who was born in 

1850 and died in 1934. 

Since that very first season of the club’s 

existence, over 140 years ago, the 

Anderson family has been involved with 

the club and continues right up to this 

day. 

Robert’s son, also named Robert (Bob), 

played for the club and was captain in 

the seasons 1929-30 and 1930-31. 

Bob married Euphemia Taylor, 

daughter of William C. Taylor whose 

name also forms part of the club’s 

record in its founding year in 1880, 

thereby strengthening further the family 

connections with the club. 

BY MARK BERGIN 

Athy RFC – Losing finalists of the Provincial Towns Cup 1930 | Back (L-R): Vivion Gibson, 

Jack Doyle, Jim Griffin, Jack Yates | Middle (L-R): A.B. Gallagher, Bob Griffin, Robert (Bob) 

Anderson (Capt.), Bill Keyes, Stan McHugh, Reggie McHugh | Front (L-R): John Harvey, 

Dan Carbery, Ned Wright, Joe Carbery 

Bob Anderson’s sons, Frank and 

Leslie, continued the tradition of family 

involvement in the club into the next 

generation as players, volunteers and 

administrators. Both men captained the 

club with Frank achieving the honour 

in 1949-50 and Les following on two 

occasions in 1952-53 and 1957-58. 

In later years, both men were also 

President of the club. Frank on three 

occasions in 1967-68, 1975-76 and 

1983-84 while Les held the position of 

President on four occasions in 1972-73, 

1973-74, 1977-78 and 1978-79. Les 

Anderson was also a trustee of the club 

until his passing in 2016. 

Following his playing career, Frank took 

up refereeing and became a well-known 

referee and member of the LBIRFU 

Referees Association, refereeing matches 

the length and breadth of Leinster in the 

60s and 70s. 

A man well-known far and wide, he had 

a reputation for no nonsense on the pitch 

and was not afraid to issue the ultimate 

sanction to players should the offence 

demand it. 

Amongst the more notable players to fall 

foul of Frank as a referee was a certain 

young Willie Duggan, whom he sent off 

while playing for Kilkenny prior to his 


Athy vs. Enniscorthy – 1927 Provincial Towns 

Cup Semi Final 

Enniscorthy were narrow winners on the day 

and won the subsequent Provincial Towns Cup 

Final. Bob Anderson is in centre of photograph 

immediately on the Athy kicker’s right hand side. 

Roger Anderson (centre) receiving the Sean 

O’Brien Leinster Junior Rugby Hall of Fame 

Award in 2019. 

illustrious Ireland international playing 

days. 

No long-term hard feelings were had 

though, as both men were often to be 

seen enjoying a drink together in the 

clubhouse after an Athy/Kilkenny fixture. 

Both Frank and Leslie gave a lifetime of 

dedication to their beloved Athy RFC and 

were very involved during something of a 

golden era for the club in the late 1970s 

and early 1980s. 

In this period, Athy RFC contested five 

Provincial Towns Cup Finals, winning 

three of them. This also coincided with 

the expansion of the club’s facilities 

with the construction of a large multipurpose 

clubhouse and the acquisition of 

additional adjacent ground, increasing 

the club’s playing facilities from one to 

three rugby pitches, a hockey pitch and a 

large rugby training area. 

Leslie’s son Roger was ever present as a 

player for Athy RFC during the 1970s, 

1980s and early 1990s. 

From his senior Athy debut in 1972 as 

a 16-year-old, lining out in a Provincial 

Towns Cup semi-final against Skerries, 

Roger went on to have a stellar playing 

career with Athy, captaining the club in 

1975-76 as a young 20-year-old. 

He competed in six PTC finals, winning 

three of them, stretching from 1977 to 

1991. His last competitive game for Athy 

was in 1994, lining out as scrum half in 

a Provincial Towns Seconds Cup quarterfinal 

against Ardee. 

A statistic that has probably never been 

matched in Leinster Junior rugby is that 

Roger played in nine Provincial Towns 

Cup semi-finals over one 10-year period. 

During his playing career, Roger was 

also capped at Leinster Junior level on 12 

occasions, including one as captain. 

Since his retirement from playing, Roger 

has been a dedicated club volunteer and 

administrator, holding the position of club 

President in 2011-12 and is a current 

Club Trustee, assuming this position 

following the death of his father, Leslie. 

Roger has continued to devote much 

of his time to his club including Fixtures 

Secretary for a number of years. He is 

usually to be seen in attendance in Athy 

fixtures every weekend. 

Roger Anderson lining out as scrum half during 

Provincial Towns Cup Final vs. Portlaoise in 

Roscrea, 1984. 

For many years he also ran the line as 

touch judge at matches where his rugby 

experience was gratefully appreciated by 

many match referees. Roger Anderson’s 

dedication to Athy RFC and Leinster 

Junior Rugby was honoured when he 

was the recipient of the Sean O’Brien 

Leinster Junior Rugby Hall of Fame Award 

in 2019. 

The Anderson family name is synonymous 

with rugby not just in Athy but also 

in Leinster. In 1970, Frank and Leslie 

Anderson donated The Anderson Cup to 

Leinster Rugby for the Provincial Junior 3 

XV Competition each season. 

In the over 50 years of its existence 

the Anderson Cup has been a 

prestigious and hard won competition, 

enthusiastically competed for by clubs 

around the province. 

Testimony to the challenge of winning 

this competition is demonstrated by the 

fact that the Andersons’ home club, 

Athy, have only succeeded in winning 

the trophy on two occasions since its 

donation to Leinster Rugby. 

Another well known cup competition, 

the North Midlands Area Hosie Cup, 

also has Anderson family connections 

through the business involvement of Leslie 

Anderson when Bill Hosie, the son of 

Leslie’s business partner, Colonel William 

Hosie, donated The Hosie Cup to be 

played for each year by clubs in the local 

geographical area which subsequently 

became the current North Midlands Area 

Leinster Branch IRFU. 


Laya Healthcare are proud to be 

Official Health and Wellbeing Partner 

to Leinster Rugby

Leinster Player Statistics 

SQUAD 

CAP 

NO 

DEBUT 

2020/21 SEASON FOR LEINSTER LEINSTER CAREER 

ALL GAMES PRO14 EPCR ALL GAMES PRO14 EPCR 

App Try Pts App Try Pts App Try Pts App Try Pts App Try Pts App Try Pts 

SINCE LAST TRY 

CAPS 

VAKH ABDALADZE 1263 2 DEC 17 - - - - - - - - - 0+11 1 5 0+11 1 5 - - - 10 - 

RYAN BAIRD 1278 27 APR 19 6+3 2 10 5+2 2 10 1+1 - - 9+10 5 25 8+8 5 25 1+2 - - 3 - 

MICHAEL BENT 1212 1 DEC 12 9+2 2 10 8+1 2 10 1+1 - - 88+63 6 30 83+40 6 30 5+23 - - 8 IR 4 

ADAM BYRNE 1213 29 DEC 12 - - - - - - - - - 49+8 20 100 39+8 14 70 10 6 30 5 IR 1 

ED BYRNE 1222 9 FEB 14 2+4 1 5 2+4 1 5 - - - 16+47 9 45 16+38 8 40 0+9 1 5 4 IR 4 

HARRY BYRNE 1280 28 SEP 19 7+2 - 66 7+1 - 61 0+1 - 5 10+9 3 124 10+8 3 119 0+1 - 5 10 - 

ROSS BYRNE 1236 4 SEP 15 5+2 - 53 3+2 - 33 2 - 20 63+33 5 571 52+18 2 427 11+15 3 144 17 IR 12 

TOM CLARKSON 1285 29 AUG 20 1+4 - - 1+4 - - - - - 1+5 - - 1+5 - - - - - - - 

JACK CONAN 1223 20 FEB 14 4+3 - - 4+3 - - - - - 76+24 21 105 57+14 14 70 19+10 7 35 17 IR 17 

WILL CONNORS 1264 9 FEB 18 2+1 - - 2+1 - - - - - 17+6 2 10 16+6 2 10 1 - - 10 IR 7 

SEAN CRONIN 1202 28 OCT 11 2+4 1 5 2+4 1 5 - - - 117+74 42 210 73+53 25 125 43+19 16 80 3 IR 72 

MAX DEEGAN 1256 3 DEC 16 0+1 - - 0+1 - - - - - 35+30 18 90 32+22 16 80 3+8 2 10 7 IR 1 

PETER DOOLEY 1230 31 OCT 14 8+2 3 15 7+1 3 15 1+1 - - 36+50 5 25 34+44 5 25 2+6 - - 1 - 

CAELAN DORIS 1268 28 APR 18 4 - - 3 - - 1 - - 29+8 5 25 23+6 3 15 6+2 2 10 6 IR 7 

JACK DUNNE 1276 16 FEB 19 0+4 - - 0+4 - - - - - 1+10 - - 1+10 - - - - - - - 

SCOTT FARDY 1257 2 SEP 17 6+4 - - 5+4 - - 1 - - 56+15 10 50 41+10 6 30 15+5 4 20 14 AU 39 

CIARAN FRAWLEY 1265 17 FEB 18 6+1 1 15 5 - 10 1+1 1 5 15+18 4 139 14+14 3 128 1+4 1 11 3 - 

TADHG FURLONG 1220 1 NOV 13 1 - - 1 - - - - - 70+39 7 35 41+31 3 15 29+8 4 20 5 IR 46 

JAMISON GIBSON-PARK 1247 2 SEP 16 4+2 1 5 3+1 - - 1+1 1 5 48+51 17 85 43+27 14 70 5+24 3 15 3 IR 7 

MARCUS HANAN 1295 19 FEB 21 0+1 - - 0+1 - - - - - 0+1 - - 0+1 - - - - - - - 

DAVID HAWKSHAW 1290 2 NOV 20 0+6 1 7 0+6 1 7 - - - 0+6 1 7 0+6 1 7 - - - 2 - 

CIAN HEALY 1142 5 MAY 07 3+3 1 5 2+2 - - 1+1 1 5 151+75 26 130 87+48 12 60 62+26 13 65 3 IR 106 

ROBBIE HENSHAW 1251 8 OCT 16 5 1 5 3 1 5 2 - - 52+1 10 50 23 4 20 29+1 6 30 2 IR 49 

DAVE KEARNEY 1158 16 MAY 09 11 7 35 9 5 25 2 2 10 139+21 48 240 113+15 41 205 25+5 7 35 3 IR 19 

HUGO KEENAN 1253 5 NOV 16 6 - - 4 - - 2 - - 21+3 1 5 18+3 1 5 3 - - 21 IR 8 

CIAN KELLEHER 1234 16 MAY 15 6+1 4 20 6 4 20 0+1 - - 12+10 9 45 12+9 9 45 0+1 - - 2 - 

RONAN KELLEHER 1277 22 FEB 19 2+2 - - 1+1 - - 1+1 - - 15+4 9 45 11+2 8 40 4+2 1 5 7 IR 8 

JORDAN LARMOUR 1258 2 SEP 17 4 2 10 4 2 10 - - - 46+8 15 75 27+5 12 60 19+3 3 15 1 IR 26 

DAN LEAVY 1231 31 OCT 14 4+5 3 15 4+3 2 10 0+2 1 5 43+29 17 85 35+19 13 65 8+10 4 20 1 IR 11 

JAMES LOWE 1262 2 DEC 17 2 3 15 2 3 15 - - - 49 33 165 33 25 125 16 8 40 1 IR 4 

GREG MCGRATH 1293 2 JAN 21 0+2 - - 0+2 - - - - - 0+2 - - 0+2 - - - - - - - 

LUKE MCGRATH 1206 5 MAY 12 10+4 5 25 9+3 5 25 1+1 - - 93+48 36 180 62+42 28 140 31+6 8 40 2 IR 19 

ROSS MOLONY 1233 20 FEB 15 7+5 - - 7+4 - - 0+1 - - 59+49 3 15 57+35 3 15 2+14 - - 70 - 

JOSH MURPHY 1261 3 NOV 17 7+1 3 15 6+1 2 10 1 1 5 35+6 5 25 34+5 4 20 1+1 1 5 1 - 

JAMIE OSBORNE 1294 30 JAN 21 0+2 - - 0+2 - - - - - 0+2 - - 0+2 - - - - - - - 

ROWAN OSBORNE 1281 4 OCT 19 0+2 - - 0+2 - - - - - 1+6 1 5 1+6 1 5 - - - 6 - 


SQUAD 

CAP 

NO 

DEBUT 


ALL GAMES PRO14 EPCR ALL GAMES PRO14 EPCR 

App Try Pts App Try Pts App Try Pts App Try Pts App Try Pts App Try Pts 

SINCE LAST TRY 

CAPS 

CONOR O'BRIEN 1260 3 NOV 17 - - - - - - - - - 16+7 6 30 16+6 6 30 0+1 - - 9 - 

JIMMY O'BRIEN 1272 23 NOV 18 9+2 3 17 7+2 2 12 2 1 5 20+9 6 32 18+9 5 27 2 1 5 5 - 

TOMMY O'BRIEN 1283 20 DEC 19 3+1 2 10 3+1 2 10 - - - 4+3 3 15 4+3 3 15 - - - 3 - 

RORY O'LOUGHLIN 1248 2 SEP 16 4 - - 4 - - - - - 55+20 21 105 49+13 18 90 6+7 3 15 18 IR 1 

MAX O'REILLY 1291 2 JAN 21 3 1 5 3 1 5 - - - 3 1 5 3 1 5 - - - 2 - 

HUGH O'SULLIVAN 1270 15 SEP 18 0+6 - - 0+6 - - - - - 2+24 1 5 2+22 1 5 0+2 - - 10 - 

CIARAN PARKER 1288 23 OCT 20 0+3 1 5 0+3 1 5 - - - 0+3 1 5 0+3 1 5 - - - 3 - 

SCOTT PENNY 1271 23 NOV 18 6+1 7 35 6+1 7 35 - - - 16+5 13 65 16+5 13 65 - - - 1 - 

ANDREW PORTER 1246 2 SEP 16 3+2 - - 2+1 - - 1+1 - - 25+46 10 50 20+29 7 35 5+17 3 15 6 IR 34 

GARRY RINGROSE 1237 12 SEP 15 4 1 7 3 1 7 1 - - 78+2 26 132 47+1 15 77 31+1 11 55 4 IR 32 

RHYS RUDDOCK 1167 6 DEC 09 10+1 - - 8+1 - - 2 - - 139+45 10 50 104+31 8 40 34+12 2 10 15 IR 27 

JAMES RYAN 1259 2 SEP 17 5+1 1 5 4 1 5 1+1 - - 39+6 3 15 18+1 1 5 21+5 2 10 5 IR 33 

JOHNNY SEXTON 1127 27 JAN 06 4 - 10 4 - 10 - - - 147+24 26 1505 87+18 13 833 58+6 12 641 11 IR 96 

DAN SHEEHAN 1286 23 OCT 20 1+5 3 15 1+5 3 15 - - - 1+5 3 15 1+5 3 15 - - - 1 - 

ANDREW SMITH 1292 2 JAN 21 1 - - 1 - - - - - 1 - - 1 - - - - - - - 

DEVIN TONER 1128 27 JAN 06 5+3 - - 4+3 - - 1 - - 200+57 4 20 136+39 4 20 61+18 - - 40 IR 70 

JAMES TRACY 1211 4 NOV 12 9+3 5 25 8+2 5 25 1+1 - - 55+67 13 65 48+41 12 60 7+26 1 5 2 IR 6 

LIAM TURNER 1287 23 OCT 20 4+2 - - 4+2 - - - - - 4+2 - - 4+2 - - - - - - - 

JOSH VAN DER FLIER 1228 11 OCT 14 4+1 1 5 2+1 - - 2 1 5 68+21 10 50 40+15 6 30 28+6 4 20 4 IR 30 


ALL GAMES PRO14 EPCR ALL GAMES PRO14 EPCR OVERALL 

KICKING 

SUCCESS 

RATE 

C PG DG C PG DG C PG DG C PG DG C PG DG C PG DG ATT Career 

% 

- - - - - - HARRY BYRNE 83.78% 27 4 26 3 1 1 47 5 46 4 1 1 66 78.79% 

ROSS BYRNE 88.46% 16 7 - 12 3 - 4 4 - 177 63 1 138 46 1 39 17 - 316 75.95% 

CIARAN FRAWLEY 62.50% 5 - - 5 - - - - - 49 7 - 46 7 - 3 - - 69 81.16% 

DAVID HAWKSHAW 100.00% 1 - - 1 - - - - - 1 - - 1 - - - - - 1 100.00% 

LUKE MCGRATH 0.00% - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 1 0.00% 

JIMMY O'BRIEN 50.00% 1 - - 1 - - - - - 1 - - 1 - - - - - 2 50.00% 

GARRY RINGROSE 100.00% 1 - - 1 - - - - - 1 - - 1 - - - - - 1 100.00% 

JOHNNY SEXTON 57.14% 2 2 - 2 2 - - - - 233 292 11 120 169 7 106 119 4 659 79.67% 


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Jamie Osborne 

#1294 

congratulations on your 

Leinster Debut 


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#1295 

congratulations on your 

Leinster Debut 


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Music Overload: 

WINGER CIAN 

KELLEHER IS THE 

NEXT PLAYER TO 

TACKLE OUR MUSIC 

Q&A, TREATING US TO 

EVERYTHING FROM 

‘KING BIEBS’ TO 

BOWLING FOR SOUP 

TO HOZIER. 

1. What was the last song you listened to? 

‘Without Me’ by Halsey. 

2. Tell us a song you’re currently obsessed with. 

‘Anyone’ by King Biebs (Justin Bieber)! 

3. You’re booking your dream festival line-up: who are the main 

stage headliners for the Friday, Saturday and Sunday? 

I’d go with Travis Scott on Friday, Drake for the Saturday and finish it all 

off with Ziggy Alberts Sunday. 

4. Earliest music memory? 

Listening to my Bowling for Soup album on a CD player. 

5. Your guilty pleasure (band/artist/song/genre)? 

‘1985’ – Bowling For Soup 

6. You can only listen to one album for the rest of your life, what is it? 

‘Laps Around the Sun’ by Ziggy Alberts 

7. What was the first concert you ever went to? 

I think it was Mumford and Sons. 

8. Favourite Irish band/artist? 

Hozier! 

9. What two songs do you want to add to the Leinster Rugby Workout 

Mix on Spotify? 

I’d stick in ‘Portland’ by Drake and ‘Save Your Tears’ by The Weeknd. 

10. And what one song do you want to remove? 

Get ‘Waka Waka’ by Shakira out. 

YOU CAN LISTEN TO LEINSTER RUGBY’S HOME WORKOUT MIX 

SPOTIFY PLAYLIST HERE, WITH TRACKS SELECTED BY PLAYERS 

FROM LEINSTER RUGBY’S MEN’S AND WOMEN’S TEAMS. 



Round 13 of the Guinness PRO14 sees us back at the RDS Arena for a 

Sunday evening kick-off, and for what will hopefully be a nice way to 

round off an action-packed weekend of rugby as Round 3 of the Six 

Nations will have just come to an end. 

It’s like waiting on a bus 

sometimes with rugby schedules 

but believe you me, we’re not 

ones to complain and we’re just 

glad that the games keep on 

coming!! 

We last faced off against Glasgow back 

in November, a Monday night game that 

saw us claim victory that evening on a 

score of 32-19 and so more of the same 

will be expected by Leinster for the return 

leg. 

ahead of Dragons just one point behind 

them, while for ourselves it’s a case of 

maintaining the advantage over secondplace 

Ulster. 

As is always the case when these two 

face off, this has all the hallmarks of a 

fantastic game in store with so many 

quality players looking to ensure they 

remain front and centre for the picking 

order amongst the coaching staff whilst 

other teammates remain on international 

duty. 

unable to attend games and therefore by 

putting together some material for you 

to peruse over, we hope it keeps you in 

the rugby mind frame as the season rolls 

along! 

As always we’re thankful for the support 

we get from Leinster Rugby as a whole 

as well as yourselves and we encourage 

you to continue to show your support for 

the team through social media and the 

posts on our pages. 

Given we started so well in the 

competition before being briefly replaced 

at the top of the table, there can be no 

doubt you would think that cementing our 

position back at the top of Conference A, 

will be the primary focus for all involved. 

Last season we also secured a double 

over Glasgow and, on this date last year, 

in front of a crowd of 13,250 in the RDS, 

we secured a 55-19 victory against this 

evening’s visitors. 

Some of the notable scores on that 

evening came courtesy of hat-tricks 

from both POTM Ryan Baird and Dave 

Kearney whilst James Lowe (2) and 

Scott Fardy also got their names on the 

scoresheet. 

This evening, it’s a case of first versus 

fourth in Conference A although Glasgow 

do have a game in hand and will no 

doubt be looking to close the 15-point 

gap on Ospreys while also staying 

All of us on the OLSC committee are 

mindful of the fact that we are all still 

Yours in Rugby, 

OLSC Committee 

LEINSTER 

GLASGOW 

431 Points Scored 190 

61 Tries Scored 22 

75 Offloads 56 

5,874 Metres Gained 3,631 

303 Defenders Beaten 183 

108 Clean Breaks 70 

190 Points Conceded 241 

21 Tries Conceded 30 

1,828 Tackles Made 1,478 

90% Tackle Success 89% 

56 Turnovers Won 59 

180 Total Tackles Missed 161 

147 Turnovers Lost 124 

Harry Byrne (61) Leading Points Scorer Peter Horne (30) 

Scott Penny (7) Tries Scored Huw Jones (3) 

Dave Kearney (384) Metres Gained Huw Jones (415) 

Ross Molony (97) Number of Tackles Thomas Gordon (110) 

Tadhg Furlong (100%) Tackle Success Fraser Brown (100%) 

Dave Kearney (6) Turnovers Won Thomas Gordon (7) 


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ONE FROM 

The Vaults 

Leinster Rugby 55 Glasgow Warriors 19 

28 February 2020 | Guinness PRO14 | RDS Arena | Ref: Nigel Owens 

Exactly a year ago to the day, Ryan 

Baird and Dave Kearney both ran 

in hat-tricks as part of a nine-try 

performance by Leinster Rugby 

against today’s opposition. 

Sadly, the 55-19 win is now mostly 

remembered as the last time that a crowd 

graced the stands of the RDS Arena before 

the Covid-19 pandemic swept the world. 

It took just three-and-a-half minutes for 

20-year-old Guinness Player of the Match 

Baird to crash over, the hosts’ thunderous 

attack producing further scores for Dave 

Kearney, James Lowe and captain Scott 

Fardy to create a 24-7 half-time lead. 

Kyle Steyn deftly doubled Glasgow’s try tally, 

adding to Tommy Seymour’s slick 25th-minute 

effort, but Lowe completed his brace before 

Baird brilliantly accelerated away in the 55th 

minute and then went over again past the 

hour mark. 

Kearney finished with a hat-trick of his own, 

cancelling out an Alex Allan score. 

The hosts got over from their very first attack, 

a scrum penalty allowing them to carry with 

great intent before Baird expertly burrowed 

over from a couple of metres out. The heavilyinfluential 

Harry Byrne converted to the right 

of the posts. 

Leinster tidied up lineout ball after an 

overcooked Pete Horne kick, and another 

powerful carrying spell forced Warriors 

backwards. Armed with a penalty 

advantage, Byrne’s long pass put Kearney 

over in the corner to make it 12-0 after as 

many minutes. 

Handling errors thwarted Glasgow’s progress 

but a couple of clever kicks from Seymour 

LEINSTER: Hugo Keenan; 

Dave Kearney, Jimmy 

O’Brien, Joe Tomane, James 

Lowe (Fergus McFadden 

65); Harry Byrne (Ciarán 

Frawley 61), Luke McGrath 

(Jamison Gibson-Park 57); 

Peter Dooley (Michael Milne 

59), Seán Cronin (James 

Tracy 52), Michael Bent 

(Jack Aungier 59); Ryan 

Baird, Scott Fardy; Josh 

Murphy (Rhys Ruddock 52), 

Will Connors (Jack Dunne 

65), Max Deegan. 

GLASGOW WARRIORS: 

Glenn Bryce; Tommy Seymour 

(Niko Matawalu 47), Huw 

Jones, Nick Grigg, Kyle 

Steyn; Pete Horne (Ruaridh 

Jackson 64), George 

Horne (Jamie Dobie 64); 

Aki Seiuli (Alex Allan 64), 

George Turner (Mesulame 

Dolokoto 64), D’Arcy Rae 

(Ewan McQuillin 55); Rob 

Harley, Tim Swinson (Andrew 

Davidson 40); Ryan Wilson 

(Callum Gibbins 59), Thomas 

Gordon, Matt Fagerson. 

and Horne got them moving. It was former 

Scotland winger Seymour who cut a great 

angle off George Horne’s inside pass to 

glide in behind the posts. The latter’s brother 

converted to put five points between them. 

A Baird knock-on denied Leinster as they 

built for a swift response, but his second row 

partner Fardy soon outfoxed two defenders 

with a scooped offload to send Lowe raiding 

over for a seven-pointer. 

Luke McGrath’s initial break sparked a 

furious late hunt for the bonus point, Fardy 

duly delivering it off a close-in ruck. However, 

Glasgow had an encouraging start to the 

second half. Skipper Ryan Wilson was 

involved as quick hands released Steyn for a 

superb in-and-out finish from his own 10-metre 

line. 

Leinster cancelled out that score in the 

51st minute, Will Connors’ turnover and 

another burst by Baird leading to some smart 

handling across the back-line. Lowe, fed on 

halfway, managed to spin out of Huw Jones’ 

attempted tackle to finish off his seventh try of 

the season. 

It got even better for the table-topping 

province when Baird stormed over from 45 

metres out, stunning scrum half Horne and 

the chasing wingers with his pace. The St. 

Michael’s College product picked from a 

ruck to add a much more straightforward 

third try with 63 minutes on the clock. 

Niko Matawalu’s break and an excellent 

offload by Jamie Dobie put fellow 

replacement Allan in under the Leinster posts 

in the 70th minute. Yet, Leo Cullen’s side 

pushed through the 50-point barrier, Fardy 

starring in the build-up to Kearney’s second 

of the night before Jones’ loose offload gave 

the Ireland winger his third. 



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GARY HALPIN - RIP 


IS DEEPLY 

SADDENED TO 

LEARN OF THE 

PASSING OF 

FORMER LEINSTER 

AND IRELAND 

PROP GARY 

HALPIN AT THE 

AGE OF 55. 

Halpin, who also 

represented London Irish 

and Harlequins, played 

11 times for the national 

side, famously scoring a try 

against New Zealand at the 

1995 Rugby World Cup. 

He made his Ireland debut against 

England in 1990 and also played 

at the 1991 Rugby World Cup and 

while he was based in England for 

much of his playing career he also 

represented Wanderers FC and 

Blackrock College RFC. 

A Kilkenny native and a Kilkenny 

RFC life member, Halpin studied 

at Rockwell College and later the 

University of Manhattan. 

He most recently worked as the 

Head of Boarding at Cistercian 

College, Roscrea. 

“All Irish rugby fans will 

be shocked and saddened 

by the untimely passing 

of Gary. On behalf of 

the world wide Leinster 

Rugby family we extend 

our sincerest sympathies 

to Carol, Bentley, Leonie 

and Lenka and share 

their immense loss. His 

great spirit both on and 

off the pitch will never be 

forgotten by all. Ar dheis 

Dé go raibh a anam dílis.“ 

John Walsh 



Where are they now? 

By Des Berry 

RONAN 

McCORMACK 

THEN: RONAN 

MCCORMACK MADE 

HIS LEINSTER DEBUT AT 

27 BEFORE PLAYING 

FOR FIVE SEASONS, 

WINNING 52 CAPS, 

FROM 2005 TO 2010. 

NOW: THE MANAGING 

DIRECTOR OF 

GRAYLING PROPERTY 

MANAGEMENT 

LIVES WITH HIS 

GIRLFRIEND MELANIE 

AND THEIR CHILDREN 

RYAN (5) AND 

BABY TRISTAN IN 

DUNDRUM. 

“Is it Ronan or Ronnie?” 

“It’s Ronan. A lot of people 

assume it is Ronnie. Only in rugby 

do people call me Ronnie.” 

“Well, for the purposes of this 

conversation, will we try Ronnie 

again?” 

“Yeah, that’s fine,” he laughs. 

****** 

Ronnie McCormack took an unusual path 

to get back home, travelling around the 

provinces to eventually make his Leinster 

debut at 27. 

He had gathered an early profile from 

playing his part in St Mary’s College’s 

Leinster Schools Junior (1992) and Senior 

(1994) Cup triumphs as well as from 

representative honours for Leinster and 

Ireland Schools. 

In 1994, the IRFU operated the Ireland 

Foundation, a centralised predecessor 

of the Academy system. Ronnie did not 

get beyond a limited screening process 

in which more than 100 bodies were 

whittled down to 10 or so. 

“It wasn’t a very scientific approach 

back then. Once you didn’t make that 

cut, you were excluded from having an 

opportunity with one of the provinces,” 

he says. 

The opportunity to join the professional 

ranks came on the back of UCD’s rise 

through the All-Ireland League Divisions. 

That was where Ronnie earned his stripes 

against the gnarled, hard-nosed veterans 

that roamed those plains, a familiar 

theme in the late 1990s and early 

2000s. 

Back then, Connacht always had to be 

creative in how they manned their roster. 

In 2000, Steph Nel doubled-up as the 

Irish Students coach and it was in this 

role that the South African spotted an 

under-appreciated prop, leading to a 

two-year deal 

“It was an opportunity to test myself in 

the professional game, something that 

became more tempting as I grew more 

comfortable in the AIL,” he said. 

He played 26 times for Connacht over 

two seasons, winning caps at the Ireland 

‘A’ level where he manned a front row 

with Ulstermen Paul Shields and Simon 

Best, older brother to Rory. 

When Justin Fitzpatrick left to play in 

France, Ulster had a hole in their front 


ow and the IRFU supported the move 

because Ronnie was going to be playing 

in the European Cup, as opposed to the 

Challenge Cup. 

“It all made sense to me. It was a 

progression, in terms of money and the 

chance to see how far I could go,” he 

adds. 

“Plus, I also went up to Ulster to spend 

a day with their coach Alan Solomons. 

That was all I needed to make the move. I 

felt it would be a step-up in terms of their 

players and facilities.” 

Two years, and 37 caps, later, Ronnie 

had another decision to make. Ulster had 

offered a new three-year contract and 

Leinster’s response was to match it. 

“My preference was to play for Leinster. 

It meant coming home. When I was at 

Connacht and Ulster, I always felt I was 

bound to move on. 

“It meant a lot to get that contract. I 

immediately felt at home. At 27, I wasn’t 

interested in moving beyond Leinster. It 

would be my last club for as long as it 

would last. In the end, I played for five 

seasons and that was it.” 

Ronnie made his Leinster debut at 

loosehead against Ospreys in September 

2005, sharing that experience with 

coach Michael Cheika and Rob Kearney 

too. 

In fact, the Australian coach ushered 

in wholesale changes, nowhere more 

prominent than in the front row where 

Bernard Jackman and Englishman Will 

Green were also new to the regime. 

“I hit it off with Cheika. He did have a 

reputation as a hard task master. I think 

he was frustrated with what he saw at 

Leinster,” shares McCormack. 

“What he saw is what everyone knows. 

Loads of talent with loads of issues. I am 

not sure if I can put my finger on what 

they were, exactly. I was in the middle 

of it. 

“Was it the attitude of the players? I don’t 

know. There is not one person I can point 

to and say, he had a terrible attitude. 

“Culture is a word that is thrown around. 

We are all sick of hearing that. But, 

Cheika had to change it at Leinster. 

“In a strange way, there was an 

acceptance that we knew we had a lot of 

talent, but that we wouldn’t win anything 

because there was something missing. 

“Something had to change. Cheika 

basically came in and did it his way. 

“As far as I could see, he gave everyone 

a fair go of it. He was hell-bent on turning 

the talent into winning trophies. 

“You had Gordon D’Arcy, Brian 

O’Driscoll, Denis Hickie, Shane Horgan, 

Girvan Dempsey. In the forwards, 

you had Eric Miller, Reggie Corrigan, 

Malcolm O’Kelly, Keith Gleeson. The list 

was endless. 

“It all began to change in that first 

season, probably best illustrated by 

beating Toulouse in the 2006 Heineken 

Cup quarter-final in France before 

Munster showed us how far we had to 

go in the semi-final at the old Lansdowne 

Road.” 

In that first season, Ronnie started four 

times in 19 appearances, ramped up 

to 14 starts from 15 caps in the second 

season, all but one of them coming 

before the turn of the year. 

Then, lightning struck not once, but twice 

in two months. 


First, he left injured with a neck injury 

in ‘The Last Stand,’ the match played 

between Leinster/Ulster and Munster/ 

Connacht combinations around Christmas 

2006 before Lansdowne was torn down. 

“That changed everything. I was never 

able to get right from that,” he admits. 

Ronnie tried to play through it, only to 

come a cropper against Edinburgh in 

his first match back in mid-February 

2007 when a routine tackle turned into 

something serious. 

“I remember it well. I just got tackled from 

behind. My elbow hit the ground and my 

chest followed with a guy landing on top 

of me. My shoulder was in bits. 

“I had two surgeries, the second to reattach 

a torn bicep. It took a full year to 

get back. 

“But, I can trace the beginning of the end 

back to that neck problem. It is just the 

shoulder almost made me forget about 

the neck. 

“When I eventually got back to playing 

in the 2008-09 season, the year we won 

the Heineken Cup, I was reasonably 

okay at the beginning of the season. My 

shoulder was fine again. 

“But, we were doing a warm-up in the 

RDS and I went head-first into Dev Toner’s 

hip. I got a compression down my neck. 

“It was the very same feeling I had when 

I came off in The Last Stand. I nursed it 

through the rest of the season, coming off 

the bench a lot. It was never right and I 

played so little from then on.” 

When Joe Schmidt took over from 

Cheika, Ronnie was never able to put his 

best foot forward, starting his last three 

caps, spaced out between October and 

December 2009 and April 2010. 

“It is the very same injury that nearly 

forced Cian Healy to retire. Somehow he 

found his way back. Maybe, he had a lot 

more to play for. I couldn’t do it. When 

the end came, there was nothing else I 

could do.” 

It was all over in 2010. Thankfully, 

Ronnie had started a Masters in Sports 

Management earlier that season. As luck 

would have it, he had John Fogarty and 

Bernard Jackman for company to ease 

the transition. 

He set out to work in the Residential 

Property industry and is now Managing 

Director at Grayling Property 

Management, living with his French 

girlfriend Melanie and children Ryan (5) 

and baby Tristan in Dundrum. 

“These days, the strain comes from 

bottle-feeding a newborn baby. It can 

be helpful when it comes to avoiding the 

night feeds,” he laughs. 


BY DAN WALLACE 

WHO WOULD BE A REF? 

Who would be a Ref? The familiar 

cry in virtually all team sports 

has been heard in rugby circles 

down through the years but in 

some ways rugby is becoming 

one of the most attractive sports 

to referee in the world of sports, 

apart from when the referee is 

being lifted up by players after 

disallowing tries that is. 

At the dawn of professionalism, World 

Rugby recognised pretty quickly that for 

the game to move forward with these 

seismic changes referees would have to 

move forward with the times. 

Professional referees were needed, and 

the various unions set about establishing 

national and international panels of 

referees. 

Today, the IRFU has one of the strongest 

panels of the leading unions and 

announced a couple of years ago that 

they had made the move to reward seven 

referees with professional contracts. 

These referees receive dedicated 

coaching, analysis and support for their 

strength and conditioning, and nutritional 

needs. Many of these referees were 

already IRFU staff. 

Referees provide a vital function 

in servicing all levels of the game. 

Refereeing is also a fantastic hobby 

and is increasingly becoming a genuine 

alternative to playing the game. Whether 

you have aspirations to referee at the 

highest level or to referee locally, there 

is a place for you. There are excellent 

support structures in place to develop 

referees and a thriving social aspect too. 

Many followers of other sports will often 

refer with envy to the respect referees 

receive on the field of play, the general 

lack of back chat, the respect afforded 

and the strong punishment handed down 

for players who don’t control themselves 

on the pitch. Throw in a professional 

contract and the opportunity to travel far 

and wide and you surely would have 

had huge numbers lining up to take up 

the whistle. 

Well, not exactly. Refereeing numbers 

in Ireland are still low today and the 

IRFU and Leinster Rugby Referees are 

constantly looking for more clubs to 

actively promote refereeing as a viable 

option among club members. They are 

also looking to introduce a younger age 

group to the benefits of refereeing on the 

international stage. 

How does the process work once 

someone signs up? 

• Sign up to a recruitment course: The 

IRFU and Leinster run a number of 

courses every year in each province and 

advertise these in match programmes and 

on the IRFU and branch websites. The 

day-long courses introduce prospective 

referees to the basics of refereeing. 

• Become a trial member and attend one 

of a series of workshops in your province. 

Prospective referees receive a trial pass 

and start to referee each week where 

they will be assessed. 

• After graduating from the trial panel 

and attending a wide range of courses, 

the new member will join the Level 1 and 

Level 2 panels, which is for referees with 

medium to long-term potential where 

they will referee up to Junior League 

level. They will also attend a number of 

coaching workshops. 

• The next step is Level 3 where the 

referee has been identified as having 

potential for the National panel. here 

they will referee Junior 1 games and 

attend a number of workshops. 

• The next step is to be put onto the 

IPAS (Interprovincial Assessment Panel) 

panel (Level 4). This is where you referee 

outside your province and are assessed 

by members of the other associations. 

The IPAS system means the whole country 

has a similar type of scoring system and 

is proving to be an efficient away to 

assessing referees who are looking to get 

onto the National Panel. 

• Once you pass through IPAS you 

are now fully-qualified to referee on 


the National B panel and can referee 

at Junior, All-Ireland League Divisions 

2 and 3 and a range of underage 

interprovincials. 

• The next step is to become a National 

A panel referee. There are currently 17 

referees in this position and they can 

referee matches up to All-Ireland League 

Divisions 1A and B and touch judge in 

the Guinness PRO14 before hopefully 

graduating to the contracted panel of 15 

referees. 

• The final step is to become an 

international referee. Not for everyone, 

but we can all dream. 

Have you just finished playing and find 

yourself wondering how you can stay 

involved in rugby? Or maybe the recent 

pandemic has opened your eyes to 

your free time and flexibility and has 

you looking for a new challenge. Then 

perhaps refereeing is the next step for 

you. Increasingly, more and more 

players who have decided to hang up 

the boots are continuing their rugby 

journey by taking up the whistle. 

Why? Refereeing is an excellent way 

to maintain your fitness level after you 

retire. You are still getting out on the 

pitch and enjoying the game from the 

best seat in the house. Your playing 

experience will certainly also stand to 

you in terms of your ability to read the 

game and in understanding what the 

players are trying to achieve. 

All of the provincial associations/ 

societies have members who are 

former players, and they referee 

at all levels from underage right 

up to the All-Ireland League. Some 

have even progressed into High 

Performance and officiate at the 

highest level. Andrew Brace, Frank 

Murphy, Alain Rolland and Joy 

Neville all enjoyed distinguished 

playing careers before taking up the 

whistle. 

If you only wish to referee in your 

own club or school then the Affiliate 

Referee Scheme is for you. The 

Affiliate Referee course can be 

done online and is available on 

the IRFU website. 

Want to get involved? 

Feel free to make contact with the Leinster Rugby 

Referees at hayley.whyte@leinsterrugby.ie. 

If you are interested in becoming a referee get in 

contact with us through our Facebook and Google + 

pages, our website www.arlb.ie or through twitter 

@leinsterreferee. 


North 

in 

East 

focus 

Area 

[ By David McFadden ] 

PROVINCIAL AND 

COMMUNITY-BASED 

CLUBS ACROSS 

LEINSTER HAVE 

PRODUCED MANY 

LEINSTER AND 

IRISH RUGBY STARS 

OVER THE YEARS. 

SOME OF OUR TOP 

ADMINISTRATORS, 

INCLUDING LEINSTER 

BRANCH AND IRFU 

PRESIDENTS HAVE 

ALSO COME FROM 

OUR LOCAL RUGBY 

CLUBS. THESE CLUBS 

ALSO PROVIDE A 

VITAL SPORTING AND 

SOCIAL AMENITY 

TO THEIR LOCAL 

COMMUNITIES. THIS 

IS NO LESS TRUE OF 

THE CLUBS OF THE 

NORTH EAST AREA 

OF THE LEINSTER 

BRANCH. THIS 

ARTICLE WILL PROVIDE 

AN OVERVIEW OF 

THE CLUBS OF THE 

NORTH EAST AND 

THEIR CONTRIBUTION 

TO LEINSTER AND 

IRISH RUGBY OVER 

THE YEARS. 

Background 

The North East Area of the Leinster 

Branch comprises rugby clubs in counties 

Louth, Meath and North County Dublin. 

These clubs are: Ardee (founded 1980), 

Ashbourne (1974), Athboy (1978), 

Balbriggan (1925), Boyne (1997), 

Dundalk (1877), Navan (1925), North 

Meath (re-formed 2007), Ratoath (2010), 

Skerries (1926) and Swords (1962). 

Recently a new club, Carlingford Knights 

(2018) was established in the Cooley 

Peninsula. That club currently caters for 

minis and just this season has fielded its 

first youth team. The oldest club in the 

North East is Dundalk RFC. Dundalk was 

in existence before the establishment of 

the IRFU and is one of the oldest clubs 

in Ireland. Drogheda RFC was founded 

soon after Dundalk in 1880. However, 

that club amalgamated with Delvin RFC 

(founded 1953) in 1997 leading to the 

establishment of Boyne RFC. 

Dundalk and Drogheda were the only 

two rugby clubs in the North East of 

Leinster until the end of World War 

I when there was a sudden burst of 

club-forming activity in the Area. County 

Meath RFC was established in 1922 

in Kells and was soon followed by 

Balbriggan and Navan, both formed 

in 1925 and Skerries formed in 1926. 

County Meath RFC faded away in the 

1940s only to reappear in 2007 as 

North Meath RFC. 

A further burst of activity saw the 

formation of Ashbourne RFC, at first 

a Metropolitan based club, in 1974 

followed by Athboy in 1978 and Ardee 

in 1980. Athboy are a wonderful 

example of a community-based rugby 

club. Established in an area that was far 

removed from established rugby-playing 

schools and in the heart of strong GAA 

country, Athboy have been a beacon of 

Jimmy Farrell – from Kells, co-founder and first 

captain of County Meath RFC, who played for 

Ireland and the British and Irish Lions 

the oval ball game in County Meath for 

over 40 years. 

Since the millennium, North Meath 

and Ratoath have joined the ranks of 

rugby clubs in the North East Area. The 

Ratoath story is really remarkable. In 

their short history, the club has purchased 

substantial grounds near the village and 

have developed new all-weather pitches 

with plans to begin construction of their 

clubhouse not far off. 

All this was built on a group of friends 

who started with the idea of getting 

children in their village to play rugby. 

Ratoath started as a youth club and has 

progressed to being a Leinster League 

rugby club. Swords RFC had been first 

formed in 1962-63 as Aer Lingus and 

played as a Metro Area club. In 2005, 

the club renamed itself as Swords RFC 

and moved from the Metro to the North 

East. 

The invention of Youths 

From the 1960s onwards, rugby in the 

North East has been built on a strong, 

locally-developed tradition of youths 

rugby. Youths rugby in this context refers 

to boys who did not attend rugby-playing 


schools and who, in previous generations, 

would not have had the opportunity to 

play rugby until they became adults and 

joined a local rugby club. 

Youths rugby was a novel concept. 

Balbriggan and Skerries began 

developing youths players in the mid- 

1960s. This was also being undertaken 

elsewhere, notably at County Carlow FC 

and in Foxfield in Raheny, North Dublin. 

Coaching courses for rugby coaches 

and adult players were run during the 

summer months at Butlins Holiday Camp 

in Mosney during the 1960s. 

A major turning point in the development 

of youths rugby in Leinster and Ireland 

occurred in 1970 when, for the first time, 

a special training course for youth players 

from non-rugby playing schools was run 

at Mosney. This was attended by 50 

youth players from Balbriggan, Skerries 

and Foxfield. 

Youth rugby in the North East has never 

looked back since those early days. 

There is a strong youth structure in North 

East Area competitions with nearly all 

clubs developing numerous underage 

teams from minis right up to U-18. Indeed, 

two of the Area clubs, Ratoath and more 

recently Carlingford Knights started out 

as Youth rugby clubs. 

Competitive Success 

The strength of the club game in the 

Area is reflected in how the clubs have 

fared in various Leinster and All-Ireland 

competitions. North East clubs have been 

prominent in the honour roll of clubs that 

have won the prestigious Towns Cup over 

the years. 

In total, North East clubs have won the 

Towns Cup 36 times since it was first 

played in 1926. The first North East 

club to appear in a Towns Cup final was 

Balbriggan in 1927. Balbriggan were 

also the first to win the cup when they 

beat Athy in 1928 after a replay. They 

were then followed by Dundalk who won 

the first of their 10 titles in 1932 when 

they defeated Longford in a final played 

at Lansdowne Road. 

Dundalk won the cup twice more in the 

1930s before Skerries secured the first 

of their 11 titles with a win over Wexford 

Wanderers in 1941. North East clubs 

dominated the Towns Cup in the 1940s 

and early 1950s. Dundalk won the cup 

again in 1945 followed by a three-in-arow 

in 1947, 1948 and 1949. 

Skerries had followed up their first win in 

1941 with further victories in 1943 and 

1944 before going on to secure a threein-a-row 

in 1950, 1951 and 1952. This 

completed a North East ‘six-in-a-row’ in 

the Towns Cup. 

Delvin were the next North East club 

to win the Towns Cup with their victory 

in 1962. They were then followed by 

the first of Navan’s 10 wins when they 

defeated Kilkenny after a replay in 1964. 

Navan followed this with wins in 1966 

and 1968 before another period of 

North East domination commenced in 

the 1970s. 

Dundalk won the cup in 1970 and were 

then followed by the incredible four-ina-row 

by Skerries, one of the greatest 

teams in Towns Cup history. Skerries 

won the cup in 1971, 1972, 1973 and 

1974. Their domination was so great in 

the provincial competition that Skerries 

were invited to become a Senior club, 

the first club in the North East to achieve 

that honour. 

Even as a senior club, Skerries showed 

their incredible strength by winning the 

Towns Cup with their second XV in 1979. 

Skerries remain the only club to have 

won the Towns Cup with their seconds. 

Dundalk won the cup again in 1987, 

followed in 1988 by Navan. That Navan 

team went on to win back-to-back titles in 

1990 and 1991, a trick repeated by the 

club with wins in 1999 and 2000 and 

again in 2007 and 2008. 

Boyne then went on to win back-to-back 

Towns Cups in 2009 and 2010, joining 

the ranks of North East clubs to win the 

trophy. They were followed by Dundalk in 

2011 and Ashbourne in 2014. 

The strong showing of North East clubs 

in the Towns Cup is also reflected in the 

success of these clubs in winning Division 

1 of the Leinster League and following 

that with promotion to the All-Ireland 

League. 

Navan were promoted to Senior status 

in 2009 and were followed by Boyne 

in 2011, Skerries in 2012 and Dundalk 

in 2015. Ashbourne came close to 

following these four clubs when they 

won the Leinster League in 2018 but 

missed out on promotion in the AIL Round 

Robin. They seemed on course to gain 

Senior status in 2020 when they won the 

Leinster League again but unfortunately, 

like so much else, the Round Robin was 

cancelled due to the Pandemic. 

The All-Ireland Junior Cup was first 

played for in the 2005-06 season. 

Leinster clubs have dominated the 

competition winning it 11 times. North 

East clubs have been to the forefront of 

this domination, securing five of those 11 

Leinster wins. Navan won it in 2008 and 

were followed in 2015 by Dundalk. Then 

we had the spectacular run of wins by 

Ashbourne who achieved an incredible 

three-in-a-row in 2017, 2018 and 2019. 

Notable Players from 

the North East 

The clubs of the North East have an 

honourable tradition of providing players 

of note to both Leinster and Irish rugby. 

From Boyne RFC, Niall Ronan who 

played for Leinster, Munster and Ireland; 

Mark McHugh, Leinster, Connacht, 

Montpellier and Ireland; Grace Davitt, 

who has the distinction of playing for the 

Ireland Women’s team that won a Grand 

Slam and was on the first Ireland team 

to beat New Zealand; of course, one 

of Boyne RFC’s greatest sons is Shane 

Horgan. The man from Bellewstown 

came up through the Delvin and Boyne 

youths system before going on to win 

tremendous honours with Leinster, Ireland 

and the British and Irish Lions. 

From Dundalk, there are of course the 

Kearney brothers, Rob and Dave, who 

have both played for Leinster and Ireland 

with Rob playing on two British and 

Irish Lions touring teams. Dundalk also 

provided another Ireland player in the 

1960s, wing forward Eamonn McGuire. 

From Skerries, Killian Keane played for 

Munster and Chris Keane (no relation) 

played for Leinster. They both played 

for Ireland ‘A’ as did the legendary Billy 

Mulcahy who lined out for Connacht 

in the 1990s. David O’Connor played 

for Leinster in the 1990s including a 

famous encounter with his opposite No 

7 Neil Back of Leicester. David Hewitt 


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TRAINING 20/21

and Dermot O’Sullivan also played for 

Leinster in the early years of European 

competition. A current Leinster regular 

from Skerries is Ciarán Frawley. Brothers 

Alan and David O’Connor are currently 

playing with Ulster. Skerries’ most famous 

player is local man Jim Glennon who 

played for his hometown club and from 

there represented Leinster and Ireland. 

Navan have produced fine players over 

the years and they include Denis Hurley 

(Munster) who gained an Ireland cap 

having started his rugby career in the 

Navan youths set up. One of Ireland’s 

great women players was Marie Louise 

'Mazz' O'Reilly who played for Leinster 

and was a Grand Slam winner with 

Ireland having come from the Navan 

area. Navan have had great connections 

with coaching. Former Navan coach, 

John Mulvihill also coached Australia 

U-21 and was the Cardiff Blues head 

coach. Brad Harris was the former 

Forwards coach of the Georgia national 

team and Alan Kingsley was kicking 

consultant at Dragons and now at Cardiff 

Blues. 

From Ashbourne, local GP Al Moroney, 

was capped for Ireland whilst playing for 

UCD. He was one of the original players 

for Ashbourne RFC when the club was 

first founded. Ashbourne was for many 

years the home of Ireland’s women’s 

team and was the base for the team 

when they won the Grand Slam in 2013. 

That team included women from the 

North East such as Grace Davitt, Lynne 

Cantwell and Mazz Reilly. It is fitting that 

Helen O’Reilly who hails from Ashbourne 

RFC was the first international female 

referee and is currently the Junior Vice- 

President of the Association of Referees 

Leinster Branch. Ashbourne RFC player 

Judy Bobbett currently features in the 

Ireland women’s team. Her grandfather, 

Pat Bobbett was one of the original 

founders of Ashbourne RFC. 

Ratoath resident, Maura Coulter, was 

capped 30 times for Ireland. Having 

played for Cooke, Blackrock and Boyne 

RFC, she also togged out for Ratoath! 

Coulter was a co-founder of Ratoath RFC 

and coached minis, youths, men’s vets 

and tag teams in the club. She played 

in one of the first adult men’s teams 

that Ratoath fielded when the former 

international prop fulfilled a lifetime’s 

ambition of playing at scrum half 

alongside her husband. 

George Hamlet of Balbriggan and Old 

Wesley. President of Balbriggan RFC when the 

club won the Towns Cup and President 

of the IRFU 

Balbriggan’s first Ireland international 

was WJ McCormick who played on the 

Towns Cup winning team of 1928 before 

earning his only cap against England in 

1930. Local man Jamie Hagan came up 

through the Balbriggan youths system 

before going on to play for Leinster, 

Connacht, London Irish and now Beziers 

in the South of France. He won his Ireland 

cap against the USA in 2013. 

Kells-based North Meath RFC can claim 

one of the true greats of Irish rugby as 

their own. One of their founding members 

when the club was first established in 

1922 as County Meath RFC was Kells 

man, James Leo Farrell. J.L. (Jimmy) Farrell 

played for Bective Rangers for much of 

that era and gained 29 caps for Ireland. 

Playing at lock, Farrell played for Ireland 

between 1926 and 1932 winning an 

unbroken series of caps for his country. 

He won his first Irish cap when he played 

for Ireland against France at Belfast in 

January 1926. He also toured with the 

British and Irish Lions on the 1927 tour 

to Argentina and the 1930 tour to New 

Zealand and Australia. Records show 

that Farrell played from time to time with 

his home club, County Meath RFC, whilst 

also playing for Bective, Ireland and the 

British and Irish Lions. On one occasion 

in April 1927, Farrell played in the 

Provincial Towns Cup for County Meath 

RFC against Longford! What a star player 

to have on your side! 

Notable 

Administrators from 


These include past President of the 

Leinster Branch, Dr. Bill Mulcahy, 

representing Skerries RFC. Bill Mulcahy 

had a glorious career as a player, 

representing Leinster, Ireland and the 

British and Irish Lions. He represented 

Skerries on the Leinster Branch for many 

years with distinction. 

Another Skerries man of note was the late 

Sandy Heffernan. Sandy was well known 

for his many years of service to Leinster 

Rugby where he served as Honorary 

Secretary. He was not the only person to 

serve in such an esteemed role from the 

North East. Tom Kettle of Balbriggan RFC 

served as the first Honorary Secretary 

to the Youths section of Leinster Rugby. 

Fellow Balbriggan man, Brian Purcell, 

was one of the central administrators in 

Leinster Rugby throughout the 1990s up 

until his death in 2002. 

The current Honorary Junior Secretary 

of Leinster Rugby is Ashbourne’s Bill 

Duggan. A predecessor of his in the role 

of Junior Secretary was Brian Vaughan 

of Swords RFC. For many years, the Area 

Honorary Secretary, and latterly the Area 

Honorary Treasurer has been Boyne’s 

Seamie Briscoe who was the winner of 

the Sean O’Brien Hall of Fame award 

in 2019. The current Secretary of the 

North East’s Youths section is Scott Ennis 

of Navan. Scott has given many years of 

tireless service to Youths rugby at Area 

and Leinster level. 

The legendary Des Scaife, co-founder 

of Delvin RFC and of the Wolfhounds 

and manager of Butlins Holiday Camp 

at Mosney between Balbriggan and 

Drogheda, served Leinster as Honorary 

Secretary for many years. Des was a 

recipient of the IRFU’s prestigious Mr 

Boots Award in 1993 as was Tom Kettle 

who earned the honour a decade earlier 

in 1983. 

The first manager of the Leinster team 

during the professional era was Jim 

Glennon. The Skerries legend is a true 

friend of club rugby in the North East 

and in Leinster. Having played rugby 

with his local club side Skerries, he also 

gained Leinster and Ireland caps before 


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sharing his immense experience and 

expertise with the Leinster set up during 

the formative years of professionalism in 

rugby. 

Balbriggan RFC co-founder and first Club 

President was local man George Hamlet. 

Hamlet’s playing career was with Wesley 

College and Old Wesley. He played for 

Ireland between 1902 and 1911 in a 

career which included playing against 

the first touring All Blacks side in 1905 

and being the first man to captain Ireland 

against England in Twickenham when 

the two sides played the second ever 

international played at that stadium in 

February 1910. Hamlet was President of 

Balbriggan RFC from 1925 to 1928 and 

during that period he was also President 

of the IRFU (1926-27 season). 

Notable Referees from 


The North East have produced many 

notable referees over the years, enough 

to merit an article on its own. Mention is 

made in this article of some of the more 

famous referees who include Navan’s 

Sean Gallagher and Kevin Beggs and 

Ashbourne’s Helen O’Reilly. Sean 

Gallagher is currently a regular official 

at PRO14 games. His fellow club man 

Kevin Beggs also refereed in the PRO14 

before moving up recently to the IRFU 

where he is the IRFU’s Rugby Competition 

Manager. Helen O’Reilly [pictured] made 

history when she became one of the first 

women to referee at professional club 

rugby in the world. Helen is currently the 

Junior Vice President of the Association 

of Referees Leinster Branch. She will 

become the first woman President of the 

ARLB in two seasons’ time. 

Group photo of players from the various clubs of the North East gathered before the start of the 

Beachy Cup festival at Navan RFC 

Trophies and Awards 

named for North East 

men: 

Quite a number of Leinster competitions 

are named in remembrance of the 

contributions made by men from the 

North East. These include the three 

premier Minis festivals, The Kettle 

Festival (U-10) named after Tom Kettle of 

Balbriggan RFC, the Coyle Festival (U-11) 

named after Brian Coyle of Navan RFC 

and the O’Daly Festival (U-12) named 

after Dave O’Daly also of Navan RFC. 

The Leinster U-13 Youths Cup, known 

as the McGowan Cup, is named after 

Balbriggan RFC’s GL McGowan. The 

U-15 Youths Cup, known as the McAuley 

Cup, is named after former Balbriggan 

RFC Club President Maurice McAuley 

whose family are still heavily involved 

with the Balbriggan and Skerries clubs. 

The U-15 Youths Premier League trophy 

(the Ciaran Conlon Cup) is named in 

honour of a great Navan stalwart. The 

U-18 Purcell Cup is named in memory of 

Brian Purcell of Balbriggan RFC. 

In recent years, the North East Area has 

kicked off the rugby season with the 

Beachy Cup. The competition is named 

in memory of the late John ‘Beachy’ 

McCreanor who sadly passed away in 

2012. The Beachy Cup is a social event 

that helps bring old friends and sporting 

rivals together again at the start of a new 

season. 

The Junior Interprovincial Cup, played 

annually by the four provinces, is named 

in memory of a great Ardee man, P.V. 

McGee. He was born and raised in 

Ardee and along with others helped form 

Ardee RFC in 1980. His playing career 

was spent with Dundalk RFC, a club he 

captained to three Towns Cup victories in 

the 1940s. 

As a mark of the high esteem he and 

his family were held in it was decided 

that the Junior Interpro trophy would be 

named in his (and his family’s) honour. 

This idea was at the suggestion of former 

Leinster Junior captain Kenny Dorian 

(Dundalk RFC). PVs grandson Stephen 

McGee was the captain of the Leinster 

juniors at the time. The North East Area 

McGee Cup is also named in his honour. 

Dundalk players on the Leinster Juniors holding the Junior InterPro Cup which is named 

after Ardee co-founder PV McGee. 


TO MAXIMISE YOUR SPORTS AND EXERCISE 

PERFORMANCE THROUGH NUTRITION 

Optimum Nutrition and Leinster Rugby have partnered to help share good nutrition tips throughout 

the season to help you achieve your performance goals. Here are some simple tips and things to 

remember to help maximise your performance and help you recover quickly to come back stronger. 

Protein Rich. 

Protein provides your muscles with 

the building blocks to repair & grow. 

Carb-Up. 

Carbohydrate foods are king as they 

power high intensity play. 

Fuel-Up. 

Consume the majority of your 

carbohydrates around training to 

support fuelling and recovery. 

Recover. 

Quality rest & nutrition between 

training sessions is the key to 

recovery. Remember to: 

Repair with protein, 

Refuel with carbohydrate, 

Rehydrate with fluid. 

Hydrate. 

Dehydration can lead to a drop in 

exercise intensity & can impact your 

decision making. Drink 2-3 litres of 

fluid each day to ensure hydration. 

Game Day. 

To fuel performance on the field, 

consume a large carbohydrate rich 

meal 2-3 hours before kick-off, i.e. 

chicken & pasta, turkey bolognaise 

wraps. 

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using code Leinster20 on optimumnutrition.ie

Knowing what advice to take 

is essential in this game. 

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Contact: John White, Managing Partner +353 (0)1 4186000 | j.white@beauchamps.ie

Community and Inclusion 

are the remedies to 

loneliness for all ages 

WITH ITS ROOTS FIRMLY PLACED IN LEINSTER, 

ALONE IS NOW A NATIONAL ORGANISATION THAT 

SUPPORTS AND EMPOWERS OLDER PEOPLE TO AGE 

HAPPILY AND SECURELY AT HOME. 

Founded in the late 1970s, by 

Dublin Fireman and community 

man, Willie Bermingham, 

ALONE support individuals and 

their families, work with other 

organisations, and campaign 

nationwide to improve the lives of 

older people. 

They do so using an integrated system of: 

• Support Coordination 

• Befriending 

• Phone Services 

• Social Prescribing 

• Housing with Support and 

Assistive Technology 

Even before the COVID-19 crisis, almost 

40 per cent of older people who were 

referred or self-referred to ALONE, 

reached out due to loneliness and social 

isolation. Loneliness has been linked to an 

increased risk of early death, with some 

studies highlighting that older people 

experiencing high levels of loneliness 

are twice as likely to die within six years 

compared to those who are not lonely.[1] 

When you consider that one in 10 older 

people suffer from chronic loneliness 

and one in three older people live alone 

the value of community and inclusion is 

stark. 

Often taking that initial step to make that 

call or express loneliness to another can 

be the leap to real change and wider 

support. In March 2020, ALONE saw 

the need for access to that first step and 

set up a seven day a week 8am-8pm 

National Support Line. Since then they 

have received over 41000 calls into 

the line and in 2020 supported roughly 

15000 older people nationwide. 

Over 3000 of those older people are 

being supported in Leinster. With Leinster 

Community networks such as Age 

Friendly Carlow, Kilkenny, Waterford, 

Wexford and South Tipperary providing 

support in those harder to reach places. 

ALONE is a member of Community Call 

across Ireland while they also attend 

sub-Committees such as Health and Wellbeing 

and Isolation and Loneliness 

ALONE has a long history of community 

support as a key backbone to the 

organisation’s culture and ethos. 

They have a strong volunteer base of 


Befriending Volunteers with over 1400 

of those in the province of Leinster. 

Those include Telephone Support and 

Befriending, in-person Befriending and 

the National Support Line. Telephone 

Support and Befriending is of particular 

value at this time for those in more rural 

areas in particular. Participants can 

request a number of calls a week from the 

same friendly voice. This may be a check 

in, reminder to take medication or simply 

a way to define long days. 

Leinster Rugby’s partnership with ALONE, 

strengthens their key messaging, to 

support and empower older people. 

Through this partnership of Community 

and Inclusion, ALONE’s aim is to reach 

even more older people who are in 

need of support throughout the Leinster 

Community. The organisations are using 

their shared ethos to highlight the value 

of community and inclusion at a time 

when we all need it most. The key to 

ALONE and Leinster Rugby’s partnership 

is the importance of participation 

spanning across community, inclusion, 

physical activity and mental health. 

The members of the public dispersed 

across the country continue to work as 

Ambassadors for ALONE to deliver their 

mission; 

“To revolutionise 

how we age by 

offering innovative 

and supportive 

services for older 

people, their 

families and our 

community.” 

This is our invitation to you to join 

us to reach out and encourage 

conversation. 

If you are concerned about your 

own wellbeing or the wellbeing of an 

older person you know please contact 

ALONE’s National Support Line on 

0818 222 024 which is available seven 

days a week from 8am – 8pm. Further 

information can be found on www. 

alone.ie. 

Donate to ALONE here: 

[1] Ye Lou, Hawkley LC, Waite LJ et al. 

Loneliness, health and mortality in old 

age: A national longitudinal study. Soc 

Sci Med 2012; 74,pp. 907-914 


IN OPPOSITION 

Glasgow Warriors 

COUNTRY 

SCOTLAND 

HOME GROUND(S) 

SCOTSTOUN 

STADIUM 

Last Time Out 

Glasgow Warriors 13 Ulster Rugby 19 

Scotstoun Stadium | Guinness PRO14 | Ref: Ben Blain 

FOUNDED 

1872 

ULSTER’S UNBEATEN RUN IN THE GUINNESS PRO14 CO A BATTLING 

GLASGOW WARRIORS CAME UP JUST SHORT AT SCOTSTOUN LAST TIME 

OUT, AS THEY WERE EDGED OUT 19-13 BY ULSTER IN THEIR FIRST GUINNESS 

PRO14 CLASH IN OVER A MONTH. NTINUED AFTER DEFEATING MUNSTER 

BY 15-10 AT A CRISP KINGSPAN STADIUM LAST SATURDAY EVENING. 

Aki Seiuli’s late try earned the home 

side a losing bonus-point for their 

efforts, with the loosehead crossing 

for his first try in a Glasgow jersey. 

Whilst having had a month without a game, 

there were no early signs of rustiness from the 

home side as they came haring out the blocks 

in the early exchanges. A smart kick ahead 

from Robbie Fergusson almost saw Ratu Tagive 

win the race to the loose ball with only 90 

seconds played, forcing Michael Lowry to be 

on his toes for the visitors. 

In defence, too, the Warriors signalled their 

intent early on. Enrique Pieretto’s thunderous hit 

on his opposite man drew a roar of approval 

from the bench, whilst Fergusson and Sam 

Johnson marshalled the midfield well. 

The game settled into a closely-contested battle 

between the 22-metre lines as the first quarter 

approached its conclusion, with attacking 

chances few and far between in tricky handling 

conditions. Rufus McLean’s pace almost saw 

him convert a quick break and chip ahead 

from Huw Jones, while at the other end only 

superb defence from Jamie Dobie and Tagive 

prevented an Ulster maul resulting in a try. 

The menacing presences of Rob Harley and 

Richie Gray were proving a handful for the 

Ulster lineout, as the pair combined to steal 

a crucial throw within 10 metres of their own 

try-line. 

In an increasingly frenetic first half, the 

Warriors suddenly sparked into life inside their 

own 22. Turnover ball from Thomas Gordon 

saw Dobie produce a moment of magic, as the 

GLASGOW WARRIORS: 

Huw Jones; Ratu Tagive, 

Robbie Fergusson, Sam 

Johnson, Rufus McLean; 

Adam Hastings (Ross 

Thompson 63), Jamie 

Dobie (Sean Kennedy 

68); Oli Kebble (Aki 

Seiuli 60), Johnny 

Matthews (Grant Stewart 

41), Enrique Pieretto 

(D’Arcy Rae 71); Richie 

Gray, Leone Nakarawa 

(TJ Ioane 57); Rob 

Harley, Thomas Gordon, 

Ryan Wilson (James 

Scott 62). 

ULSTER: 

Michael Lowry; Craig 

Gilroy (Matt Faddes 

71), James Hume, 

Stuart McCloskey, Rob 

Lyttle; Ian Madigan, 

John Cooney (Alby 

Mathewson 68); Eric 

O’Sullivan (Andrew 

Warwick 50), John 

Andrew (Adam 

McBurney 50), Marty 

Moore (Tom O’Toole 

46); Alan O’Connor, 

Kieran Treadwell 

(Cormac Izuchukwu 

57); Nick Timoney, 

Jordi Murphy, Marcell 

Coetzee (Greg Jones 

41). 

words: glasgowwarriors.org 

scrum-half bamboozled the Ulster defence to 

race up to the Ulster 22 with great pace and 

footwork. Whilst the visitors scrambled well, an 

infringement a few phases later allowed Adam 

Hastings to kick the first points of the night and 

give his side a 3-0 lead. 

Yet against the run of play, it would be the 

visitors who would go into the interval with the 

lead. A break from James Hume and Stuart 

McCloskey’s handling saw Lowry scamper 

over under the posts, John Cooney converting 

for the full seven points. 

In contrast to the opening exchanges, it was 

a far more cagey affair to begin the second 

stanza. Once again it was the Warriors who 

struck for the first points of the half; a dominant 

shove from Pieretto and Oli Kebble earned 

the hosts a penalty 40 metres out, from which 

Hastings duly split the posts to narrow the gap 

to a solitary point. 

Last season’s beaten finalists were beginning to 

exert more pressure on the Glasgow defence, 

enjoying a near-monopoly of possession as 

they went in search of a second try. Craig 


Gilroy thought he’d found it on 53 minutes, yet 

a TMO check revealed that a superb double 

tackle by Tagive and Huw Jones had forced a 

knock-on from the Ulster winger. 

The Ulstermen weren’t to be denied for long, 

though, and crossed for their second score just 

two minutes later. A break from Ian Madigan 

saw Ulster get in behind the Glasgow defence, 

before some expertly-executed offloading saw 

Cooney fling the ball wide to Gilroy to score 

in the corner. The conversion sailed wide, but 

Ulster led 12-6. 

A third try was to follow just after the hour 

mark, as Ulster eventually made successive 

penalties in Glasgow’s 22 count. A short-range 

lineout saw Nick Timoney driven over for the 

score, Cooney’s conversion taking the score to 

19-6 in the visitors’ favour. 

No one could fault the effort of the Glasgow 

defence, however, as the home side continued 

to give as good as they got. A powerful hit 

from TJ Ioane in midfield had the Warriors 

roaring, whilst James Scott made his presence 

known on his Glasgow Warriors debut. 

As the game entered its final 10 minutes, the 

Warriors finally began to enjoy extended 

spells of possession. Ross Thompson – on for 

Hastings – and Johnson combined to almost 

free McLean on an outside arc, whilst Jones 

continued to look lively in broken field. 

With six minutes to play, the scales tipped in 

Glasgow’s favour; with advantage already 

being played, a cynical knock-on from 

Alby Mathewson denied Tagive a scoring 

opportunity, and earned the former All Black a 

yellow card. 

The Warriors didn’t take long to make their 

advantage tell. After successive penalties in 

Ulster’s 22, it was eventually left to Seiuli to 

pick up and power over from a couple of 

metres, showing good composure to finish 

under pressure. Thompson’s conversion was 

nerveless from the touchline, setting up a 

grandstand finish under the Friday night lights. 

It wasn’t to be in the end, however, as Ulster 

held on for the victory despite the best efforts 

of the home side. 


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Squad | Positions 2020/21 

Head coach | Danny Wilson 

Danny Wilson took the reins at 

Scotstoun Stadium in the summer 

of 2020 having previously 

worked as an assistant to Gregor 

Townsend with the Scotland 

setup. 

The Welshman initially worked with 

Dragons, Scarlets and, more recently, 

Cardiff Blues while also taking charge of 

the pack at Bristol for a year. 

During his tenure, Cardiff clinched a first 

European title, the 2017-18 Challenge 

Cup, with victory over Gloucester in 

Bilbao. 

FORWARDS 

ALEX ALLAN 

PROP 

HAMISH BAIN 

LOCK 

LEWIS BEAN 

LOCK 

FRASER BROWN 

HOOKER C 

SCOTT CUMMINGS 

LOCK 

MESULAME DOLOKOTO 

HOOKER 

ZANDER FAGERSON 

PROP 

MATT FAGERSON 

BACK ROW 

BRUCE FLOCKHART 

NO. 8 

CHRIS FUSARO 

FLANKER 

LEONE NAKARAWA 

LOCK 

ADAM NICOL 

PROP 

ENRIQUE PIERETTO 

HEILAND 

PROP 

D’ARCY RAE 

PROP 

JALE RAILALA 

LOCK 

JAMES SCOTT 

LOCK 

AKI SEIULI 

PROP 

GRANT STEWART 

HOOKER 

GEORGE THORNTON 

PROP 

GEORGE TURNER 

HOOKER 

PETE HORNE 

CENTRE 

SAM JOHNSON 

CENTRE 

LEE JONES 

WINGER 

HUW JONES 

CENTRE 

IAN KEATLEY 

FLY HALF 

PATRICK KELLY 

CENTRE 

SEAN KENNEDY 

SCRUM HALF 

CALEB KORTEWEG 

SCRUM HALF 

NIKOLA MATAWALU 

SCRUM HALF 

STAFFORD 

MCDOWALL 

CENTRE 

Co-Captains | Fraser Brown 

and Ryan Wilson 

It’s third successive season as 

captain for back-rower Ryan 

Wilson. 

He made his Glasgow debut against 

Leinster in 2010 and has made 182 

appearances for the club since then. 

He was a key member of the 2015 

PRO12-winning side, and has also won 

49 caps for Scotland. 

Hooker Fraser Brown assumed co-captain 

duties ahead of the autumn resumption of 

the 2019-20 season. 

He recently passed the 100-cap mark 

for Warriors while he also reached a 

half-century of appearances for Scotland 

during the 2020 Six Nations. 

He made his debut against Zebre in 

2013. 

THOMAS GORDON 

FLANKER 

RICHIE GRAY 

LOCK 

ROB HARLEY 

BACK ROW 

TJ IOANE 

BACK ROW 

OLI KEBBLE 

PROP 

TOM LAMBERT 

PROP 

FOTU LOKOTUI 

FLANKER 

JOHNNY MATTHEWS 

HOOKER 

KIRAN MCDONALD 

LOCK 

MURPHY WALKER 

PROP 

RYAN WILSON 

BACK ROW 

BACKS 

GLENN BRYCE 

FULL BACK 

JAMIE DOBIE 

SCRUM HALF 

ROBBIE FERGUSSON 

CENTRE 

NICK GRIGG 

CENTRE 

ADAM HASTINGS 

FLY HALF 

GEORGE HORNE 

SCRUM HALF 

RUFUS MCLEAN 

FULL BACK 

ROBBIE NAIRN 

WINGER 

ALI PRICE 

SCRUM HALF 

TOMMY SEYMOUR 

WINGER 

OLI SMITH 

FULL BACK 

KYLE STEYN 

CENTRE 

RATU TAGIVE 

WINGER 

ROSS THOMPSON 

FLY HALF 

BRANDON THOMSON 

FLY HALF 


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Terenure College 

Straightened times call for 

innovative measures. 

The lifeblood flowing through any club is 

provided by the energy and involvement 

of members, players and supporters in 

setting the everyday atmosphere and in 

generating the necessary funds to keep 

the organisation alive and kicking. 

The concern over the future of the game 

is great. The clouds hanging over the 

professional arm of the sport are heavy, 

despite all the inbuilt advantages that 

lead to revenues. 

Down the ladder is the heartbeat that 

pumps through the grassroots clubs. They 

have to be agile and creative in their 

drive to survive the enduring pain of a 

worldwide pandemic. 

Terenure College RFC has sought to 

maximise income at a time when there 

are no pre-match lunches to advertise or 

similar group gatherings to sell. 

Cormac O’Kelly is the man behind a 

number of ideas for the club’s online 

presence, all designed to push the club 

forward. 

“It all started back in 2019. We had a 

poor website presence, really poor. It 

needed to be improved and updated,” 

he said. 

“I was down in the clubhouse one 

Sunday morning and then president 

Cathal O’Leary was there, up to ‘highdoh’ 

with all the mini rugby activity going 

on. 

“I mentioned in passing how poor the 

website was when he turned around and 

snapped back at me: ‘well, do something 

about it then!’ My reply in the heat of the 

moment was: ‘right, I bloody will!’” 

“Over three months, I designed a new 

website - out with the old, in with the new 

– and the idea for an online shop came 

about during that process. In fact, I built 

the shop into the site at that stage, but just 

didn’t activate it at that time. 

“You see, we have a small area that was, 

at one stage, a dressing room in the club 

with no windows in it which probably is 

not ideal for displaying our offering as 

a shop. 

“That said, Evelyn O’Sullivan, who is the 

real powerhouse behind our physical 

shop does really well with what she has. 

“She runs the shop there on Sundays and 

during the week. The in-person and online 

shops would not be possible without her. 

“Evelyn liaises with suppliers, orders 

in the stock, fulfils the online orders 

and dispatches everything via an App 

connected to the website. It works really 

well and she is super-efficient at running 

the whole operation.” 

The presence of Evelyn in the clubhouse 

shop gave O’Kelly the confidence to act 

on his ideas, a specific mantra passed on 

by his grandfather ringing in his ears. 

“He always said: ‘it is always easier to 

ask for forgiveness than permission.’ 

O’Kelly quietly, earnestly set about 

updating the club website and, within 

that, looked to come up with ways of 

making it more accessible for social and 

financial interaction. 

“I lashed away at it and the new version 

of the website was ready by September 

2019. Always, in the back of my head, I 

wanted to put a shop on the website to 

bring in ‘a few bob’ to the club.” 

When lockdown came, the impetus 

was there to push on with the shop in 

light of how all clubs, in all sports, were 

struggling to bring in revenue. 

“Dipping our toe into the online revenue 

world initially started with a fundraising 

initiative. We banged around a number 

of ideas, ultimately settling on just asking 

members for a donation to help the club 

out. 

“This led to looking at donation platforms 

that I could use with the site. If I’m honest, 

it was a steep learning curve. But, we got 

there and managed to raise a significant 

amount of money in just six weeks. The 

club means a lot to the members and, 

when called upon, they dug deep.” 

The club has somewhere in the region 

of 1100 official members with a total of 

1800 on the club’s newsletter list. 

This financial uptake fed the idea of 

starting the online shop and that came 

online on October 19 with 20 products 

that have since been increased to 50. 

When it came to selling merchandise, 

O’Kelly soon realised the player-pool is 

quite small and limited to the lads down 

at the club that will buy jerseys, shorts 

and socks. 

“We decided to reach out to the 

supporters for a bigger audience, a 

bigger pool to fish in,” he issued. 

“We soon had the epiphany that we had 

to move beyond the tracksuits, tops and 

bottoms, jerseys, towards the stuff that 

would appeal to someone standing on 

the sideline. 

“We made a concerted effort to go 

with coats, hats, scarves, ties, cufflinks, 

hoodies. The items were already 

available at the club. It was just a matter 

of putting them online. 


“In fact, our best seller has been our mug. 

It’s a cartoon of a fella coming at you 

with a ball and the club crest is on the 

back of it. 

“We’ve seen orders from the UK, 

America, Australia, Japan, reaching out 

to the Terenure diaspora. We offer a 

‘click-and-collect’ option for locals as well 

as posting out items. 

“It suits members as they can now shop 

on the website from the comfort of their 

couches anytime, 24/7, ordering and 

collecting later from Evelyn in the shop.” 

In 70 days, from launch to New Year, 

the online shop sold 300 items from 111 

orders, bringing in much-needed revenue 

with 25% of sales coming in the week 

before Christmas. 

There are also gift cards available 

anywhere from €25 to €250. These work 

exactly like Amazon Gift Cards, so 

people can send a gift card via email to 

anyone, anywhere and the recipient can 

spend away online. 

“Similar to other clubs, there is not 

much money coming into the club at the 

moment. The bar is closed. The lunches 

aren’t happening,” said O’Kelly. 

“The vision from the start was that 

I wanted to be walking through 

somewhere like Times Square, in New 

York, and see a fella’ with a Terenure 

College RFC ‘beanie’ across the street.” 

To that end, for example, old ‘Nure 

boy Colin Phillips lives near Seattle, 

Washington. He has ordered two or three 

babygrows with the club crest attached 

as well as a beanie for himself. 

“I like to think of Colin pushing his kids 

along the streets of Seattle, them in the 

baby-grows and him with his ‘Nure hat 

on, 7000 miles from home.” 

There is a plan in place to spread the 

range of clothing to appeal to the 

younger members of the club too. 

“We are looking at launching a T-shirt 

range, somewhat tongue-in-cheek, calling 

it ‘Nure Couture.’ I have been looking 

into the Manchester United and Liverpool 

online shops for ideas and for examples 

of what we can sell.” 

O’Kelly is not just interested in the 

introduction of the online shop. There is 

also the matter of bringing other elements 

of the club up to date. 

“I want to move towards selling tickets 

online for the match lunches whenever 

they come back, ticket entry into the 

matches, stuff like that to streamline the 

club,” he said. 

“We are also taking advantage of our 

following on social media. We have over 

5000 on Twitter, nearly 5000 between 

Facebook and Instagram and over 2500 

on LinkedIn, thanks to the help of Mark 

‘Hamo’ Hamilton, who runs that for us. 

“As I said, sometimes it is easier to ask for 

forgiveness than permission, so I tend to 

push on with the ideas rather than wait 

for something to happen,” he added. 

“Looking after Facebook, Twitter, 

Instagram, the newsletter, the website for 

the club is a big job, one I enjoy, and, 

hopefully, one that will continue to grow 

steadily. It is going well. It is by no means 

a finished project. 

“What can I say? Please visit tcrfc.ie and 

have a look around.” 


These clubs have chosen Macron 

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McKee 

John 

WORDS: RYAN CORRY 


HOOKER 

JOHN MCKEE 

HAS TAKEN 

AN UNUSUAL 

ROUTE TO 

THE LEINSTER 

RUGBY 

ACADEMY. 

Most players who join the province’s 

nursery of talent do so via either 

the clubs route or the schools route 

taking in the Shane Horgan Cup or the 

Leinster Schools Cups. 

Belfast native McKee is a product of the Ulster 

schools system, an accomplished player 

at either loosehead or hooker, captaining 

Campbell College to a Senior Cup title along 

the way. 

As his burgeoning rugby career progressed, 

McKee felt that his best position and the one he 

enjoyed the most was hooker but the problem 

was there was no slot available at Ulster, which 

prompted a desire for change. 

Initially, the plan was to explore combined 

sporting and academic possibilities across 

the Irish Sea but instead, he made the trip 

southbound after chatting with then Leinster 

Academy Manager, Peter Smyth. 

Smyth was willing to allow McKee to specialise 

as a hooker, having already worked with him in 

the Ireland U-18 set up and having confidence 

in his ability to reach the highest level. 

“I had always played a bit of hooker in school 

but the way the school worked, I just kind of 

played wherever we could get the best fit,” 

McKee explains. 

“I’d play hooker sometimes but then for other 

games depending on what we needed I’d jump 

across to loosehead or back again if that was 

needed. I’d switch between the two basically. 

“I just knew I always enjoyed hooker a lot 

more. I played hooker in my first year of Irish 

U-18s, played loosehead the next one so I 

knew what was what and what I enjoyed more. 

I knew that I liked being a bit lighter on my feet, 

having a bit more freedom on the pitch. So I 

made up my mind that if I was going to give 

rugby a proper go, it would be as a hooker.” 

And so he has given it a go. Now in his third 

year living in Dublin, he has two years of the 

Leinster sub-Academy put down while he’s now 

in his first year with the Academy. 

Following a journey that started back in Ards 

RFC as a reluctant minis player with a busy 

schedule, he reflects on that initial decision that 

led to the move to Leinster. 

“I played Irish 18s with Noel (McNamara) as 

the coach and I really enjoyed that. The next 

year, I was captain of the Irish 18s and Smythy 

was the head coach. I knew then that I might 

have to make a decision if I wanted to continue 

playing hooker,” he says. 

“My plan was to go to somewhere in England 

for Uni. I wanted to expand my interests and I 

was open to different opportunities. 


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“I knew by now that I wanted to play hooker 

but there wasn’t an opportunity to stay in 

Belfast if that’s what I wanted to do so it was 

difficult. 

“But, I spoke to Smythy and he said, ‘if you’d 

like to give hooker a go, come down and we’ll 

have a chat’. I had nothing to lose I suppose at 

that stage so I took the chance.” 

It has proven to be an inspired move for 

McKee who has grown from strength to 

strength during his three years in Dublin. 

Although, he admits, it wasn’t all plain sailing. 

Between being put through his paces by Dave 

Fagan in the Leinster sub-Academy and the 

weekly commute between Dublin and Belfast 

without a car, he had some tough moments 

throughout those first couple of years. 

“I’m pretty comfortable with it now, it started 

as a new experience. All of the coaches were 

brilliant, I was very aware that I wasn’t just 

being given an Academy contract on a silver 

platter. 

“I had to work for it. The first year in the sub- 

Academy was rough. Big Dave Fagan helped 

me lose a lot of weight and got me slimmed 

down and then I was playing 20s and stuff, 

they were two really good years and I enjoyed 

both of them. 

“Everyone I’ve come across down here has 

been very welcoming. It was my first move. 

Campbell is a boarding school but I wasn’t a 

boarder so it was tough moving down at the 

start, I’m very close with all of my family. 

“I struggled a little bit at times in the first year 

without even really realising it. Looking back, I 

was definitely struggling. 

Part of that struggle, he says, was due to the 

‘mission’ that came with making the Friday 

and Sunday trips between Belfast and Dublin. 

McKee found the ‘planes, trains and 

automobiles’-like trek draining. 

However, he also says that being housed 

with Roman Salanoa and Martin Moloney, 

two fellow sub-Academy members and Old 

Belvedere teammates at the time eased the 

burden as he could count on them for morale 

support. 

Signing with the Ballsbridge club proved to be 

another blessing as McKee found himself in 

an environment that he describes as “perfect 

for him”, the club welcomed him in with open 

arms. The likes of Paul Cunningham in Old 

Belvedere were very supportive as he looked 

to make his way in the new surrounds. 

“EVERYONE I’VE 

COME ACROSS 

DOWN HERE 

HAS BEEN VERY 

WELCOMING. IT 

WAS MY FIRST 

MOVE.” 

“I had a license but I was only insured in my 

mum’s car and obviously she wasn’t let me take 

the car down here for the whole week so I was 

getting the Aircoach. 

“That turned into a bit of a mission on the 

Friday. I would come back, get showered, 

have to get a bus into O’Connell Street and 

the Aircoach from there which stopped at 

the airport and then into Belfast city centre at 

whatever time and have to ring my dad for a 

lift. 

“On a Sunday night coming back from 

Belfast, I was the same. I’d get a late bus into 

O’Connell Street and then have to get another 

bus out which was a struggle for a little while. 

I eventually convinced my parents to help me 

buy a car just last summer so it’s made things 

an awful lot easier this year. I did miss home 

but I was living with a few of the guys so it 

wasn’t massively upsetting. 

“I was in with Roman Salanoa, he’s gone now, 

and Marty Moloney was in there the second 

half of that year. Marty and Roman, the first 

year, we’d cycle down to Donnybrook to the 

sub-Academy and the year after, they were up 

above in UCD so it became a lonely cycle. I 

was really close with them and we had good 

craic.” 

While McKee plays down the affect of 

moving away from home, missing family and 

starting anew in a different city surrounded by 


different people, it’s something that a lot of 

younger people and their families can relate 

to strongly. 

Overcoming that initial shock to the system 

was achieved by immersing himself in as much 

as he could whether that was on the pitch or 

off the pitch. 

Off it, he has undertaken a Bachelor’s Degree 

in Strength and Conditioning at Setanta 

College, a useful qualification to have for any 

professional athlete. 

He’s been able to use the staff at Leinster 

Rugby as a resource for those studies, tipping 

into the more experienced heads for advice 

on the modules. 

On the pitch, he’s undertaking study of a 

different kind, learning by watching. 

Having captained Campbell College to Ulster 

Senior Cup honours, he was later named 

as skipper of the Ireland U-18 team, a huge 

honour for any young player. 

But what is it about McKee that sets him apart 

as a leader? Why were coaches so drawn to 

him as a captain? 

“That’s a tough question. I think probably 

back then I was pretty confident in 

communicating, pretty confident in speaking 

“I WENT TO A FEW 

COMPETITIONS, 

THE FIRST ONE 

I GOT A BRONZE 

MEDAL. THE 

NEXT ONE I GOT A 

GOLD, I THINK IT 

WAS NORTHERN 

IRELAND 

SCHOOLS. I 

REALLY ENJOYED 

IT. I’D LOVE TO 

GET BACK ON 

THE MAT AND 

GET THAT BLACK 

BELT.” 

in meetings so at that kind of age, I suppose 

there’s few people who are,” McKee outlines. 

“As I’ve progressed, coming into different 

environments with other, more-experienced 

people, I’m very happy to sit back and absorb 

some knowledge from them. Hopefully then, 

in the next few years, it’ll bring the leadership 

back out in me. 

“Back then though, I think it was how 

comfortable I was in communicating, on the 

pitch and in meetings. I felt that I had a very 

strong understanding of the game and that I 

could help other people.” 

He also alludes to the amount of leaders 

currently within the dressing room at Leinster, 

the array of names to have played and 

captained at the highest level of the game. 

“I don’t think there’s any one or two that stand 

out. I think that everyone has that capability. 

It’s a personality trait that Leinster bring out in 

every player that they bring through because 

at the end of the day everyone needs to be 

able to lead the people around you on the 

pitch. I could probably name 20 off the top of 

my head.” 

In an alternate universe, there would be no 

rugby career for McKee, we could even have 

been watching him prepare for a run at the 

Olympics. 


During his schooldays, a competitive streak – 

and a hint of a copycat one – ended up with 

him taking up Judo. 

He would go on to claim medals at Northern 

Irish schools competitions, although he 

wilfully admits that he was in the higher 

weight classes where the number of 

participants was scarce. 

“Probably my whole life, I’ve 

copied my brother. He 

would have been fourth 

year and it came to 

the school through 

an outside club. I 

remember talking 

about it at the 

kitchen table and I 

was like ‘I want to give 

that a go if you’re giving 

it a go’. 

“I did it then and took a 

break for a year, I can’t 

remember what it was, 

I think it was the JCT and 

training just got busy.” 

“I went to a few competitions, the first one 

I got a bronze medal. The next one I got a 

gold, I think it was Northern Ireland schools. 

I really enjoyed it. I’d love to get back on the 

mat and get that black belt.” 

He also celebrated a milestone birthday 

during the last few weeks, turning 21. 

Unable to celebrate with restrictions in 

place, it was a lowkey affair, something he’s 

accepted gladly. 

“I got a bit of cake and stuff the weekend 

before but there’s nothing really you can do 

in this climate. 

“I probably would have had just a lowkey 

one, a few mates is all you need. It would 

have been nice if the pubs were open or 

whatever so that we could have gone for a 

few drinks but our time will come.” 

And his time will come, whether that’s in 

putting on a blue jersey or the elusive black 

belt. 

That break didn’t last however. 

He was later spurred on to get back 

into it when dad, Mark, a teacher in 

Campbell College, decided to take it 

up while turning 50. 

Out came the youngest McKee’s 

competitive streak yet again. 

“Then my dad took it up on his 50th 

birthday in the 

school as 

well and, 

again, I 

was like 

‘if you’re 

going to 

do it and 

my brother is 

still doing it, I’ll join 

again, it’ll be good craic’. 

So then the three of us kept going to Judo 

on a Tuesday night. 

“The two of them leapfrogged me again 

when it got to Senior Cup. My training would 

be hectic, and I wouldn’t be able to go on a 

Tuesday night anymore. They’re both black 

belts and I never did my final grading to 

get the black belt so I’m sitting on a brown 

belt now which is frustrating because it gets 

brought up anytime we talk about Judo,” he 

laughs. 


Academy squad 

2020|21 

DOB: 15 December 1999 

From: Hampshire, England 

Height: 1.88m (6’ 2”) 

Weight: 92kg (14st 5lbs) 

Position: Back Three 

School: Henley College 

Honours: Ireland U20 (1 cap) 

AARON O’SULLIVAN 

Did You Know: Aaron was signed from Wasps where 

he made two appearances for the Senior team in the 

2017/18 Anglo Welsh Cup. Aaron’s dad, Barry, had trials at 

Newcastle and his grandad, at the age of 80, completed 

five stages of the Tour de France in 2011. 

Instagram: aaron_sullivan11 

DOB: 02 March 2000 

From: Wexford 

Height: 1.99m (6’ 6”) 


Position: Second Row 

School: St Peter’s College 

Club: Clontarf FC 

Honours: Ireland U20 (8 caps) 

BRIAN DEENY 

Did You Know: Brian played youth rugby with Wexford 

Wanderers RFC. He got his first Irish cap playing for 

Ireland Under-18 Sevens. Brian played midfield for his 

school St Peter’s College in Gaelic football and reached the 

All-Ireland Colleges Final in 2017. He is currently studying 

Science in Trinity and lives in Abbey House B&B, Wexford... 

if you are looking for a room?! Instagram: brian_deeny 

DOB: 03 July 1999 

From: Dublin 

Height: 1.77m (5’ 10”) 


Position: Centre/Outhalf 

School: Belvedere College 

Club: Clontarf RFC 


& Leinster Rugby (6 caps) 

DAVID HAWKSHAW #1290 

Did You Know: David started playing rugby at Coolmine RFC before 

joining Belvedere College and won two Schools Senior Cup titles. He has 

represented Ireland U18 Schools and was selected as Ireland U20s captain 

for the 2019 Grand Slam winning campaign only to have his season cut 

short after three games. He played hurling and Gaelic football for St Brigid’s 

GAA club and also represented Dublin minors, winning a Leinster hurling 

title. Currently studying humanities in DCU. Instagram: davidhawkshaw99 

DOB: 30 November 1998 

From: Dublin 

Height: 1.72m (5’ 8”) 


Position: Scrum Half 

School: Blackrock College 

Club: UCD RFC 

Honours: Ireland U20 (1 cap) 


PATRICK PATTERSON #1274 

Did You Know: Paddy made his debut for Leinster during 

the 2018/19 season when only in the first year of the 

Leinster Academy. He also scored his first Senior try for 

Leinster off the bench against Southern Kings during that 

maiden campaign. 

Instagram: paddypatterson 

Academy squad 

2020|21 

DOB: 24 October 1999 

From: Newtownmountkennedy, Wicklow 

Height: 1.81m (5’ 9”) 


Position: Scrum Half 

School: St. Gerard’s School 

Club: Lansdowne FC 


CORMAC FOLEY 

Did You Know: Started playing rugby with Greystones 

RFC when he was nine. Growing up, Cormac did a lot of 

show jumping and he is now studying Economics and 

Finance in UCD. 

Instagram: cormacfoley6 

DOB: 05 February 1999 

From: Birr, Offaly 

Height: 1.82m (6’ 0”) 


Position: Prop 

School: Cistercian College, Roscrea 

Club: Birr RFC/UCD RFC 



MICHAEL MILNE #1279 

Did You Know: Michael has won two All-Ireland hurling 

titles, one with his school in Roscrea and another with 

Offaly Under-17s. 

Instagram: michael_milne 

DOB: 04 June 1998 

From: Dublin 

Height: 1.83m (6’ 0”) 



School: Clongowes Wood College 

Club: Dublin University FC 



MICHAEL SILVESTER #1289 

Did You Know: Started playing rugby with Wanderers 

RFC before playing in school with St. Michaels and then 

Clongowes. Played competitive tennis from the age of nine, 

winning a national championship at age 12, before focusing 

on rugby after moving to Clongowes. Graduated from 

Trinity with a BESS degree. 

Instagram: msilvester98 


From: Dublin 

Height: 1.85m (6’ 1”) 


Position: Prop 





THOMAS CLARKSON #1285 

Did You Know: Thomas studies Human Health and Disease 

in Trinity College. He played underage rugby for Wicklow 

RFC before moving to Dublin to attend Willow Park 

primary school. 

Instagram: tclarkson37 

DOB: 19 October 1999 

From: Athy, Kildare 

Height: 1.88m (6’ 2”) 


Position: Back Row 

School: Clontarf FC 

Club: Old Belvedere RFC 


MARTIN MOLONEY 

Did You Know: Martin played hurling for Kildare and played 

GAA and basketball for his secondary school, Knockbeg 

College, and local GAA club, St Laurence’s. He played his 

youth rugby with Athy RFC. He is now studying Business 

and Law in UCD, He also enjoys working on the family farm. 

Instagram: martin_moloney 



From: Dublin 

Height: 2.01m (6’ 7”) 

Weight: 108kg (17st) 



Club: UCD RFC 


CHARLIE RYAN 

Did You Know: Charlie played youth rugby at Blackrock 

College RFC while also attending the school since Senior 

Infants. He captained Ireland to the U20 Grand Slam in 

2019 and again for the U20s World Cup. His friends call 

him Chuck! He is currently studying Business and Legal 

Studies in UCD. 

Instagram: chuck_ryan5 

Academy squad 

2020|21 


From: Belfast 

Height: 1.82m (6’ 0”) 


Position: Hooker 

School: Campbell College 

Club: Old Belvedere RFC 


JOHN McKEE 

Did You Know: John grew up in Belfast going to school 

at Campbell College where he won a Senior Cup. He was 

involved with Ulster at age grade level until moving to 

Dublin after school. He also has multiple medals from 

Northern Irish Schools Judo competitions. 

Instagram: johnmckee_ 

DOB: 21 July 2000 

From: Dublin 

Height: 1.83m (6’ 0”) 



School: St Michael’s College 

Club: Clontarf FC 


& Leinster Rugby (1 cap) 

ANDREW SMITH #1292 

Did You Know: Andrew is currently studying Quantity 

Surveying and Construction Economics in TUD. In 2019, 

he won the Leinster Schools Senior Cup with St Michael’s 

College. Andrew also played Gaelic football with his local 

club - Clanna Gael Fontenoy GAA Club. 

Instagram: andrew.sm1th 

DOB: 14 July 1999 

From: Dublin 

Height: 173cm (5’ 9”) 


Position: Centre 





LIAM TURNER #1287 

Did You Know: Liam started to play rugby at the age 

of six at Blackrock College RFC. He later joined Blackrock 

College and was part of the 2018 Senior Cup winning team. 

He was also part of the Ireland U20 team that went on to 

win the 2019 Grand Slam. Liam currently studys BESS in 

Trinity College. 

Instagram: liamtn123 

DOB: 06 April 2000 

From: Dublin 

Height: 1.83m (6’ 0”) 


Position: Wing 


Club: UCD RFC 

Honours: Ireland U20 

NIALL COMERFORD 

Did You Know: Niall played both hurling and Gaelic 

football with Kilmacud Crokes for 14 years. He also 

represented Dublin in Gaelic football in the U17 Leinster 

Championship. He is currently studying Commerce in UCD. 

Instagram: niall_c123 

DOB: 31 July 2000 

From: Pittsburgh, USA 

Height: 1.90m (6’ 3”) 

Weight: 102kg (16st 1lb) 



Club: UCD RFC 


SEÁN O’BRIEN 

Did You Know: Seán started playing rugby at age six 

with Greystones RFC where he played up until Under-13. 

He then played on the Junior and Senior Cup teams in 

Blackrock College. He is currently studying Economics and 

Finance in UCD 

Instagram: seanobrien456 


From: Pearse St, Dublin 

Height: 1.95m (6’ 5”) 

Weight: 104.5kg (16st 6lbs) 


School: Belvedere College 



ALEX SOROKA 

Did You Know: Alex’s family moved to Ireland from 

Ukraine shortly before his birth. He was born in Cork 

before moving to Dublin. 

Instagram: alex._.soroka 

DOB: 26 March 2001 

From: Manhattan, NY 

Height: 1.95m (6’ 5”) 






JOE McCARTHY 

Did You Know: Joe started playing rugby with Blackrock 

College RFC at the age of six before moving to Willow Park 

and then Blackrock College. He was also on the Blackrock 

swim team for five years. He’s currently studying Global 

Business in Trinity College Dublin. 

Instagram: joetmmcc 


From: Enniskerry, Wicklow 

Height: 1.85m (6’ 1”) 


Position: Full Back 

School: St Gerard’s School 




MAX O’REILLY #1291 

Did You Know: Max is currently in his third year of Business 

and Management in DIT. His preferred sport was soccer 

until about the age of 15, which he had played at centre 

midfield with Enniskerry FC for over 10 years and also 

for Wicklow. 

Instagram: max_oreilly 


Fixtures & 

results 

2020/21 

virtual match mascot 

Culann Corcoran 

Age: 6 

From: Manor Kilbride, County 

Wicklow 

School: Junior Infants Blessington 

Number 1 School 

Hobbies and Interests: Loves playing 

rugby for Blessington, messing with 

his brother Roan, and playing with all 

his pets. 

Favourite Player: Johnny Sexton 

Fri 2 Oct 20:15 

Guinness PRO14 

W 35-5 

Sat 10 Oct 18:15 


W 37-25 

FRI 23 Oct 19:35 


W 63-8 

MON 2 Nov 20:15 


W 32-19 

KEENAN 

LARMOUR 1T 

RINGROSE 1T 2C 

FRAWLEY (T O'BRIEN 9) 

LOWE 2T 

SEXTON 1C (R BYRNE 23 3C) 

GIBSON-PARK (MCGRATH 67) 

E BYRNE (HEALY 49) 

R KELLEHER (CRONIN 49) 

BENT (PORTER 49) 

FARDY 

RYAN 

RUDDOCK 

VAN DER FLIER 

CONAN (DEEGAN 49 (BAIRD 62 1T)) 

KEENAN 

LARMOUR (J O'BRIEN 48) 

RINGROSE 

HENSHAW 

LOWE 1T 

R BYRNE 3C 3P (H BYRNE 79) 

GIBSON-PARK (MCGRATH 56) 

E BYRNE (HEALY 52) 

TRACY 1T (CRONIN 53) 

BENT (CLARKSON 63) 

BAIRD (MOLONY 64) 

RYAN 1T 

DORIS 

CONNORS 

CONAN 

J O'BRIEN 

T O'BRIEN 2T 

TURNER 

FRAWLEY (SILVESTER 64) 

KEARNEY 1T 

H BYRNE 9C 

MCGRATH (H O'SULLIVAN 56) 

DOOLEY (MILNE 52) 

SHEEHAN 2T (TRACY 51) 

BENT 1T (PARKER 51 1T) 

MOLONY 

TONER (DUNNE 56) 

MURPHY 1T (FARDY 69) 

PENNY 1T 

RUDDOCK (LEAVY 51) 

J O'BRIEN 1T (HAWKSHAW 71) 

C KELLEHER 

O'LOUGHLIN 

T O'BRIEN 

D KEARNEY 

H BYRNE 3C 2P 

MCGRATH 1T (H O'SULLIVAN 76) 


TRACY (SHEEHAN 54) 

BENT 1T (CLARKSON 60) 

MOLONY (FARDY 60) 

TONER 

MURPHY (DUNNE 71) 

PENNY 1T 


SUN 8 Nov 15:00 


W 26-7 

J O'BRIEN 

C KELLEHER 

O'LOUGHLIN (TURNER 59) 

T O'BRIEN (H O'SULLIVAN 65) 

KEARNEY 1T 

H BYRNE 3C (HAWKSHAW 61) 

MCGRATH 

MILNE (DOOLEY 51 1T) 

TRACY 1T (SHEEHAN 51) 

BENT (PARKER 51) 

MOLONY 

FARDY (TONER 72) 

MURPHY (LEAVY 54) 

PENNY 1T 

RUDDOCK 

MON 16 NOV 20:15 


W 50-10 

J O'BRIEN 

C KELLEHER 3T 

TURNER 

FRAWLEY 5C 

KEARNEY 1T 

H BYRNE (HAWKSHAW 54) 

MCGRATH 2T (H O'SULLIVAN 57) 

RUDDOCK (MURPHY 50) 

PENNY 

LEAVY 1T (BAIRD 58) 

FARDY 

TONER (MOLONY 68) 

BENT (PARKER 50) 

TRACY (SHEEHAN 50) 

DOOLEY 1T (MILNE 50) 

Sun 22 Nov 17:15 


W 40-5 

J O'BRIEN 1T (SILVESTER 41 1T) 

C KELLEHER 

TURNER 

FRAWLEY 

KEARNEY 1T 

H BYRNE 5C 

MCGRATH (OSBORNE 67) 


TRACY 1T (SHEEHAN 58) 

BENT (CLARKSON 52) 

MOLONY (TONER 62) 

BAIRD 

MURPHY (PENNY 52 2T) 

LEAVY (DUNNE 70) 

RUDDOCK 

Sat 12 Dec 17:30 

Champions Cup 

W 35-14 

J O'BRIEN 1T 

KEENAN 

HENSHAW 

FRAWLEY 1T 

KEARNEY 1T 

R BYRNE 1C 1P (H BYRNE 61 1C 1P) 

MCGRATH (GIBSON-PARK 69) 

DOOLEY (HEALY 46) 

TRACY (KELLEHER 46) 

BENT (PORTER 46) 

TONER (BAIRD 69) 

FARDY (RYAN 52) 

RUDDOCK 

VAN DER FLIER 1T 

DORIS (LEAVY 59 1T) 


Bobby Flanagan 

Age: 12 

From: Kildare Town 

School: Sixth Class, St Brigid’s 

Primary School, Kildare 

Hobbies and Interests: Playing 

rugby with Cill Dara U-13s, 

playing guitar and hanging out 

with his mates. 

Favourite Player: Garry Ringrose 

virtual match mascot 

Sat 19 Dec 13:00 

Champions Cup 

W 35-19 

Sat 2 Jan 19:35 


L 24-35 

Fri 8 Jan 19:35 


W 24-12 

J O'BRIEN (C KELLEHER 8) 

KEENAN 

RINGROSE (FRAWLEY 75) 

HENSHAW 

KEARNEY 1T 

R BYRNE 3C 3P 

GIBSON-PARK 1T (MCGRATH 56) 

HEALY 1T (DOOLEY 56) 

R KELLEHER (TRACY 56) 

PORTER (BENT 56) 

BAIRD 

RYAN 

MURPHY 1T (MOLONY 66) 

VAN DER FLIER 


O'REILLY 

SMITH 

J O'BRIEN 1C (O'SULLIVAN 62) 

O'LOUGHLIN (HAWKSHAW 56 1C) 

KEARNEY 

SEXTON (TURNER 23) 

L MCGRATH 1T 

DOOLEY (E BYRNE 51 1T) 

TRACY (CRONIN 51) 

BENT (G MCGRATH 69) 

MOLONY 

TONER (CONAN 51 (CONNORS 57)) 

BAIRD 1T 

PENNY 1T 

LEAVY (CONAN 61) 

KEENAN 

LARMOUR 

R BYRNE 1C 

R HENSHAW 1T 

KEARNEY 1T (J O'BRIEN 80) 

SEXTON 1C 

GIBSON-PARK (L MCGRATH 60) 

HEALY (E BYRNE 56) 

CRONIN 1T (TRACY 56 1T) 

PORTER (BENT 66) 

FARDY (MOLONY 66) 

J RYAN 

RUDDOCK (CONAN 62) 

VAN DER FLIER 

DORIS 

Northampton 

Saints v 


Friday 

January 15 

Franklin's Gardens 

postponed 

Sat 23 Jan 19:35 


W 10-13 

Sat 30 Jan 19:35 


W 25-52 

Fri 19 Feb 19:35 


W 29-35 


v Montpellier 

Friday 

January22 

RDS Arena 

postponed 

KEENAN 

LARMOUR 1T 

RINGROSE 

HENSHAW 

J O'BRIEN (GIBSON-PARK 58) 

SEXTON 2P (R BYRNE 53 1C) 

L MCGRATH 

HEALY (E BYRNE 50) 

CRONIN (R KELLEHER 50) 

PORTER 

FARDY (MOLONY 64) 

J RYAN 

RUDDOCK (CONAN 68) 

CONNORS (VAN DER FLIER 59) 

DORIS 

O'REILLY 1T 

C KELLEHER 1T 

TURNER (J OSBORNE 46) 

FRAWLEY (HAWKSHAW 71 1T) 

KEARNEY 

H BYRNE (6C 1P) 

L MCGRATH 1T (H O'SULLIVAN 67) 

DOOLEY (E BYRNE 54) 

TRACY 1T (CRONIN 54) 

FURLONG (CLARKSON H-T) 

MOLONY 

BAIRD 

MURPHY 

LEAVY 1T (FARDY 77) 

CONAN (DUNNE 60) 

O'REILLY 

C KELLEHER 

O'LOUGHLIN 

R BYRNE 4C (HAWKSHAW 77) 

KEARNEY 

H BYRNE (J OSBORNE 63) 

L MCGRATH (R OSBORNE 67) 

DOOLEY 1T (HANAN 65) 

TRACY (SHEEHAN 57 1T) 

CLARKSON (G MCGRATH 65) 

MOLONY (TONER 57) 

BAIRD 

MURPHY 1T (FARDY 67) 

PENNY 1T 

CONAN 


Fixtures & 

results 

2020/21 

ROUND 

13 


v GLASGOW 

ROUND 

14 

ULSTER v 


ROUND 

15 

ZEBRE v 


ROUND 

16 


v ospreys 

Sunday 

february 28 

RDS Arena 

KO 5.30pm 

saturday 

march 6 

Kingspan Stadium 

KO 7.35pm 

friday 

march 3 

Stadio Sergio 

Lanfranchi 

KO 6.45pm 

friday 

march 19 

RDS Arena 

KO 8.15pm 


At Sword we know how important the Game is. 

We know how important your memories are ....so relax 

and enjoy yourself, you're in safe hands. 

LEINSTER RUGBY FANS .... Secured by the team at Sword 

Dublin: 01-6688220 

info@swordsecurity.com 

www.swordsecurity.com 

Securing Sports Fans around the World.

Coronavirus 

COVID-19 

Coronavirus 

COVID-19 

Public Health 

Advice 

Stay safe. 

Protect each other. 

Continue to: 

Wash 

your hands well 

and often to avoid 

contamination. 

Cover 

your mouth and nose 

with a tissue or sleeve 

when coughing or 

sneezing and discard 

used tissue safely 

Distance 

yourself at least 

2 metres (6 feet) away 

from other people, 

especially those who 

might be unwell 

Avoid 

crowds and 

crowded places 

Know 

the symptoms. If you 

have them self isolate 

and contact your GP 

immediately 

COVID-19 symptoms include 

> high temperature 

> cough 

> breathing difficulty 

> sudden loss of sense of smell or taste 

> flu-like symptoms 

If you have any symptoms, self-isolate to 

protect others and call your GP for a 

COVID-19 test. 

#holdfirm 

For more information 

www.gov.ie/health-covid-19 

www.hse.ie 

Ireland’s public health advice is guided by WHO and ECDC advice

Jimmy O’Brien 

Cian Kelleher 

Rory O’Loughlin 

Ciarán Frawley 

Dave Kearney 

Harry Byrne 

Luke McGrath [C] 

15 

14 

13 

12 

11 

10 

9 

FULL BACK 

RIGHT WING 

OUTSIDE CENTRE 

INSIDE CENTRE 

LEFT WING 

FLY HALF 

SCRUM HALF 

Ollie Smith 

Rufus McLean 

Huw Jones 

Sam Johnson 

Cole Forbes 

Adam Hastings 

Jamie Dobie 

Peter Dooley 

Seán Cronin 

Michael Bent 

Devin Toner 

Scott Fardy 

Josh Murphy 

Josh van der Flier 

Scott Penny 

Dan Sheehan 

Greg McGrath 

Tom Clarkson 

Jack Dunne 

Alex Soroka 

Rowan Osborne 

David Hawkshaw 

Jamie Osborne 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

LOOSE HEAD PROP 

HOOKER 

TIGHT HEAD PROP 

SECOND ROW 

SECOND ROW 

BLINDSIDE FLANKER 

OPENSIDE FLANKER 

NUMBER 8 

16 

17 

18 

19 

20 

21 

22 

23 

REPLACEMENT 

REPLACEMENT 

REPLACEMENT 

REPLACEMENT 

REPLACEMENT 

REPLACEMENT 

REPLACEMENT 

REPLACEMENT 

Oli Kebble 

Grant Stewart 

Enrique Pieretto 

Richie Gray 

Leone Nakarawa 

Rob Harley 

Thomas Gordon 

Ryan Wilson [C] 

Johnny Matthews 

Aki Seiuli 

D’arcy Rae 

Gregor Brown 

TJ Ioane 

Sean Kennedy 

Ross Thompson 

Robbie Fergusson 

Referee: Frank Murphy (IRFU, 41st competition game) 

Assistant Referees: Chris Busby (IRFU) 

Assistant Referees: Robert O’Sullivan (IRFU) 

TMO: Olly Hodges (IRFU) 


FULL MATCH REPLAYS 

NOW AVAILABLE 

WITH XTRA 

MEMBERSHIP. 

SIGN UP FOR FREE AT 

PRO14.RUGBY

MAKE IT A GAME 

YOU’LL REMEMBER. 

MODERATE YOUR DRINKING. 

MAKE YOUR NEXT PINT TAP WATER. 

SOMETIMES LESS IS MORE 

#GUINNESSCLEAR

Leinster Rugby v Glasgow Warriors

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