Leinster vs Connacht
Leinster | Official Matchday Programme of Leinster Rugby | Issue 11 Leinster vs Connacht | EPCR Heineken Champions Cup Friday 15th April, 2022 | KO 5.30pm | Aviva Stadium
Leinster | Official Matchday Programme of Leinster Rugby | Issue 11
Leinster vs Connacht | EPCR Heineken Champions Cup
Friday 15th April, 2022 | KO 5.30pm | Aviva Stadium
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ISSUE 11 | LEINSTER RUGBY OFFICIAL MATCHDAY PROGRAMME<br />
LEINSTER<br />
VS<br />
connacht<br />
FRI 15 th APR<br />
AVIVA STADIUM<br />
KO 5.30PM<br />
FRONT PAGE
POWERED BY NATURE<br />
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The Line up<br />
Telephone:<br />
012693224<br />
Fax:<br />
012693142<br />
E-mail:<br />
information@leinsterrugby.ie<br />
www.leinsterrugby.ie<br />
10<br />
22<br />
EXECUTIVE MANAGEMENT<br />
President: John Walsh<br />
Chief Executive: Michael Dawson<br />
Honorary Secretary: Stuart Bayley<br />
Honorary Treasurer: Michael McGrail<br />
RUGBY MANAGEMENT<br />
Head Coach: Leo Cullen<br />
Senior Coach: Stuart Lancaster<br />
Head of Rugby Operations:<br />
Guy Easterby<br />
Assistant Coach: Robin McBryde<br />
Backs Coach: Felipe Contepomi<br />
Kicking Coach: Emmet Farrell<br />
Contact Skills Coach: Denis Leamy<br />
14<br />
PROGRAMME CREDITS<br />
Editorial Team: Marcus Ó Buachalla,<br />
Ryan Corry & Paul Cahill<br />
Advertising: Gary Nolan<br />
Design: Julian Tredinnick,<br />
Ignition Sports Media<br />
Photography: Sportsfile<br />
Chief Steward: Sword Security<br />
Ambulance: St. John’s Ambulance<br />
Medilink<br />
Event Control & Safety Services:<br />
Eamonn O’Boyle & Associates<br />
76<br />
88<br />
STAY<br />
CONNECTED<br />
& KEEP<br />
UP-TO-DATE<br />
www.leinsterrugby.ie | 3
EPCR<br />
WELCOME<br />
MESSAGE<br />
A warm welcome<br />
to this Heineken<br />
Champions Cup<br />
Round of 16 match<br />
as the competition<br />
for a coveted<br />
place in next<br />
month’s Marseille<br />
final really begins<br />
to hot up.<br />
The intensity and drama of the knockout<br />
stage will increase this season with the<br />
historic introduction of home and away<br />
legs in the Round of 16, and aggregate<br />
scores over the back-to-back fixtures will<br />
decide which of the elite clubs – with<br />
an impressive total of 28 European titles<br />
between them - qualify for the last eight of<br />
the tournament.<br />
The innovative format will guarantee<br />
two compelling, high-stakes matches<br />
this month featuring stars of the global<br />
game and we can then look forward to<br />
traditional quarter-finals and semi-finals<br />
culminating in the 2022 showpiece final<br />
at the Stade Vélodrome on Saturday,<br />
28 May.<br />
In addition, following the conclusion<br />
of the Heineken Champions Cup pool<br />
stage, Cardiff Rugby, Wasps, Castres<br />
Olympique, Glasgow Warriors,<br />
FRONT PAGE<br />
Northampton Saints and Bath Rugby will<br />
continue their quest for silverware this<br />
season having booked their places in the<br />
knockout stage of the EPCR Challenge<br />
Cup.<br />
We are delighted to be joined on the<br />
journey to Marseille by our long-standing<br />
title partner, Heineken, as well as by our<br />
newest official partner, DHL, who provide<br />
customised logistics solutions for both<br />
the Heineken Champions Cup and the<br />
EPCR Challenge Cup, and we would also<br />
like to thank Tissot, the Financial Times,<br />
Gilbert and Kappa for their continuing<br />
support.<br />
We acknowledge the superb coverage<br />
provided by our TV partners BT Sport,<br />
beIN SPORTS, France Télévisions,<br />
Channel 4, Virgin Media, S4C and Sky<br />
Italia whose output is complemented<br />
by the wide range of linear and OTT<br />
platforms which broadcast the Heineken<br />
Champions Cup globally.<br />
We recognise that this season has been<br />
particularly challenging for everyone<br />
associated with the game, however,<br />
it is now heartening to see fans back<br />
at venues across Europe and we will<br />
continue to work closely with the leagues<br />
and unions to ensure that the high-profile<br />
matches in the knockout stage of the<br />
tournament can be played safely.<br />
On behalf of all at EPCR, enjoy the match<br />
and best wishes to you, the supporters,<br />
as well as to your club’s players and staff<br />
for what promises to be a riveting Round<br />
of 16.<br />
Yours in rugby,<br />
Dominic McKay<br />
EPCR Chairman
Every great match<br />
starts with 0.0
HEINEKEN ireland<br />
Welcome<br />
A very warm<br />
welcome to the<br />
Round of 16 of<br />
the 2021/2022<br />
Heineken<br />
Champions<br />
Cup. After an<br />
incredibly<br />
challenging<br />
two years,<br />
it has been<br />
truly heartwarming<br />
to see<br />
full capacity<br />
crowds back in<br />
stadia enjoying<br />
sport, of all<br />
codes, over<br />
the past few<br />
months. Huge<br />
credit is due<br />
to all sporting<br />
organisations,<br />
players, and<br />
officials for<br />
their collective<br />
perseverance,<br />
dedication,<br />
and desire<br />
to entertain<br />
the Irish and<br />
international<br />
sporting<br />
publics.<br />
I wish all remaining 16 teams in the<br />
Heineken Champions Cup the very best<br />
of luck. We have some mouth-watering<br />
games to look forward to, in what<br />
promises to be a hugely exciting twolegged<br />
Round of 16. It is testament to<br />
the ever-increasing strength of Irish rugby<br />
that all four Irish teams have advanced<br />
to the business end of Europe’s leading<br />
club rugby competition. It goes without<br />
saying that we in HEINEKEN Ireland<br />
will keep a particularly close eye on the<br />
progress of the home teams. For Irish<br />
fans, the standout tie must be the clash<br />
of <strong>Connacht</strong> Rugby v <strong>Leinster</strong> Rugby in<br />
what will be an epic encounter between<br />
two fine teams. Munster Rugby face a<br />
formidable opponent in Exeter Chiefs<br />
and similarly, Ulster Rugby take on the<br />
might of Stade Toulousain in what also<br />
promises to be another very keenly<br />
contested game.<br />
This time of year, brings with it immense<br />
excitement and anticipation, as hopes<br />
and dreams of making the final of<br />
the Heineken Champions Cup final in<br />
Marseille at the end of May become<br />
closer to realisation. We at HEINEKEN<br />
Ireland are immensely proud to be title<br />
sponsor of a tournament that continues to<br />
deliver so many truly memorable sporting<br />
occasions. I have no doubt, more<br />
memories will be made in the coming<br />
weeks.<br />
Enjoy the games and as always please<br />
do socialise responsibly.<br />
Maarten Schuurman<br />
Managing Director, HEINEKEN Ireland.<br />
www.leinsterrugby.ie | 7
john walsh welcome<br />
sport should always keep to the forefront<br />
of our minds.<br />
PRESIDENT, LEINSTER RUGBY 2020/22<br />
On behalf of <strong>Leinster</strong><br />
Rugby, we welcome<br />
fans back to the Aviva<br />
Stadium for the first<br />
time this year that<br />
<strong>Leinster</strong> will grace this<br />
atmospheric home of<br />
Irish Rugby.<br />
This evening’s fixture in the<br />
second leg of the Round of 16<br />
stage of the Heineken Champions<br />
Cup will mark the fourth occasion<br />
this season that we have had a<br />
local derby with our neighbours<br />
<strong>Connacht</strong>. At stake tonight is a<br />
place in the quarter-final so this<br />
game is of vital importance to<br />
both sides.<br />
A slender five-point advantage for<br />
<strong>Leinster</strong> from the first leg encounter at<br />
the packed Sportsground in Galway<br />
last Friday night separates the sides so<br />
tonight’s encounter has all the ingredients<br />
to make a classic encounter between<br />
both these talented sides.<br />
The local derbies between our provincial<br />
sides, no matter at what level, are eagerly<br />
awaited by all rugby fans and indeed all<br />
players look forward to that extra spice<br />
that these events generate.<br />
The post-match changing rooms<br />
following a local derby reflects the extra<br />
exhilaration that the winners achieve from<br />
their win while the faces of the defeated<br />
side tell their own story without a word<br />
needing to be said.<br />
<strong>Leinster</strong> will be aware that <strong>Connacht</strong> are<br />
a threat to any side as they play with skill,<br />
passion, heart and commitment until the<br />
final whistle. It’s not that long ago since<br />
they defeated <strong>Leinster</strong> in the Grand Final<br />
of the League in 2016 and have beaten<br />
8 | www.leinsterrugby.ie<br />
<strong>Leinster</strong> in Galway and Dublin in recent<br />
years.<br />
On behalf of the <strong>Leinster</strong> Management<br />
and Executive Committee we welcome<br />
our counterparts from Connach Rugby<br />
led by Ann Henegan (President and an<br />
outstanding ambassador for her province<br />
and clubs), Willie Ruane (CEO) and of<br />
course Andy Friend (head coach) and<br />
Jarrad Butler and Jack Carty (captains).<br />
<strong>Connacht</strong> are a proud province with<br />
victories over 53 clubs in European<br />
competitions including over top teams<br />
like Toulon and have contributed over 70<br />
players to the Irish side including the likes<br />
of Lions players Ray McLoughlin, Ciaran<br />
Fitzgerald and John O’Driscoll.<br />
While we may be rivals on the pitch we,<br />
at <strong>Leinster</strong> Rugby, continue to work with<br />
our colleagues in <strong>Connacht</strong>, Munster<br />
and Ulster for the sustained development<br />
of the game at all levels on this island<br />
and share many common goals and<br />
objectives and long may that be so.<br />
For Irish Rugby to prosper we need<br />
all our provincial teams to continue to<br />
develop and to have a strong presence in<br />
our European competitions. The US Dime<br />
may well be regarded as an insignificant<br />
coin but it bears the significant inscription<br />
of ‘E Pluribus Unum’ (out of many one)<br />
and it’s a message that all involved in our<br />
<strong>Connacht</strong>, like <strong>Leinster</strong>, are building<br />
for the future and both provinces will<br />
shortly embark on major multi-million<br />
Euro development projects at the<br />
Sportsgrounds and RDS Arena which<br />
will significantly increase the quality of<br />
facilities for our fans and players. We are<br />
very appreciative of the support and vote<br />
of confidence that our sport has received<br />
from Government.<br />
A heartfelt thank you to all our <strong>Leinster</strong><br />
Rugby supporting partners and sponsors<br />
for standing shoulder to shoulder with<br />
us during this difficult period of the<br />
pandemic.<br />
A special acknowledgement to thank the<br />
Bank of Ireland for their valued support<br />
of Irish rugby.<br />
<strong>Leinster</strong> Rugby are proud to be<br />
associated with them and with the vision<br />
and participation that they bring to every<br />
aspect of our structures at <strong>Leinster</strong> youth,<br />
schools, girls and women’s rugby, clubs<br />
and <strong>Leinster</strong> representative sides. We<br />
look forward to our continued successful<br />
association.<br />
The <strong>Leinster</strong> domestic season is reaching<br />
its final competition stages. The 75th<br />
Bank of Ireland Provincial Towns Cup<br />
Final will feature Kilkenny and Ashbourne<br />
in what is a repeat of their 2014 final in<br />
which Ashbourne emerged winners to<br />
record their first title win. Cill Dara RFC<br />
will host the final on Easter Sunday in<br />
what promises to be a thrilling final with<br />
two sides in top form of late.<br />
The 100th Bank of Ireland Metropolitan<br />
Cup will take place on Friday, 22 April,<br />
at Energia Park with a 7.30pm kick-off<br />
and will feature Terenure College (10<br />
wins) against Clontarf (six wins). The last<br />
time these teams met in the final was in<br />
2002 when Clontarf won.<br />
The Bank of Ireland <strong>Leinster</strong> Rugby<br />
Schools programme has been severely<br />
impacted due to the pandemic and there<br />
was great delight amongst all involved in<br />
our 73 <strong>Leinster</strong>-affiliated schools that we<br />
have succeeded in completing our cup<br />
competitions this season.
<strong>Leinster</strong> Rugby annually stages 73<br />
competitions but we couldn’t play<br />
these games without the hard work<br />
and cooperation of our clubs. We<br />
thank all those clubs who made their<br />
facilities available for the competitions.<br />
Congratulations to all those players who<br />
participated in the competitions and the<br />
best of luck in your future journeys in<br />
rugby.<br />
Irish and <strong>Leinster</strong> fans will have been<br />
disappointed to learn that Dan Leavy<br />
has had to retire on medical advice at<br />
the age of 27 following a knee injury<br />
sustained against Ulster three years ago<br />
now.<br />
His glittering career saw him establish<br />
himself as one of the top emerging<br />
international players.<br />
His career with <strong>Leinster</strong> saw him make 79<br />
appearances and play a leading role in<br />
our Heineken Cup win in Bilbao in 2018.<br />
Capped seven times for Ireland at U-20<br />
level, he graduated to the full Irish side<br />
and in 11 appearances for Ireland (never<br />
on a losing side) he was a member of the<br />
Six Nations Grand Slam winning Irish<br />
side of 2018. <strong>Leinster</strong> Rugby wish him the<br />
very best for the future and thank him for<br />
his commitment to the club.<br />
The 2011 European Player of the Year<br />
Seán O’Brien has also announced that<br />
he will retire from professional rugby at<br />
the end of the current season.<br />
In a 14-year professional career his status<br />
with fans of <strong>Leinster</strong>, Ireland and the Lions<br />
is iconic.<br />
The ‘Tullow Tank’s’ glittering career<br />
yielded four Heineken Champions Cup<br />
wins with <strong>Leinster</strong> (126 appearances,<br />
20 tries), 56 Irish Caps and two Lions<br />
tours in 2013 and 2017 that yielded 11<br />
appearances and five Test caps.<br />
A passionate supporter of his local club<br />
Tullow RFC he was an example of just<br />
one of the many Irish Internationals to<br />
emerge as a result of the <strong>Leinster</strong> strategy<br />
of building ‘From The Ground Up’ and<br />
the creation of pathways for players to<br />
progress their talents in rugby. Good luck<br />
to Seán from all in <strong>Leinster</strong> Rugby for the<br />
future.<br />
Yours in sport,<br />
John Walsh<br />
President <strong>Leinster</strong> Rugby 2020-2022<br />
Until we meet again “Keep The Faith”<br />
www.leinsterrugby.ie | 9
Leo Cullen<br />
head Coach Welcome<br />
Good evening and a very warm welcome to<br />
the Aviva for our fourth encounter with<br />
Andy Friend’s <strong>Connacht</strong> team this season.<br />
Last week in Galway, we<br />
saw two fully committed Irish<br />
provincial teams going at it from<br />
first whistle to last and I’m sure<br />
this evening’s game will be no<br />
different.<br />
We really appreciate your attendance<br />
here today. The passionate support that<br />
the Irish provinces enjoy has always been<br />
a great strength when it comes to this<br />
time of year, when so many of these big<br />
European games come down to the finest<br />
of margins.<br />
Amazingly, this is the first knockout game<br />
in Europe here at the Aviva Stadium<br />
in front of supporters since 2019. That<br />
game was against Ulster for anyone who<br />
can remember that far back!<br />
We definitely needed your support that<br />
day and it’ll be the same today. We have<br />
been away to Irish provinces for the last<br />
four weekends in a row so it’s nice to be<br />
back here for such a huge game.<br />
Since our last home game, we have also<br />
had a couple of players making their<br />
<strong>Leinster</strong> debuts.<br />
10 | www.leinsterrugby.ie<br />
Congratulations to Temi Lasisi and<br />
Chris Cosgrave on making their <strong>Leinster</strong><br />
bows against Ulster and <strong>Connacht</strong><br />
respectively. Temi has come through from<br />
the clubs pathway where he represented<br />
Enniscorthy before moving on to<br />
Lansdowne.<br />
Chris on the other hand came through as<br />
a schoolboy with St Michael’s College.<br />
I’m sure both lads have had lots of help<br />
along the way to get to this point and we<br />
are thankful for all the volunteer support,<br />
coaching and mentoring that have<br />
helped so many of our players to reach<br />
their potential.<br />
It’s great to welcome Rob Kearney back<br />
‘home’ this weekend. Rob was one of<br />
the unlucky players who had to finish<br />
his <strong>Leinster</strong> career with no supporters<br />
present. On the plus side, he did get to<br />
finish his time here by raising a trophy<br />
with Fergus McFadden at this very<br />
ground.<br />
I’m sure all our supporters will have fond<br />
memories of Rob and some of the huge<br />
performances that he delivered for both<br />
<strong>Leinster</strong> and Ireland over a long and<br />
successful career. We hope to draw<br />
on Rob’s vast experience and rugby<br />
knowledge in some way over the coming<br />
years but in the meantime, we wish him<br />
every success whatever path he chooses.<br />
A big welcome to the <strong>Leinster</strong> contingent<br />
who represented Ireland during the<br />
successful Grand Slam winning U-20s<br />
campaign. The lads were simply brilliant<br />
so well done to them and also to Richie<br />
Murphy and his coaching group on a<br />
great campaign.<br />
On a sadder note, we were all very sorry<br />
to hear of the passing of Don Reddan,<br />
father of former <strong>Connacht</strong> and <strong>Leinster</strong><br />
player Eoin, and of course Eoin’s brother,<br />
Alan, who played for both <strong>Connacht</strong> and<br />
Lansdowne.<br />
Don was such a great supporter of<br />
<strong>Leinster</strong>, even though, by his own<br />
admission he was a late convert! He was<br />
also an ever-present at home and away<br />
matches, part of that special connection<br />
with family and friends that means so<br />
much to the team.<br />
We will all miss Don but remember some<br />
great times and special memories on the<br />
road.<br />
Our aim is now to push on and try our<br />
best to experience more of those special<br />
memories, starting this evening. We<br />
realise however that <strong>Connacht</strong> and all<br />
the other teams that lie in wait have their<br />
own aspirations to go on and achieve<br />
success on the biggest stage. That fierce<br />
competition is what makes this tournament<br />
so special and we hope you will stick<br />
with us for the twists and turns ahead.<br />
Many thanks again to all of you and that<br />
includes our loyal sponsors, particularly<br />
Bank of Ireland, for your continued<br />
support. We couldn’t do what we do<br />
without you.<br />
Leo<br />
Enjoy the game and Happy Easter!
www.leinsterrugby.ie | 11
12 | www.leinsterrugby.ie
carla<br />
delaney<br />
DIRECTOR, BANK OF IRELAND AREA EAST<br />
After five away games in a row it’s great to be back enjoying<br />
home comforts in the Aviva Stadium for the second leg of the<br />
Heineken Champions Cup Round of 16 clash against <strong>Connacht</strong> Rugby.<br />
Bank of Ireland is a proud<br />
sponsor of all four provinces,<br />
so interprovincial derbies are a<br />
tricky affair at the best of times!<br />
But there is no doubting that<br />
these games bring out the best<br />
in each and every player, and<br />
we certainly saw that on display<br />
in the first leg last weekend in<br />
Galway.<br />
The game was on the line until the very<br />
end, and it was a testament to both teams<br />
that fans on both sides of the divide left<br />
feeling confident of progression ahead of<br />
this evening’s clash. It promises to be an<br />
intriguing game and we wish both teams<br />
the very best of luck.<br />
Over the last few weeks, it has been<br />
great to see Tania Rosser and her<br />
women’s squad assemble for the first time.<br />
Competitive action is some way away yet,<br />
but they will start to build over the coming<br />
months down in Energia Park.<br />
It was brilliant to hear Tania’s thoughts<br />
recently – together with Leo Cullen and<br />
Mick Dawson – when speaking to the<br />
OLSC and Season Ticket Holders about<br />
the future of the game and the future of<br />
women’s rugby. With the Irish women’s<br />
team under a new coaching ticket, and<br />
picking up their first points of the Six<br />
Nations at the weekend against Italy,<br />
there is plenty to be optimistic about. We<br />
in Bank of Ireland can’t wait to get behind<br />
Tania and her team as they take to the<br />
field again in the coming months for the<br />
Interprovincial Championship.<br />
Congratulations to all the clubs and<br />
schools sides who won their respective<br />
competitions over the last few weeks.<br />
To St Michael’s College and Blackrock<br />
College for their respective Junior and<br />
Senior Cup wins, and of course hard<br />
luck to Cistercian College, Roscrea and<br />
Gonzaga College, who both had brilliant<br />
campaigns coming up just short in their<br />
respective finals.<br />
Congratulations also go to St Fintan’s<br />
High School on winning the Bank<br />
of Ireland <strong>Leinster</strong> Rugby Schools Fr<br />
Godfrey Cup, and to CUS who won the<br />
Vinnie Murray Cup. There are still games<br />
and finals to be played though, and best<br />
of luck to Ashbourne and Kilkenny as they<br />
prepare for the Bank of Ireland Provincial<br />
Towns Cup, the most prestigious of the<br />
club competitions in the 12 counties of<br />
<strong>Leinster</strong> Rugby.<br />
Finally, to a good friend of Bank of<br />
Ireland’s - Seán O’Brien, who last week<br />
announced his retirement from rugby at<br />
the end of the season. Seán has been<br />
a phenomenal servant to the game in<br />
<strong>Leinster</strong> and certainly put Tullow on the<br />
rugby map. There have been some great<br />
days following him in blue and in green<br />
– and indeed in Lions red! We wish him<br />
well in his retirement.<br />
Enjoy the game and may the best team<br />
win.<br />
CD<br />
www.leinsterrugby.ie | 13
14 | www.leinsterrugby.ie<br />
m
oss<br />
olony<br />
the big interview<br />
BY MARCUS Ó BUACHALLA<br />
Second row Ross<br />
Molony made<br />
his <strong>Leinster</strong><br />
Rugby debut as<br />
a 20-year-old<br />
against Zebre in<br />
February 2015.<br />
Since then, he<br />
has amassed<br />
an impressive<br />
total of 133<br />
appearances<br />
for <strong>Leinster</strong><br />
Rugby with four<br />
United Rugby<br />
Championships<br />
and a Heineken<br />
Champions Cup<br />
medal to his<br />
name.<br />
www.leinsterrugby.ie | 15
It’s fair to say that there isn’t<br />
much he hasn’t seen in a blue<br />
jersey.<br />
This two-week window, however, is one<br />
that neither Molony or his team-mates<br />
will have experienced in their careers – a<br />
back-to-back aggregate tie.<br />
While the same opposition have regularly<br />
popped up in European competition<br />
in successive weekends in the pool,<br />
the combined scorelines add a new<br />
dimension to the fixtures and give players<br />
an extra element to work into decisionmaking<br />
during the week, and most<br />
importantly, on the field throughout the<br />
80 minutes.<br />
“It’s different,” Molony says. “The<br />
concentration for these knockout games is<br />
at a high over the two-week period where<br />
every point matters.<br />
“You can see some of the other games<br />
over the weekend where a team had a<br />
decent lead but then there was a chance<br />
for the other team to put up a few points<br />
and, again, it’s all to play for.<br />
“It doesn’t allow anyone to run away with<br />
it and for us, getting ahead by five points<br />
was important. But, it keeps us focused<br />
and ready for this week.”<br />
This evening’s meeting at Aviva Stadium<br />
is very much in the bracket of ‘all to play<br />
for’ as <strong>Leinster</strong> come back from Galway<br />
with a five-point advantage.<br />
Head coach Leo Cullen referenced in his<br />
post-match media duties following that<br />
game that it was ‘two good Irish sides<br />
going hard at it’.<br />
And, for Molony, the sentiment is the<br />
same, with both sets of supporters adding<br />
extra edge at The Sportsground.<br />
“It always is down there (a battle). I think<br />
we expected exactly what they came out<br />
with, they were quick out of the blocks,<br />
they were on top of us with ball in hand,”<br />
he explains.<br />
“Obviously, the crowd factor, the pitch<br />
factor are big things playing there.<br />
Having played there the two weeks<br />
previous in the league match, we had an<br />
idea of what was coming.<br />
“There’s a bit of a different group going<br />
down in the European game but, yeah,<br />
it was a battle. It was good. It was a<br />
really enjoyable game from a neutral’s<br />
spectating point of view.<br />
“We had a big number of supporters<br />
buses that went down from the OLSC<br />
and we had a serious contingent of fans<br />
behind the goal where we were attacking<br />
in the second half.<br />
“And, especially in away games, that<br />
makes a huge difference when you<br />
can see the flags and hear the <strong>Leinster</strong><br />
chants, the blue in the crowd. So, now<br />
we’re looking forward to tonight where,<br />
hopefully, we’ll have a lot more.”<br />
Last Friday was Molony’s 17th<br />
appearance of the season for the<br />
16 | www.leinsterrugby.ie
When you’re<br />
in camp, you’re<br />
living in there and<br />
there’s a lot of<br />
things I’ve taken<br />
away from that<br />
in terms of doing<br />
your extras, more<br />
recovery stuff<br />
that I’ve added<br />
to my game this<br />
season.<br />
province, 11 of which have lasted the full<br />
80 minutes.<br />
The former St Michael’s College man<br />
has rightly been earning plaudits for<br />
his performances and how he has<br />
established himself over the last number<br />
of years as a mainstay in the side.<br />
The most notable of those<br />
acknowledgements came from Ireland<br />
head coach, Andy Farrell, who included<br />
Molony in international camps last<br />
summer and during the 2022 Six<br />
Nations.<br />
While he’s yet to get that coveted green<br />
cap, the benefit of being included in that<br />
environment, listening to new voices and<br />
training with new faces has not been lost<br />
on him.<br />
“Firstly, it’s great to be involved in that setup,<br />
with that group of players. They had<br />
a very successful tournament and a very<br />
successful autumn series and even before<br />
that, the summer series,” he adds.<br />
“I feel I’m playing good rugby with the<br />
club so getting rewarded from that is<br />
great but now it’s to the next step and<br />
going on and getting the cap.<br />
“I think it’s driven my game on a bit<br />
because there’s a lot of, not detail, but<br />
you’re under the eye a little bit more.<br />
When you’re in camp, you’re living<br />
in there and there’s a lot of things I’ve<br />
taken away from that in terms of doing<br />
your extras, more recovery stuff that I’ve<br />
added to my game this season.”<br />
“It’s refreshing to experience, and be<br />
under, a different coaching staff. I’d be<br />
familiar with Fogs (John Fogarty) in<br />
there but the other lads, I’d never<br />
worked under before.<br />
“It’s great because coaches<br />
pick up cues that they give their<br />
players that they can always go<br />
back to so you get a refreshed<br />
view on parts of your game that<br />
you may not have thought were<br />
an issue before. But now you have<br />
someone else shining a light on it, I think<br />
it’s great for the players to get better but<br />
also for the team to improve.”<br />
For now though, the focus has turned<br />
back to <strong>Leinster</strong> and, having welcomed<br />
back all of the internationals from Six<br />
www.leinsterrugby.ie | 17
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Nations duty ahead of the Munster clash,<br />
Molony is now familiar with being both<br />
one of the returning contingent as well as<br />
being in the core group still grinding in<br />
UCD or Energia Park during that block<br />
of games.<br />
He does outline, however, that with<br />
the team being as close at it is, the ‘reintegrating’<br />
is limited to the vocabulary<br />
around set-pieces and planning.<br />
“I think it’s more to do with the language<br />
around calls and slotting into different<br />
schedules in here to what they’ve been<br />
used to for eight or nine weeks during the<br />
Six Nations.<br />
“It’s a boost for the group here to have<br />
such quality coming back in to drive<br />
the standards in our training. In terms<br />
of the integration, our group here is<br />
pretty tight knit so it’s seamless enough.”<br />
While Molony’s career continues on an<br />
upward trajectory, sadly the opposite<br />
has to be said for his former schools<br />
teammate, Dan Leavy.<br />
The flanker sadly announced last week<br />
that he was being forced to retire from<br />
the game due to that horrific injury<br />
picked up against Ulster in the 2019<br />
Champions Cup quarter-final against<br />
Ulster.<br />
Despite fighting his way back and<br />
making a further 17 appearances, the<br />
flanker was advised not to continue<br />
on medical grounds, saying in his<br />
announcement that “I can’t do any<br />
more or ask any more of my body”.<br />
Having played through school, agegrade<br />
teams and then for <strong>Leinster</strong><br />
together, he’s someone that Molony<br />
has aligned with all of the highlights<br />
he has in the game.<br />
“He announced it to us on the<br />
Monday last week and it was<br />
announced then in public on the<br />
Tuesday. It’s such a tough one on Dan.<br />
“The resilience he’s shown over the past<br />
few years just shows the character of<br />
who he is. Dan was the year ahead of<br />
me in school so I would have played<br />
all of my rugby growing up with<br />
him. I would have seen him as an<br />
inspiration and a leader, he would<br />
have often captained sides that I<br />
was on in school or underage.<br />
www.leinsterrugby.ie | 19
“Any of the big moments in my career, I<br />
can remember enjoying them with Dan.<br />
If I was to ever think of a Dream Team<br />
to play a game with, he’s the first name<br />
on that team sheet. I just think the<br />
way he played the game and<br />
the impact he could have as a<br />
single player on a game was<br />
incredible. I’m gutted for him<br />
but I also know the type<br />
of person he is and what<br />
he’s been through,<br />
anything he does next<br />
will be a success.”<br />
Leavy’s retirement,<br />
along with that of Devin<br />
Toner, and a number of<br />
departing players, many of<br />
whom fit the same age profile<br />
as Molony, coming through<br />
the ranks at the same time as him,<br />
provide just another motivating factor to<br />
finish the season on a high.<br />
And, as always, at this stage of the<br />
season, the lock is steadfast in his<br />
assessment that only silverware will do.<br />
“There’s a lot of lads moving on to<br />
exciting challenges. Again, a lot of<br />
my era. I played a lot of underage<br />
rugby with Dools (Peter Dooley), Adam<br />
(Byrne), Josh (Murphy) and Locko (Rory<br />
O’Loughlin).<br />
20 | www.leinsterrugby.ie
“The years that standout to me, like when<br />
the 2015 World Cup was on, I would<br />
have played a lot at the start of the<br />
season and it was with those lads.<br />
“And then the seasons after that if the<br />
internationals were away, it was that<br />
core group that would stay here. There’s<br />
a good group of players moving on and<br />
their new clubs are very lucky to get<br />
them.<br />
“There’s an opportunity for the group to<br />
do something special. We talked about<br />
the lads moving on, the boys retiring,<br />
others moving on to different clubs.<br />
“We talked about there being a good<br />
group here and we want to do something<br />
special on the pitch but there is that<br />
smaller group that we can play for. The<br />
two trophies have to be the goals for<br />
that,” he states.<br />
The next step in that process can only<br />
begin with a win against <strong>Connacht</strong>.<br />
And having seen them up close and<br />
personal last week, Molony believes that<br />
a promising start is important. It’s also<br />
a help to have been able to add some<br />
more faces back to the fold this week.<br />
“It’s going to be about how quickly we<br />
can get ourselves into the game, get<br />
going. As I said, they got out of the<br />
blocks well last week, which we knew<br />
they would do.<br />
“So, for us, being at home, we need to<br />
win the crowd over by getting into our<br />
game quick and putting out our intent<br />
early.<br />
“We have the ability but it doesn’t just<br />
happen, we have to go and make it<br />
happen.<br />
“It’s a good lift for us that we have Ports<br />
(Andrew Porter) and Rónan (Kelleher)<br />
coming back in. The quality that they’ve<br />
shown over the years means they’ll be a<br />
big boost to the wider group. It pushes<br />
lads on even more.”<br />
That push starts at 5.30pm this evening at<br />
Aviva Stadium.<br />
www.leinsterrugby.ie | 21
Action<br />
replay 21 26<br />
CONNACHT RUGBY<br />
Tiernan O’Halloran (Conor Fitzgerald<br />
41); John Porch, Tom Farrell (Sammy<br />
Arnold 77), Bundee Aki, Mack Hansen;<br />
Jack Carty, Kieran Marmion (Caolin<br />
Blade 61); Matthew Burke (Tietie<br />
Tuimauga 56), Dave Heffernan (Dylan<br />
Tierney-Martin 70), Finlay Bealham<br />
(Jack Aungier 70); Gavin Thornbury<br />
(Oisin Dowling 52), Leva Fifita; Cian<br />
Prendergast, Conor Oliver, Jarrad Butler<br />
(Abraham Papali’I 61).<br />
SCORERS<br />
Tries: John Porch, Leva Fifita.<br />
Con: Jack Carty.<br />
Pens: Jack Carty (3).<br />
FRIDAY APRIL 8, 2022<br />
THE SPORTSGROUND<br />
ATTENDANCE: 8,129<br />
HEINEKEN CHAMPIONS CUP<br />
LEINSTER RUGBY<br />
Hugo Keenan; Jimmy O’Brien, Garry<br />
Ringrose, Robbie Henshaw (Ciarán<br />
Frawley 73), James Lowe; Johnny Sexton<br />
(Ross Byrne 68), Luke McGrath (Jamison<br />
Gibson-Park 50); Cian Healy (Ed Byrne<br />
50), Dan Sheehan (James Tracy 62),<br />
Tadhg Furlong (Michael Ala’alatoa 62);<br />
Ross Molony, Josh Murphy (Devin Toner<br />
70); Caelan Doris (Max Deegan 78),<br />
Josh van der Flier, Jack Conan.<br />
SCORERS<br />
Tries: James Lowe (2), Hugo Keenan.<br />
Con: Johnny Sexton.<br />
Pens: Johnny Sexton (2), Ross Byrne.<br />
22 | www.leinsterrugby.ie
Two Irish teams<br />
going hard at<br />
it. That’s what<br />
you want to see.<br />
There was good<br />
intent to play<br />
from both teams.<br />
Leo Cullen<br />
It’s a tough<br />
place to come.<br />
We were here<br />
two weeks<br />
ago in the URC<br />
but this was<br />
a different<br />
animal. It was a<br />
big occasion for<br />
both teams and<br />
we’re looking<br />
forward to<br />
going up against<br />
them again.<br />
Caelan Doris,<br />
Heineken Star of the Match<br />
www.leinsterrugby.ie | 23
NORTH-EAST CLINCH<br />
U-16 SHANE HORGAN CUP<br />
The fourth<br />
round of<br />
matches in<br />
the Bank<br />
of Ireland<br />
U-16 Shane<br />
Horgan Cup<br />
took place at<br />
Energia Park<br />
on Wednesday<br />
afternoon.<br />
They resulted in wins for North-<br />
East, who also claimed this year’s<br />
title, and North Midlands.<br />
North-East 60<br />
Midlands 20<br />
An impressive North-East<br />
completed a clean sweep to<br />
become champions when posting<br />
10 tries against Midlands.<br />
They blasted out of the blocks with an<br />
opening statement of intent that included<br />
a blistering break and offload by fullback<br />
Delcan O’Connor for loosehead<br />
Griffin Carrick to speed over, Jack<br />
Litchfield converting in the first minute.<br />
Midlands did not stand on ceremony,<br />
flanker Callum Mulligan showing good<br />
footwork and No 8 John Casey getting<br />
on the ball.<br />
Front-rowers Carrick and Max Ward<br />
looked comfortable moving the ball<br />
before lock Chuck Ohawaga and centre<br />
Harley Harold both got to within five<br />
metres of the second try.<br />
Midlands couldn’t afford to go on in<br />
defensive mode. Centre Eoin Conlon and<br />
the big left boot of Oisin O’Hara gave<br />
them room to breathe.<br />
24 | www.leinsterrugby.ie<br />
The dam had to burst when hooker Ward<br />
was given too much room by accurate<br />
passing on the inside for 12-0 in the 15th<br />
minute.<br />
North-East were on the move again<br />
when a pass went astray and Midlands<br />
centre Cody Broderick snapped up the<br />
half-chance to stay ahead of the posse<br />
for an opportunist try.<br />
The long kicking of out-half O’Hara<br />
led to another impressive cameo from<br />
Mulligan, adding pace to a nice move<br />
for a superb try, for 12-10 in the 23rd<br />
minute.<br />
A sustained attack from North-East<br />
ripped through phases as backs and<br />
forwards handled easily for Ward to<br />
punch in his second try, Litchfield’s<br />
conversion making it 19-10 at the<br />
interval.<br />
It was the Midlands who started the<br />
better in the new half, Mulligan to the<br />
fore in creating the front foot for centre<br />
Broderick to go close and replacement<br />
James Grehan to be stopped in his tracks<br />
by Seamus Evans.<br />
In a flash, the North-East were breaking<br />
upfield for Carrick to shoot through a<br />
small gap, having the pace to resist<br />
O’Hara for 24-10 in the 35th minute.<br />
When suffocating defence forced an<br />
error in handling, a Harold hack ahead<br />
put North-East in position to strike again,<br />
tighthead Ciaran Scott bouncing out of a<br />
tackle to ground the ball.<br />
It went from bad to worse for Midlands<br />
when a raid down the right enabled<br />
Litchfield to come on to the ball at pace<br />
to ghost home<br />
Suddenly, North-East were in overdrive,<br />
turning possession into points in a<br />
hurry, Aidan Rennie streaking down the<br />
left before replacement Hugh Keogh<br />
followed suit from distance for converted<br />
tries.<br />
Midlands did find a response from<br />
second row Jake Kenny’s barrelling run<br />
before Luke Fagan barged over for Philip<br />
Smyth to convert for North-East.<br />
Tiring limbs made for leaky defences and<br />
Midlands full-back Andrew Hill was next<br />
to take advantage on the right before<br />
Evan Shelly answered from a quickstriking<br />
attack.<br />
Scorers – North-East: M Ward, G<br />
Carrick two tries each; C Scott, H Keogh,<br />
L Fagan, E Shelly try each; J Litchfield try,<br />
four cons; P Smyth try, con. Midlands: C<br />
Mulligan, C Broderick, J Kenny, A Hill<br />
try each.
North-East – Declan O’Connor (Navan);<br />
Seamus Evans (Navan), Shaun O’Reilly<br />
(Navan), Harley Harold (Balbriggan),<br />
Dara McFadden (Balbriggan); Jack<br />
Litchfield (Skerries), Oisin McEneany<br />
(Skerries); Griffin Carrick (Skerries), Max<br />
Ward (Dundalk), Ciaran Scott (Navan),<br />
Chuck Ohawaga (Navan), Tadgh<br />
Flanagan (Navan), Luke Fagan (Skerries),<br />
Mike Brannigan (Skerries), Evan Shelly<br />
(Skerries).<br />
Replacements: Colin Jordan (Navan),<br />
Hugh Keogh (Ratoath), Luis Hodson<br />
(Balbriggan), Philip Smyth (Navan),<br />
Aidan Rennie (Navan), Adam Dooley<br />
(Boyne), Liam Philips-O’Brien (Skerries),<br />
Lee Bennett (Ratoath).<br />
Midlands – Andrew Hill (Edenderry);<br />
Cian Lynam (Tullamore), Cody Broderick<br />
(Midland Warriors), Eoin Conlon<br />
(Mullingar), Killian Bennett (Wilson’s<br />
Hospital); Oisin O’Hara (Mullingar),<br />
Paidi Gorman (Edenderry); Yaw Appiah<br />
(Longford), Ciaran Heffernan (Longford),<br />
James Ryan (Roscrea), Jake Kenny<br />
(Tullamore), Artur Lazor (Mullingar),<br />
Tadhg Clear (Tullamore), Callum<br />
Mulligan (Wilson’s Hospital), John Casey<br />
(Mullingar).<br />
Replacements: Finbar Kelly (Mullingar),<br />
James Grehan (Longford), Adam<br />
Meehan (Mullingar), Cillian Bourke<br />
(Tullamore).<br />
North Midlands 14<br />
South-East 7<br />
A late try by Sean Walsh<br />
completed North-Midlands’<br />
comeback win over South-East in<br />
the opener.<br />
The opening exchanges were dominated<br />
by both defences as they applied<br />
pressure on the ball handler and looked<br />
to gain ground through the boots of<br />
South-East’s Cathal Kehoe and North<br />
Midlands’ Sean Behan.<br />
The footballing skills of second row Tom<br />
Hughes were on view in a slick one-two<br />
with left-wing Luke Chatten for a fine try,<br />
converted by Brian Johnston in the ninth<br />
minute.<br />
A burst up the left by North Midlands<br />
hooker Josh Domican brought the<br />
game to life and wing Daniel Thornton<br />
threatened on the right.<br />
North Midlands looked likely to deliver<br />
until Sean Logue picked off a pass to pin<br />
his ears back, full-back Killian O’Sullivan<br />
producing the pace to catch the centre.<br />
The support play of Daniel Ring and<br />
Hugh Greaney led to a lineout from a<br />
penalty which North Midlands defended<br />
with aggression and discipline.<br />
The more touches Daragh Farrell, Oran<br />
Kelleher and O’Sullivan got for North<br />
Midlands, the better they looked with<br />
No 8 Walsh a danger on the ball too.<br />
Another burst by Comican put them on<br />
the front foot and Zach Kennedy’s hard<br />
line was further reason for optimism.<br />
South-East scrum-half Ring ripped away<br />
a turnover and had to be vigilant to<br />
deal with O’Sullivan in the outside<br />
channel.<br />
Greaney did well to keep Behan out<br />
and a collective effort held prop Joshua<br />
Apps off the ground over the line to keep<br />
South-East 7-0 ahead at the break.<br />
North Midlands centre Farrell pinched<br />
a penalty on the floor and almost put<br />
Kelleher into space from the first set<br />
move of the second period.<br />
A mazy break by full-back Kehoe put<br />
Chatten on the ball and his delicate<br />
grubber forced Colm Moran into<br />
emergency action.<br />
Once again, Farrell was the creator-inchief<br />
for Behan before Hughes hauled<br />
the out-half down.<br />
The growing pressure led to a tap-andgo<br />
for replacement Jack Kelly to crash<br />
over for Farrell to make it 7-all in the<br />
45th minute.<br />
Sure hands along the line allowed North<br />
Midlands to move out of trouble, wing<br />
Elliot Walsh dinking a kick over the top<br />
only for Kehoe to come to the rescue.<br />
The momentum was swinging with North<br />
Midlands replacement Sam Jordan<br />
thundering through contact and Farrell<br />
feeding Kelleher for what looked a<br />
certain try until openside Hugh Roche<br />
miraculously kept the centre off the<br />
ground over the line.<br />
The number of chances not taken by<br />
North Midlands mounted up, making the<br />
draw likely going into injury-time.<br />
North Midlands came hunting the<br />
winning points through their threequarters,<br />
but second row Hughes was<br />
waiting to force a penalty on the ground.<br />
Finally, the impact of the bench did the<br />
trick, creating the go-forward for Walsh<br />
to duck inside for the decisive try<br />
Scorers – North Midlands: J Kelly,<br />
S Walsh try each; D Farrell two cons.<br />
South-East: T Hughes try; B Johnston<br />
con.<br />
North Midlands – Killian O’Sullivan<br />
(Clane); Daniel Thornton (Portlaoise),<br />
Oran Kelleher (Athy), Darragh Farrell<br />
(Athy), Elliot Walsh (Clondalkin); Sean<br />
Behan (Cill Dara), Colm Moran (Athy);<br />
Joshua Apps (Clondalkin), Josh Domican<br />
(Clondalkin), Luke McTiernan (North<br />
Kildare), Ryan McDonnell (Athy),<br />
Darragh Townsend (Portlaoise), Jack<br />
Dempsey (Naas), Zach Kennedy (Naas),<br />
Sean Walsh (North Kildare).<br />
Replacements: Jack Kelly (Clane),<br />
Gavin Agar (Newbridge), Aran Coiley<br />
(Portlaoise), Jack Osborne (Naas),<br />
Daniel Steed (Clondalkin), Sam Jordan<br />
(North Kildare), Rowan Finnegan<br />
(Naas), Ruaidhri Lawlor (Athy), Oliver<br />
Reilly (Clane), Conor Langabeer<br />
(Clondalkin), Cian Crampton (Naas).<br />
South-East – Cathal Kehoe (Enniscorthy);<br />
William Fitzpatrick (Wicklow), Sean<br />
Logue (Wexford Wanderers), Cathal<br />
Gorman (Tullow), Luke Chatten (County<br />
Carlow); Brian Johnston (Wicklow),<br />
Daniel Ring (Kilkenny); Sean Carey<br />
(Gorey), Hugh Greaney (Kilkenny),<br />
Cormac Murphy (Wicklow), Tom Hughes<br />
(Tullow), Ricardo Whelan (Wicklow),<br />
Oren Cullen (Gorey), Hugh Roche<br />
(Wexford Wanderers), Jamie O’Brien<br />
(Kilkenny).<br />
Replacements: TJ Kennedy (Wicklow),<br />
Daragh McCormack (Wicklow),<br />
Mark Power (Kilkenny), Michael Ryan<br />
(Tullow), Marcas Bowen (Kilkenny),<br />
Stephen Hendy (Gorey), Cian Bolger<br />
(Enniscorthy), Joshua Rossiter (Wexford<br />
Wanderers).<br />
www.leinsterrugby.ie | 25
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leo<br />
the lion’s<br />
kids<br />
corner<br />
IN A BLUR!<br />
Can you name this<br />
leinster player?<br />
spot the difference!<br />
Can you find all six?<br />
ANAGRAMS<br />
Can you un-jumble the names of these players?<br />
RABID<br />
YARN<br />
BERRY<br />
SONS<br />
how did you do?<br />
IN A BLUR?<br />
JONATHAN SEXTON<br />
ANAGRAMS<br />
RYAN BAIRD<br />
ROSS BYRNE<br />
ZOOMED IN!<br />
JOSH MURPHY<br />
zoomed in!<br />
WHo is this leinster<br />
player having an<br />
extreme close-up?<br />
28 | www.leinsterrugby.ie
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Superman<br />
B – Boyhood: Who was your favourite<br />
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Cristiano Ronaldo<br />
C – Childhood: What is your favourite<br />
childhood memory?<br />
Summer holidays in France<br />
D – Dish: What’s your go-to pre-match<br />
meal?<br />
Granola and honey<br />
E – Education: What was your favourite<br />
subject in school?<br />
French<br />
F – Film buff: What’s your favourite film?<br />
Catch Me If You Can<br />
G – Groove: Who is the best dancer in<br />
the squad?<br />
Jordan Larmour<br />
H – Holiday: What’s your favourite<br />
holiday destination?<br />
Marbella, Spain<br />
I – Inside: Who is the worst to sit beside<br />
in the dressing room?<br />
Not who but where... the locker closest<br />
to the toilets for obvious reasons!<br />
J – Joker: Who is the funniest in the<br />
squad?<br />
Max Deegan<br />
K – Kick-off: What’s your favourite time<br />
of the day to play a match?<br />
5pm<br />
L – Languages: How many languages<br />
can you speak?<br />
Three<br />
M – Music: Your favourite artist and<br />
song right now?<br />
Somebody’s Child - Jungle<br />
N – Number: Do you have a lucky<br />
number?<br />
24<br />
30 | www.leinsterrugby.ie
O – Others: What’s your<br />
favourite sport outside of rugby?<br />
Golf<br />
P – Pal: Who is your best mate in<br />
the squad?<br />
James Ryan<br />
Q – Quirky: Who has the most<br />
interesting fashion sense?<br />
Marty Moloney<br />
R – Red Carpet: Who is the most<br />
famous contact in your phone?<br />
Johnny Sexton<br />
S – Superstitions: Do you have<br />
any matchday routines?<br />
Get a nap in pre kick-off<br />
T – Trim: What’s the worst<br />
haircut you’ve ever had?<br />
Lockdown 1.0 home haircut<br />
attempts!<br />
U – Under pressure: Who in the<br />
squad would be the best in a<br />
bad situation?<br />
Ross Byrne<br />
V – Verified: How often do you<br />
use social media?<br />
A scroll or two a day<br />
W – Worst fear: What are<br />
you most scared of?<br />
Spiders<br />
X – X-ray: Have you ever<br />
broken any bones?<br />
Both sides of the Jaw in 2020<br />
Y – Youth: Where did you<br />
grow up?<br />
Dublin<br />
Z – Zoo: What’s your favourite<br />
animal?<br />
Dog<br />
www.leinsterrugby.ie | 31
Did you know?<br />
• <strong>Leinster</strong> Rugby won 26-21 in their<br />
Round of 16 - 1st Leg clash against<br />
<strong>Connacht</strong>, their only previous<br />
encounter in European competition;<br />
each of <strong>Leinster</strong>’s last two games<br />
against fellow Irish sides in the<br />
Heineken Champions Cup have ended<br />
with a margin of victory of five<br />
points or fewer.<br />
• <strong>Leinster</strong> Rugby have won seven of<br />
their last eight home matches in<br />
the knockout stages of the Heineken<br />
Champions Cup (L1); however, their<br />
sole defeat during that period came<br />
in their most recent such fixture<br />
(17-25 v Saracens in the 2019/20<br />
quarter-final).<br />
• <strong>Leinster</strong> Rugby have only lost one<br />
of their last 20 home games in the<br />
Heineken Champions Cup (17-25 v<br />
Saracens), winning each of their<br />
three home fixtures since the<br />
beginning of last season by an<br />
average margin of 41 points.<br />
• <strong>Connacht</strong> Rugby have lost their<br />
last four games in the Heineken<br />
Champions Cup, each by margins<br />
of fewer than seven points;<br />
only once before have they lost<br />
more consecutive games in the<br />
competition though, when they lost<br />
their first five games during their<br />
debut season in 2011/12.<br />
• <strong>Connacht</strong> Rugby have lost their<br />
last eight matches away from home<br />
in the Heineken Champions Cup;<br />
this fixture will be the first time<br />
that they have played a Heineken<br />
Champions Cup knockout stage<br />
match away from home, as well<br />
as the first time that they have<br />
visited a fellow Irish team in the<br />
competition.<br />
• <strong>Connacht</strong> have conceded 22 scrum<br />
penalties in the Heineken Champions<br />
Cup this season, twice as many as<br />
any other club; meanwhile, only<br />
Leicester Tigers (17) have won<br />
more penalties from scrums than<br />
<strong>Leinster</strong> (12).<br />
• <strong>Leinster</strong> duo Hugo Keenan and<br />
Jamison Gibson-Park have both<br />
assisted six tries in the Heineken<br />
Champions Cup this season, more<br />
than any other player; Keenan made<br />
two assists last weekend, as well<br />
as scoring one try, while Gibson-<br />
Park recorded one assist.<br />
• <strong>Leinster</strong>’s Garry Ringrose has made<br />
six passes that have led directly<br />
to a line break in the Heineken<br />
Champions Cup this season, more<br />
than any other player, while only<br />
three players have made more<br />
offloads than him this season (7,<br />
behind Gregory Alldritt - 11, Thomas<br />
Ramos - 10 and James Hume - 9).<br />
• Jack Carty (<strong>Connacht</strong> Rugby) has<br />
scored 54 points in the Heineken<br />
Champions Cup this season, the most<br />
of any player; he has also made the<br />
most kicks in play (70) and gained<br />
the most kicking metres (2549).<br />
COMPARISON<br />
PLAYED<br />
184<br />
(95 home, 89 away)<br />
WINS<br />
126<br />
(77 home, 49 away)<br />
LOSSES<br />
53<br />
(17 home, 36 away)<br />
DRAWS<br />
5<br />
(1 home, 4 away)<br />
AVERAGE POINTS<br />
27<br />
BIGGEST WIN<br />
89 - 7<br />
HEAVIEST DEFEAT<br />
10 - 51<br />
TOTAL TRIES<br />
33<br />
METRES GAINED<br />
4377<br />
PASSES<br />
812<br />
PLAYED<br />
37<br />
(19 home, 18 away)<br />
WINS<br />
14<br />
(10 home, 4 away)<br />
LOSSES<br />
23<br />
(9 home, 14 away)<br />
DRAWS<br />
0<br />
(0 home, 0 away)<br />
AVERAGE POINTS<br />
20<br />
BIGGEST WIN<br />
66 - 21<br />
HEAVIEST DEFEAT<br />
6 - 64<br />
TOTAL TRIES<br />
18<br />
METRES GAINED<br />
3141<br />
PASSES<br />
748<br />
www.leinsterrugby.ie | 35
leinster<br />
squad<br />
2021/22 season<br />
Vakh Abdaladze #1263<br />
PROP<br />
DOB: 06/02/1996<br />
HEIGHT: 1.88m<br />
WEIGHT: 121kg<br />
Michael Ala’alatoa #1301<br />
prop<br />
DOB: 28/08/1991<br />
HEIGHT: 1.91m<br />
WEIGHT: 127kg<br />
7<br />
CAPS<br />
Ryan Baird #1278<br />
LOCK<br />
DOB: 26/07/1999<br />
HEIGHT: 1.98m<br />
WEIGHT: 113kg<br />
8<br />
CAPS<br />
Adam Byrne #1213<br />
WING / FULL BACK<br />
DOB: 10/04/1994<br />
HEIGHT: 1.91m<br />
WEIGHT: 98.18kg<br />
1<br />
CAP<br />
Ed Byrne #1222<br />
6<br />
CAPS<br />
Harry Byrne #1280<br />
2<br />
CAPS<br />
Ross Byrne #1236<br />
13<br />
CAPS<br />
Thomas Clarkson #1285<br />
PROP<br />
DOB: 09/09/1993<br />
HEIGHT: 1.8m<br />
WEIGHT: 114.09kg<br />
FLY HALF<br />
DOB: 22/04/1999<br />
HEIGHT: 1.9m<br />
WEIGHT: 95kg<br />
FLY HALF<br />
DOB: 08/04/1995<br />
HEIGHT: 1.9m<br />
WEIGHT: 92kg<br />
PROP<br />
DOB: 22/02/2000<br />
HEIGHT: 1.85m<br />
WEIGHT: 118kg<br />
36 | www.leinsterrugby.ie
Jack Conan #1223<br />
27<br />
CAPS<br />
7<br />
CAPS<br />
Will Connors #1264<br />
9<br />
CAPS<br />
Sean Cronin #1202<br />
72<br />
CAPS<br />
Max Deegan #1256<br />
1<br />
CAP<br />
NO. 8<br />
DOB: 29/07/1992<br />
HEIGHT: 1.93m<br />
WEIGHT: 114.09kg<br />
BACK ROW<br />
DOB: 04/04/1996<br />
HEIGHT: 1.96m<br />
WEIGHT: 100kg<br />
HOOKER<br />
DOB: 06/05/1986<br />
HEIGHT: 1.78m<br />
WEIGHT: 103.18kg<br />
NO. 8<br />
DOB: 01/10/1996<br />
HEIGHT: 1.93m<br />
WEIGHT: 110kg<br />
Peter Dooley #1230<br />
Caelan Doris #1268<br />
17<br />
CAPS<br />
Jack Dunne #1276<br />
Ciaran Frawley #1265<br />
PROP<br />
DOB: 04/08/1994<br />
HEIGHT: 1.83m<br />
WEIGHT: 117kg<br />
BACK ROW<br />
DOB: 02/04/1998<br />
HEIGHT: 1.93m<br />
WEIGHT: 107kg<br />
LOCK<br />
DOB: 21/11/1998<br />
HEIGHT: 2.03m<br />
WEIGHT: 120kg<br />
FLY HALF<br />
DOB: 04/12/1997<br />
HEIGHT: 1.91m<br />
WEIGHT: 98kg<br />
Tadhg Furlong #1220<br />
PROP<br />
DOB: 14/11/1992<br />
HEIGHT: 1.83m<br />
WEIGHT: 125kg<br />
57<br />
CAPS<br />
13<br />
CAPS<br />
Jamison Gibson-Park #1247<br />
SCRUM HALF<br />
DOB: 23/02/1992<br />
HEIGHT: 1.75m<br />
WEIGHT: 80kg<br />
17<br />
CAPS<br />
David Hawkshaw #1290<br />
FLY HALF / Centre<br />
DOB: 03/07/1999<br />
HEIGHT: 1.75m )<br />
WEIGHT: 85.91kg<br />
Cian Healy #1142<br />
PROP<br />
DOB: 07/10/1987<br />
HEIGHT: 1.85m<br />
WEIGHT: 116.82kg<br />
116<br />
CAPS<br />
2<br />
CAPS<br />
Robbie Henshaw #1251<br />
57<br />
CAPS<br />
9<br />
CAPS<br />
Dave Kearney #1158<br />
19<br />
CAPS<br />
Hugo Keenan #1253<br />
20<br />
CAPS<br />
Ronan Kelleher #1277<br />
18<br />
CAPS<br />
CENTRE<br />
DOB: 12/06/1993<br />
HEIGHT: 1.9m<br />
WEIGHT: 99.09kg<br />
WING / FULL BACK<br />
DOB: 19/06/1989<br />
HEIGHT: 1.8m<br />
WEIGHT: 90kg<br />
FULL BACK<br />
DOB: 18/06/1996<br />
HEIGHT: 1.85m<br />
WEIGHT: 91.82kg<br />
HOOKER<br />
DOB: 24/01/1998<br />
HEIGHT: 1.83m<br />
WEIGHT: 105kg<br />
www.leinsterrugby.ie | 37
Jordan Larmour #1258<br />
30<br />
CAPS<br />
Dan Leavy #1231<br />
11<br />
CAPS<br />
WING<br />
DOB: 10/06/1997<br />
HEIGHT: 1.78m<br />
WEIGHT: 90kg<br />
FLANKER<br />
DOB: 23/05/1994<br />
HEIGHT: 1.91m<br />
WEIGHT: 105.91kg<br />
for full squad profiles<br />
please click here<br />
James Lowe #1262<br />
12<br />
CAPS<br />
Nick McCarthy #1241<br />
Luke McGrath #1206<br />
19<br />
CAPS<br />
Michael Milne #1279<br />
WING / FULL BACK<br />
DOB: 08/07/1992<br />
HEIGHT: 1.88m<br />
WEIGHT: 105kg<br />
SCRUM HALF<br />
DOB: 25/03/1995<br />
HEIGHT: 1.8m<br />
WEIGHT: 84.09kg<br />
SCRUM HALF<br />
DOB: 03/02/1993<br />
HEIGHT: 1.75m<br />
WEIGHT: 84.09kg<br />
PROP<br />
DOB: 05/02/1999<br />
HEIGHT: 1.83m<br />
WEIGHT: 115kg<br />
Jimmy O’Brien #1272<br />
Conor O’Brien #1260<br />
Josh Murphy #1261<br />
Ross Molony #1233<br />
LOCK<br />
DOB: 11/05/1994<br />
HEIGHT: 1.96m<br />
WEIGHT: 113kg<br />
FLANKER<br />
DOB: 17/02/1995<br />
HEIGHT: 1.98m<br />
WEIGHT: 110kg<br />
CENTRE<br />
DOB: 06/02/1996<br />
HEIGHT: 1.91m<br />
WEIGHT: 100kg<br />
CENTRE<br />
DOB: 27/11/1996<br />
HEIGHT: 1.83m<br />
WEIGHT: 88kg<br />
Tommy O’Brien #1283<br />
Rory O’Loughlin #1248<br />
1<br />
CAP<br />
Scott Penny #1271<br />
Andrew Porter #1246<br />
43<br />
CAPS<br />
CENTRE<br />
DOB: 28/05/1998<br />
HEIGHT: 1.83m<br />
WEIGHT: 95kg<br />
CENTRE<br />
DOB: 21/01/1994<br />
HEIGHT: 1.88m<br />
WEIGHT: 94.09kg<br />
FLANKER<br />
DOB: 22/09/1999<br />
HEIGHT: 1.83m<br />
WEIGHT: 104kg<br />
PROP<br />
DOB: 16/01/1996<br />
HEIGHT: 1.83m<br />
WEIGHT: 114.09kg<br />
38 | www.leinsterrugby.ie
Garry Ringrose #1237<br />
42<br />
CAPS<br />
Rhys Ruddock #1167<br />
27<br />
CAPS<br />
James Ryan #1259<br />
43<br />
CAPS<br />
Johnny Sexton #1127<br />
105<br />
CAPS<br />
14<br />
CAPS<br />
CENTRE<br />
DOB: 26/01/1995<br />
HEIGHT: 1.85m<br />
WEIGHT: 96kg<br />
BACK ROW<br />
DOB: 13/11/1990<br />
HEIGHT: 1.91m<br />
WEIGHT: 113.18kg<br />
LOCK<br />
DOB: 24/07/1996<br />
HEIGHT: 2.03m<br />
WEIGHT: 115kg<br />
FLY HALF<br />
DOB: 11/07/1985<br />
HEIGHT: 1.88m<br />
WEIGHT: 90kg<br />
Dan Sheehan #1286<br />
HOOKER<br />
DOB: 17/09/1998<br />
HEIGHT: 1.91m<br />
WEIGHT: 110.91kg<br />
7<br />
CAPS<br />
Devin Toner #1128<br />
LOCK<br />
DOB: 29/06/1986<br />
HEIGHT: 2.11m<br />
WEIGHT: 127kg<br />
70<br />
CAPS<br />
James Tracy #1211<br />
HOOKER<br />
DOB: 02/04/1991<br />
HEIGHT: 1.83m<br />
WEIGHT: 106kg<br />
6<br />
CAPS<br />
Josh van der Flier #1228<br />
FLANKER<br />
DOB: 25/04/1993<br />
HEIGHT: 1.85m<br />
WEIGHT: 103kg<br />
40<br />
CAPS<br />
Coaching<br />
Staff<br />
2021/22 season<br />
LEO CULLEN<br />
HEAD COACH<br />
STUART LANCASTER<br />
SENIOR COACH<br />
ROBIN MCBRYDE<br />
ASSISTANT COACH<br />
FELIPE CONTEPOMI<br />
BACKS COACH<br />
EMMET FARRELL<br />
KICKING COACH AND<br />
LEAD PERFORMANCE ANALYST<br />
GUY EASTERBY<br />
HEAD OF RUGBY OPERATIONS<br />
DENIS LEAMY<br />
CONTACT SKILLS COACH<br />
www.leinsterrugby.ie | 39
Official Health<br />
and Wellbeing<br />
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<strong>Leinster</strong> Rugby<br />
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Just Eat credit & season tickets
Swords RFC<br />
Swords RFC was previously<br />
known as Aer Lingus, and later<br />
ALSAA RFC, but changed to<br />
the current name in 2005 for<br />
several reasons. The club had<br />
stopped representing the airline<br />
or the sports complex and as a<br />
result had decided to affiliate<br />
themselves with the growing<br />
town of Swords.<br />
The women’s team was established in<br />
2017 after a recruitment drive from tag<br />
rugby and the local area.<br />
Under the helm of head coach Robert<br />
Gilshenan, the senior men’s and women’s<br />
teams have gone from strength to strength<br />
this season.<br />
The women’s team, playing in Division<br />
5 of the <strong>Leinster</strong> League, have had 15<br />
women make their Swords debut this<br />
season. Most of these women had never<br />
played rugby before but ably stepped up<br />
to the task.<br />
The recruitment for the women’s team<br />
remains strong and Swords welcome<br />
all levels of players with a strong goal<br />
to remove or overcome the barriers that<br />
women often experience when it comes<br />
to playing sports. After narrow losses at<br />
the start of the season, the side won their<br />
first game of the season before Christmas.<br />
The home team put in a serious defensive<br />
effort in front of an energising crowd to<br />
see out the victory. “I was so delighted<br />
I can’t explain!” women’s co-captain<br />
Lauren Heffernan said of the win, “The<br />
girls have played their hearts out all<br />
season and we finally got the result we all<br />
were waiting for and working towards.”<br />
Fellow co-captain Kate Seery attributes<br />
the growth of Swords women’s rugby to<br />
the progress made in Ireland and <strong>Leinster</strong><br />
Women’s rugby: “Every player that has<br />
joined the team since our establishment<br />
in 2017, whether they have stayed on in<br />
rugby or not have contributed to the team<br />
we have today. I couldn’t be prouder of<br />
how far we have come.”<br />
The team’s progression this season gives<br />
plenty of encouragement for the next<br />
campaign.<br />
Playing in Division 7 of the <strong>Leinster</strong> Metro<br />
league, the men’s finished fourth with a<br />
record of seven wins and seven losses<br />
from their 14 games.<br />
The men’s captain, Emmet O’Donnell,<br />
commented: “I think it’s been a season of<br />
rebirth and constant improvement for the<br />
men’s team. Despite a disappointing start<br />
to the season results wise, our players<br />
have consistently worked hard all season<br />
and we are now seeing the results of our<br />
hard work.”<br />
Emmet added: “For such a small club<br />
as ourselves, it isn’t often we challenge<br />
for play-offs. It means a lot to the senior<br />
players like myself who might not have<br />
experienced this level of success too<br />
regularly. Hopefully it’s bringing a lot of<br />
enjoyment to our other club members and<br />
the wider community of Swords.”<br />
Recently, the club have had<br />
representation at various representative<br />
rugby trials, a testimony to the ‘Why<br />
not us?’ mantra of the club. Men’s team<br />
member, Sean Ryan, impressed at the<br />
Irish rugby league trials. Anyone at<br />
Swords would tell you that Sean would<br />
be well deserving of the green jersey.<br />
Additionally, for the first time in the club’s<br />
history, six women attended <strong>Leinster</strong> trials:<br />
Caitriona Murphy, Beth Hassan, Amy<br />
Coll, Lana McDonald, Ciara Spencer<br />
and Maeve Moran.<br />
While only Ciara progressed to the<br />
second round of trials, these women<br />
returned to training, inspired to drive<br />
Swords women’s rugby on to future<br />
success.<br />
Swords RFC are striving to cultivate<br />
a community spirit within the club.<br />
Instrumental in forming a connection<br />
between the men and women’s teams,<br />
was commencing each training session<br />
as a combined group. From this stemmed<br />
post training swims together in the<br />
summer, post-match barbecues and, most<br />
meaningfully, a home away from home<br />
for club members who hail from Brazil,<br />
South Africa, the UK and Spain, among<br />
other places.<br />
Head coach Gilshenan is particularly<br />
proud of the growth of the club: “Not<br />
only are Swords flying their own town<br />
banner but they are bringing other<br />
communities together. There is an<br />
amazing vibe in the club and it’s all down<br />
to the lads and ladies from Swords and<br />
the surrounding towns making the effort<br />
on and off the pitch.”<br />
Swords RFC train every Tuesday and<br />
Thursday in the ALSAA Sports Complex,<br />
all are welcome!<br />
www.leinsterrugby.ie | 43
25 years of<br />
Boyne RFC<br />
Delvin RFC 1983 Drogheda RFC PTC Semi Finalists 1961<br />
While the success of <strong>Leinster</strong><br />
Rugby is truly enormous and<br />
there for all to enjoy it is also<br />
true to say that this success has<br />
filtered down through the clubs in<br />
<strong>Leinster</strong> and none more so than in<br />
Boyne Rugby Club in the town of<br />
Drogheda.<br />
In 1997, a decision was taken by Delvin<br />
Rugby Club and Drogheda Rugby Club<br />
to pool their resources and amalgamate<br />
both clubs into one, a decision that some<br />
people thought might not work. Youth<br />
rugby was strong in both clubs and this<br />
was a factor in prompting them to take<br />
this decision.<br />
A series of meetings took place between<br />
both clubs to discuss the benefits and<br />
problems of taking this step. In June 1997,<br />
both clubs held their respective AGMs on<br />
the same night and passed a motion to<br />
join forces and become one club.<br />
The river Boyne divides the town and with<br />
one club situated on either side it was<br />
decided to call the club Boyne RFC. In<br />
choosing the club colors a decision was<br />
taken to adopt the colors of the world<br />
champions at the time. Hence, the green<br />
and gold of South Africa.<br />
A committee of 18 was elected to sit<br />
for three years in order to consolidate<br />
the amalgamation, 10 from Delvin and<br />
eight from Drogheda. The names of the<br />
original committee were Seamie Davis,<br />
Jack Doran, Oliver Walsh, Leo Monahan,<br />
Noel Carr, Billy Gavin, Conor Taaffe,<br />
Donal Grennan (Drogheda) and Johnny<br />
Sheridan, Seamie Briscoe, Eugene<br />
Winters, Michael Dunne, Ron Eustace,<br />
Declan McCullen, John Dillon, Marty<br />
Reilly, Neil Bailey and Bernard Gogarty<br />
(Delvin). Their shoes have been filled<br />
many times by equally good people.<br />
The administration of the club’s affairs<br />
took off immediately under a very<br />
organised and energetic committee.<br />
While on the playing side of things it<br />
took a little longer than some would have<br />
expected. However, the club was able to<br />
field three full teams each week. The first<br />
elected captain of Boyne RFC was Gary<br />
Downey. When it did take off it grew in<br />
strength year after year in both youth and<br />
adult sections.<br />
It was the youth section that showed the<br />
most progression in the early years. The<br />
club had teams in all the age groups<br />
from U-8 to U-18 and they began to win<br />
<strong>Leinster</strong> competitions at all age groups.<br />
After a couple of seasons, the adult<br />
section began to improve greatly to the<br />
point where they won the Provincial<br />
Towns Cup in 2009 and again in 2010.<br />
The following year the club won the<br />
<strong>Leinster</strong> Junior 1 League and gained<br />
entry into the AIL. While it was hard to<br />
maintain this level, the club did manage<br />
to retain its AIL status for a further six<br />
years. As we speak, the club is currently<br />
playing Junior 1 rugby and almost all<br />
of its adult players came up through the<br />
youth section and continue to do so.<br />
Many players from the club were<br />
selected to represent <strong>Leinster</strong> at youth<br />
level, they are too numerous to name on<br />
this report but, a number of them were<br />
selected to represent Ireland at youth<br />
level, Conor Maguire, Jeffrey Finnegan,<br />
Colm Joyce-Ahearne, Robbie Vallejo,<br />
Brian Davis, Oisin Lynch and Karl Martin<br />
(currently playing with Montpellier in<br />
France).<br />
The club also produced three players to<br />
play full senior international for Ireland.<br />
They were Shane Horgan, Niall Ronan<br />
and Mark McHugh. Shane Horgan also<br />
went on to play with the British and Irish<br />
Lions.<br />
Robbie McGrath, who also played scrum<br />
half for Ireland, was club president for a<br />
spell in recent years.<br />
For any club to be successful it depends<br />
on the number of willing workers involved<br />
plus a succession of young people<br />
coming through. Boyne RFC is happy<br />
they have both in abundance.<br />
There was also a successful ladies team<br />
in the club for a number of years. The<br />
first ladies team was formed in 1997 by<br />
Sandra McAleer and Mick and Vivienne<br />
Quinn. Quite a few of them made it to the<br />
<strong>Leinster</strong> Ladies and three, Vikki McGinn,<br />
Grace Davitt and Maura Coulter, played<br />
full International for Ireland.<br />
Boyne also supplied a number of referees<br />
to the ARLB and continues to do so.<br />
To summarise, Boyne were two clubs with<br />
great rivalry that became one club with<br />
great unity. They will celebrate 25 years<br />
in June 2022.<br />
Jim Walker | Boyne RFC<br />
44 | www.leinsterrugby.ie
Men’s Energia All-Ireland<br />
League<br />
League roundup<br />
BY ROBERT DEACON<br />
The men’s Energia All-Ireland<br />
League campaign reached its<br />
climax last weekend where the<br />
final round of this season’s league<br />
matches took place across the<br />
four provinces. It proved to be<br />
a defining series of games for a<br />
number of the 18 <strong>Leinster</strong> clubs<br />
involved across all five divisions<br />
of 10 teams.<br />
The top four teams in each division<br />
have qualified for a semi-final with the<br />
two winners playing in a final game to<br />
determine who will be crowned overall<br />
champions in Division 1A and who wins<br />
the one promotion spot in the other four<br />
divisions. The format is that the team<br />
who finished top of each division will<br />
have home advantage against the fourth<br />
placed team and the team in second<br />
place, also with home advantage, plays<br />
the third placed team.<br />
To determine relegation the bottom two<br />
clubs in each division will play each other<br />
home and away where the team with the<br />
better aggregate score will remain with<br />
the losers dropping down.<br />
In general, it has been an excellent<br />
season for the participating <strong>Leinster</strong><br />
clubs with 10 of the 18 <strong>Leinster</strong> clubs<br />
competing qualifying for play-off places<br />
in four of the five divisions.<br />
In Division 1A, Clontarf after an<br />
excellent season, finish top of the league<br />
after only tasting defeat once during the<br />
course of the 18-match campaign, and<br />
as a result will face Cork Constitution at<br />
home in the semi-final. Terenure with a<br />
great second half to the season pipped<br />
Lansdowne for second place which sets<br />
up what promises to be an epic semi-final<br />
encounter at home in Lakelands Park<br />
against the Lansdowne men.<br />
Dublin University finished in a creditable<br />
fifth, just losing out on a play-off spot,<br />
while UCD can look forward to another<br />
season in division 1A after ending the<br />
season in eighth position.<br />
Division 1B saw Old Wesley runout<br />
clearcut winners after winning 16 of<br />
their 18 starts during the campaign. The<br />
Donnybrook side finished 10 points clear<br />
of second-placed Highfield who will play<br />
their fellow Munster side Shannon in the<br />
second semi-final. Old Wesley will face<br />
Naas at home, after the Kildare team<br />
secured fourth place in the final round<br />
of matches last weekend. St Mary’s who<br />
had challenged all season for a top four<br />
spot just missed out and finished in fifth<br />
position.<br />
Old Belvedere retain their division 1B<br />
status with a seventh-place finish, while<br />
Navan will face Ulster side Banbridge in<br />
a two-way playoff to decide which club<br />
avoids relegation.<br />
MU Barnhall, were the sole <strong>Leinster</strong> club<br />
in Division 2A and challenged for a top<br />
four spot right up until the last round of<br />
matches. However, results did not go their<br />
way and ended up with a sixth-place<br />
finish.<br />
Queens University were the runaway<br />
winners of this division.<br />
Division 2B saw Greystones hold<br />
top spot from start to finish with 14<br />
victories from their 18 starts, and they<br />
will entertain Galway Corinthians in<br />
Doctor Hickey Park in the semi-final.<br />
Blackrock just lost out on second place<br />
in the final round of games and as a<br />
result of finishing third are on the road<br />
to play Belfast Harlequins in the second<br />
semi-final.<br />
Wanderers, who were in contention all<br />
season for a top four position, finished up<br />
in fifth, while Malahide held down eighth<br />
place.<br />
In Division 2C, the three <strong>Leinster</strong> clubs<br />
competing, Enniscorthy, Skerries and<br />
Tullamore, all made the play-offs. After<br />
an excellent season Enniscorthy topped<br />
the table and will host Tullamore in<br />
the semi-final, the Offaly men finishing<br />
fourth. Skerries, who finished second will<br />
entertain fellow seasiders Bangor in the<br />
second semi-final.<br />
So, a strong showing from our <strong>Leinster</strong><br />
clubs in this season’s men’s Energia All-<br />
Ireland League and good luck to all still<br />
involved over the next two weekends.<br />
In a campaign of 450 matches, only<br />
eight fell victim to Covid mainly in the first<br />
half of the season.<br />
All clubs are to be commended for<br />
adhering to both the HSE and the IRFU’s<br />
protocols and as a result a great season<br />
of club rugby took place enjoyed by<br />
players and supporters alike.<br />
www.leinsterrugby.ie | 45
compiled by stuart farmer<br />
media services limited<br />
<strong>Leinster</strong> Player<br />
Statistics<br />
SQUAD<br />
CAP<br />
NO<br />
DEBUT<br />
2021/22 SEASON FOR LEINSTER LEINSTER CAREER<br />
ALL GAMES URC EPCR ALL GAMES PRO14/URC EPCR<br />
App Try Pts App Try Pts App Try Pts App Try Pts App Try Pts App Try Pts<br />
SINCE LAST TRY<br />
CAPS<br />
VAKH ABDALADZE 1263 2 DEC 17 0+4 1 5 0+3 1 5 0+1 - - 0+16 2 10 0+15 2 10 0+1 - - 1 -<br />
MICHAEL ALA'ALATOA 1301 25 SEPT 21 12+6 2 10 11+3 1 5 1+3 1 5 12+6 2 10 11+3 1 5 1+3 1 5 6 WS 7<br />
RYAN BAIRD 1278 27 APR 19 5+4 1 5 4+3 1 5 1+1 - - 17+19 7 35 15+14 7 35 2+5 - - 4 IR 8<br />
ADAM BYRNE 1213 29 DEC 12 5+2 4 20 5+2 4 20 - - - 54+10 24 120 44+10 18 90 10 6 30 4 IR 1<br />
ED BYRNE 1222 9 FEB 14 6+6 1 5 6+5 1 5 0+1 - - 25+57 11 55 25+45 10 50 0+12 1 5 10 IR 6<br />
HARRY BYRNE 1280 28 SEPT 19 5+3 - 10 5+3 - 10 - - - 19+13 6 164 19+12 6 159 0+1 - 5 11 IR 2<br />
ROSS BYRNE 1236 4 SEPT 15 13+5 3 145 11+3 2 109 2+2 1 36 83+39 9 795 69+21 4 580 14+18 5 215 5 IR 13<br />
THOMAS CLARKSON 1285 29 AUG 20 1+4 - - 1+4 - - - - - 3+12 - - 3+12 - - - - - - -<br />
JACK CONAN 1223 20 FEB 14 6 2 10 3 - - 3 2 10 86+25 25 125 62+15 16 80 24+10 9 45 4 IR 27<br />
WILL CONNORS 1264 9 FEB 18 1+1 - - 1+1 - - - - - 18+7 2 10 17+7 2 10 1 - - 12 IR 9<br />
TIM CORKERY 1298 12 MAR 21 - - - - - - - - - 0+2 - - 0+2 - - - - - - -<br />
CHRIS COSGRAVE 1305 26 MAR 22 0+1 - - 0+1 - - - - - 0+1 - - 0+1 - - - - - - -<br />
SEAN CRONIN 1202 28 OCT 11 3+6 3 15 3+6 3 15 - - - 123+81 45 225 79+60 28 140 43+19 16 80 3 IR 72<br />
MAX DEEGAN 1256 3 DEC 16 6+11 6 30 6+7 6 30 0+4 - - 41+41 24 120 38+29 22 110 3+12 2 10 3 IR 1<br />
PETER DOOLEY 1230 31 OCT 14 3+6 - - 3+6 - - - - - 43+59 5 25 41+53 5 25 2+6 - - 17 -<br />
CAELAN DORIS 1268 28 APR 18 9 2 10 5 2 10 4 - - 41+8 7 35 31+6 5 25 10+2 2 10 6 IR 17<br />
JACK DUNNE 1276 16 FEB 19 1+2 - - 1+2 - - - - - 3+15 - - 3+15 - - - - - - -<br />
CORMAC FOLEY 1299 24 APR 21 0+1 - - 0+1 - - - - - 0+2 - - 0+2 - - - - - - -<br />
CIARAN FRAWLEY 1265 17 FEB 18 10+4 2 12 8+2 1 7 2+2 1 5 27+22 6 155 24+16 4 139 3+6 2 16 3 -<br />
TADHG FURLONG 1220 1 NOV 13 6+1 1 5 3+1 - - 3 1 5 79+42 9 45 45+34 3 15 34+8 6 30 4 IR 57<br />
JAMISON GIB-<br />
1247 2 SEPT 16 5+4 3 15 3+2 - - 2+2 3 15 54+56 20 100 47+30 14 70 7+26 6 30 4 IR 17<br />
SON-PARK<br />
MARCUS HANAN 1295 19 FEB 21 - - - - - - - - - 0+3 - - 0+3 - - - - - - -<br />
DAVID HAWKSHAW 1290 2 NOV 20 0+2 1 13 0+2 1 13 - - - 0+10 2 27 0+10 2 27 - - - 1 -<br />
CIAN HEALY 1142 5 MAY 07 4+8 2 10 3+5 2 10 1+3 - - 160+83 29 145 93+53 15 75 65+29 13 65 3 IR 116<br />
ROBBIE HENSHAW 1251 8 OCT 16 5 1 5 3 1 5 2 - - 61+1 12 60 28 6 30 33+1 6 30 5 IR 57<br />
DAVE KEARNEY 1158 16 MAY 09 3+1 1 5 3+1 1 5 - - - 150+23 52 260 124+16 45 225 25+6 7 35 2 IR 19<br />
HUGO KEENAN 1253 5 NOV 16 10 4 20 6 1 5 4 3 15 37+3 8 40 28+3 5 25 9 3 15 1 IR 20<br />
RONAN KELLEHER 1277 22 FEB 19 5+2 4 20 2+2 3 15 3 1 5 25+7 13 65 16+5 11 55 9+2 2 10 3 IR 18<br />
JORDAN LARMOUR 1258 2 SEPT 17 9 6 30 6 4 20 3 2 10 61+10 25 125 37+7 18 90 24+3 7 35 1 IR 30<br />
TEMI LASISI 1304 12 MAR 22 0+1 - - 0+1 - - - - - 0+1 - - 0+1 - - - - - - -<br />
46 | www.leinsterrugby.ie
SQUAD<br />
CAP<br />
NO<br />
DEBUT<br />
2021/22 SEASON FOR LEINSTER LEINSTER CAREER<br />
ALL GAMES URC EPCR ALL GAMES PRO14/URC EPCR<br />
App Try Pts App Try Pts App Try Pts App Try Pts App Try Pts App Try Pts<br />
SINCE LAST TRY<br />
CAPS<br />
DAN LEAVY 1231 31 OCT 14 4+3 - - 4+3 - - - - - 47+32 17 85 39+22 13 65 8+10 4 20 8 IR 11<br />
JAMES LOWE 1262 2 DEC 17 7+2 7 35 5+1 3 15 2+1 4 20 59+2 41 205 39+1 28 140 20+1 13 65 1 IR 12<br />
JOE MCCARTHY 1303 29 JAN 22 5 - - 5 - - - - - 5 - - 5 - - - - - - -<br />
NICK MCCARTHY 1241 19 DEC 15 2+7 1 5 2+7 1 5 - - - 8+37 5 25 8+31 5 25 0+6 - - 5 -<br />
LUKE MCGRATH 1206 5 MAY 12 12+6 1 5 10+4 1 5 2+2 - - 114+55 40 200 79+47 32 160 35+8 8 40 3 IR 19<br />
MICHAEL MILNE 1279 28 SEPT 19 - - - - - - - - - 1+15 2 10 1+15 2 10 - - - 14 -<br />
MARTIN MOLONEY 1300 24 APR 21 2+2 - - 2+2 - - - - - 2+3 - - 2+3 - - - - - - -<br />
ROSS MOLONY 1233 20 FEB 15 14+3 1 5 10+3 - - 4 1 5 78+55 5 25 72+40 4 20 6+15 1 5 10 -<br />
JOSH MURPHY 1261 3 NOV 17 5+3 - - 2+3 - - 3 - - 47+10 5 25 43+9 4 20 4+1 1 5 17 -<br />
JAMIE OSBORNE 1294 30 JAN 21 8+2 - - 8+2 - - - - - 10+6 1 5 10+6 1 5 - - - 11 -<br />
CONOR O'BRIEN 1260 3 NOV 17 1 - - 1 - - - - - 17+7 6 30 17+6 6 30 0+1 - - 10 -<br />
JIMMY O'BRIEN 1272 23 NOV 18 11+1 8 42 8 3 17 3+1 5 25 37+10 15 79 32+9 9 49 5+1 6 30 2 -<br />
SEAN O'BRIEN 1297 12 MAR 21 - - - - - - - - - 0+2 - - 0+2 - - - - - - -<br />
TOMMY O'BRIEN 1283 20 DEC 19 5+5 2 10 5+4 2 10 0+1 - - 9+10 5 25 9+9 5 25 0+1 - - 1 -<br />
RORY O'LOUGH-<br />
1248 2 SEPT 16 6+1 1 5 6+1 1 5 - - - 70+24 22 110 63+16 19 95 7+8 3 15 1 IR 1<br />
LIN<br />
MAX O'REILLY 1291 2 JAN 21 1 - - 1 - - - - - 7+1 1 5 7+1 1 5 - - - 7 -<br />
SCOTT PENNY 1271 23 NOV 18 8+1 5 25 8+1 5 25 - - - 31+7 21 105 31+7 21 105 - - - 4 -<br />
ANDREW PORTER 1246 2 SEPT 16 6+1 3 15 3+1 2 10 3 1 5 34+50 14 70 26+31 10 50 8+19 4 20 1 IR 43<br />
GARRY RINGROSE 1237 12 SEPT 15 10 2 10 6 2 10 4 - - 94+2 29 153 58+1 18 98 36+1 11 55 2 IR 42<br />
RHYS RUDDOCK 1167 6 DEC 09 11+4 1 5 10+3 1 5 1+1 - - 154+49 12 60 116+34 10 50 37+13 2 10 9 IR 27<br />
ROB RUSSELL 1302 3 OCT 21 1+2 - - 1+2 - - - - - 1+2 - - 1+2 - - - - - - -<br />
JAMES RYAN 1259 2 SEPT 17 3 - - 3 - - - - - 47+6 3 15 25+1 1 5 22+5 2 10 13 IR 43<br />
JOHNNY SEXTON 1127 27 JAN 06 4+2 - 50 2+1 - 22 2+1 - 28 152+27 26 1557 89+20 13 855 61+7 12 671 19 IR 105<br />
DAN SHEEHAN 1286 23 OCT 20 4+6 7 35 3+3 4 20 1+3 3 15 7+16 13 65 6+13 10 50 1+3 3 15 3 IR 7<br />
ANDREW SMITH 1292 2 JAN 21 - - - - - - - - - 1+1 - - 1+1 - - - - - - -<br />
ALEX SOROKA 1296 28 FEB 21 0+1 - - 0+1 - - - - - 1+2 - - 1+2 - - - - - - -<br />
DEVIN TONER 1128 27 JAN 06 6+6 - - 6+4 - - 0+2 - - 212+66 4 20 146+46 4 20 63+20 - - 61 IR 70<br />
JAMES TRACY 1211 4 NOV 12 7+5 4 20 7+4 4 20 0+1 - - 64+77 18 90 57+48 17 85 7+29 1 5 5 IR 6<br />
LIAM TURNER 1287 23 OCT 20 - - - - - - - - - 4+2 - - 4+2 - - - - - - -<br />
JOSH VAN DER FLIER 1228 11 OCT 14 9+1 5 25 5+1 1 5 4 4 20 84+24 16 80 50+18 8 40 34+6 8 40 3 IR 40<br />
2021/22 SEASON FOR LEINSTER LEINSTER CAREER<br />
ALL GAMES URC EPCR ALL GAMES PRO14/URC EPCR OVERALL<br />
KICKING<br />
SUCCESS<br />
RATE<br />
C PG DG C PG DG C PG DG C PG DG C PG DG C PG DG ATT Career<br />
%<br />
- - - HARRY BYRNE 62.50% 5 - - 5 - - - - - 58 6 57 5 1 1 82 78.05%<br />
ROSS BYRNE 85.51% 47 12 - 33 11 - 14 1 - 243 87 1 187 61 1 56 26 - 423 78.01%<br />
CIARAN FRAWLEY 100.00% 1 - - 1 - - - - - 52 7 - 49 7 - 3 - - 73 80.82%<br />
DAVID HAWKSHAW 66.67% 4 - - 4 - - - - - 7 1 - 7 1 - - - - 12 66.67%<br />
JIMMY O'BRIEN 100.00% 1 - - 1 - - - - - 2 - - 2 - - - - - 4 50.00%<br />
GARRY RINGROSE - - - - - - - - - - 4 - - 4 - - - - - 6 66.67%<br />
JOHNNY SEXTON 76.67% 19 4 - 8 2 - 11 2 - 253 296 11 128 171 7 118 121 4 690 79.57%<br />
www.leinsterrugby.ie | 47
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ig picture<br />
8 April 2022<br />
<strong>Leinster</strong> supporters before the<br />
Heineken Champions Cup Round<br />
of 16 First Leg match between<br />
<strong>Connacht</strong> and <strong>Leinster</strong> at the<br />
Sportsground in Galway.<br />
50 | www.leinsterrugby.ie
Photo by Harry Murphy/Sportsfile<br />
www.leinsterrugby.ie | 51
THE GREATEST WEEKEND IN RUGBY<br />
27-28 MAY, STADE VÉLODROME
offical leinster supporters club<br />
And so after the past three weekends<br />
on the road in a combination of URC<br />
and Heineken Champions Cup action<br />
that twice took us to Galway as well<br />
as Limerick, we’re finally back on<br />
familiar soil and welcoming an all<br />
too familiar visitor to the surrounds<br />
of the Aviva Stadium - <strong>Connacht</strong>.<br />
The first leg of our Round of 16<br />
double-header took place last<br />
Friday night in the Sportsground<br />
where in the cauldron of noise,<br />
energy and ferocious action from<br />
end-to-end, and start-to-finish,<br />
we emerged with the victory on<br />
a very (very) tight score-line of<br />
26-21.<br />
Many in attendance would say the battle<br />
between James Lowe and Mack Hansen<br />
was worth the entrance fee alone and<br />
few could call foul on that one. If these<br />
two are on form again for the second leg,<br />
we’ll have a game that could be talked<br />
about for years to come.<br />
Obviously we want this game to be<br />
talked about by us for years to come as<br />
we look to progress to the quarter-finals,<br />
however as we have seen time and time<br />
again in this sport, it’s a funny auld game<br />
and the bounce of the ball can leave<br />
someone going from hero to zero in a<br />
split second.<br />
Thankfully Leo, Stuart and co are not<br />
ones to put the proverbial cart before<br />
the horse and the focus will very much<br />
be on these 80 minutes and getting this<br />
fixture out of the way before hopefully<br />
54 | www.leinsterrugby.ie<br />
then turning our attention to further down<br />
the road.<br />
A shout-out though from ourselves on the<br />
committee must go to all the travelling<br />
support last weekend who certainly<br />
made the College Road Terrace in the<br />
Sportsground almost feel like the terrace<br />
in the RDS such was the wall of blue and<br />
the noise, which at times made it hard<br />
to hear the person beside you and you<br />
could see what a difference this made to<br />
the team.<br />
We know how much this means to them<br />
and given we had a completely different<br />
result two weeks before that in the same<br />
venue, some might have felt the same<br />
result was all but a given but we know,<br />
and have seen some big teams travel<br />
west for a game they perceived to be<br />
a given, and walked away licking their<br />
wounds.<br />
This time, we need to show the same to<br />
the visitors – we need the blue wall from<br />
start to finish as this is only a five-point<br />
game and any team that can get a spring<br />
in their step knows that that difference<br />
can be easily gotten. After all, it only took<br />
John Porch two minutes last week to get<br />
on the scoresheet for the hosts and so<br />
we need that quick start ourselves, and<br />
the blue will help. Let’s just hope your<br />
vocal chords have recovered from last<br />
weekend!<br />
<strong>Leinster</strong><br />
<strong>Connacht</strong><br />
53% Possession 47%<br />
59% Territory 41%<br />
590 Metres Gained 382<br />
144 Carries 117<br />
5 Clean Breaks 7<br />
5 Offloads 5<br />
3 Tries 2<br />
21 Defenders Beaten 21<br />
193 Passes 179<br />
14 Turnovers Conceded 10<br />
175 Tackles 193<br />
21 Missed Tackles 21<br />
5 Turnovers Won 5<br />
Last week was a tight affair and we<br />
expect no different this week but what<br />
we do know as evidenced in the past is<br />
that we can come away with the victory<br />
when we need it most when the crowd<br />
is behind the team and let’s make sure<br />
today is no different. This is entering the<br />
business end of this tournament and we’re<br />
striving for five so let’s ensure we get the<br />
job done today!<br />
As always we’re thankful for the support<br />
we as a committee get from <strong>Leinster</strong><br />
Rugby and Bank of Ireland and as<br />
always we encourage you to show<br />
your support through our social media<br />
channels.<br />
Be loud, be true, be blue<br />
Yours in Rugby,<br />
Your OLSC Committee
OFFICIAL<br />
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SUPPORTERS<br />
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www.leinsterrugby.ie | 59
Virtual Mascot<br />
Tommy<br />
Asple<br />
Age: 11<br />
School: St Michael’s<br />
Hobbies: Rugby and GAA<br />
Favourite Player: Tadhg Furlong (up Wexford!)<br />
60 | www.leinsterrugby.ie
DELIVERED BY<br />
Heading into the much-anticipated knockout<br />
stage of the Heineken Champions Cup, three<br />
players from TOP 14 clubs have already captured<br />
the Champions Try of the Round award.<br />
The Round 1 accolade went to Damian Penaud of<br />
ASM Clermont Auvergne who, despite his side’s<br />
29-23 defeat by Ulster Rugby at Stade Marcel-<br />
Michelin, still managed to score a brilliant try.<br />
At the outset of the move, JJ Hanrahan cleverly<br />
created a mis-match and then after a welltimed<br />
pass, Penaud did the rest with a perfect<br />
kick ahead and chase for what was a world-class<br />
score.<br />
In Round 3, Cameron Woki, a nominee like<br />
Penaud for the EPCR European Player of the<br />
Year award, scored an outstanding try during<br />
Union Bordeaux-Bègles’ impressive 45-10 win<br />
against the Scarlets at Stade Chaban-Delmas.<br />
Rodolphe Pires of beIN SPORTS, who was<br />
judging the tries, had no doubt about his<br />
selection. “The tempo of the attack was just<br />
right, the players’ movement was good and the<br />
combination of passes which eventually led to<br />
Woki touching down was superb. All in all, this<br />
was approach play and finishing at its very best.”<br />
In Round 4, Montpellier Hérault Rugby put<br />
in a strong performance after some earlier<br />
indifferent form for a 37-26 home win against<br />
Exeter Chiefs. This time full-back Anthony<br />
Bouthier took the honours following the public<br />
vote and the verdict of Virgin Media’s analyst,<br />
Alan Quinlan, with a try created by a magnificent<br />
Gabriel N’Gandebe break.<br />
More spectacular tries are on the cards for the<br />
knockout stage, so don’t miss your chance to<br />
have your say and vote for the best try!<br />
EPCRUGBY.COM/TOTR
WHERE ARE<br />
THEY NOW?<br />
Stephen Rooney<br />
THEN: Stephen<br />
Rooney played<br />
regularly for<br />
<strong>Leinster</strong> Rugby<br />
from 1994 to<br />
1998.<br />
NOW: He is<br />
the Executive<br />
Director<br />
of Quilter<br />
Cheviot, living<br />
in Milltown<br />
with his wife<br />
Maura and<br />
four children,<br />
Hannah (18),<br />
Sarah (17),<br />
Grace (15) and<br />
Sean (13).<br />
credit Inpho.ie<br />
62 | www.leinsterrugby.ie
credit Inpho.ie<br />
Stephen Rooney was the first fulltime<br />
<strong>Leinster</strong> professional rugby<br />
player to come out of St Michael’s<br />
College.<br />
He is not sure exactly how many times<br />
he played for <strong>Leinster</strong>, making maybe<br />
26 or 27 appearances.<br />
It speaks to the modesty of the man,<br />
never mind the player. He was never<br />
one to keep a scrapbook of the many<br />
firsts in a fine career that never quite<br />
delivered the Ireland cap he longed to<br />
wear.<br />
In the beginning, Irish rugby was<br />
dragged kicking and screaming into<br />
professionalism.<br />
Compared to the unpaid, glorious era<br />
of amateurism, it was painted as a dirty<br />
word, unwelcome in the vocabulary of<br />
the traditionalists.<br />
All of that made less than no difference<br />
to Stephen, coming out of school in<br />
1989. At that stage, the All-Ireland<br />
League was the main attraction, the<br />
only avenue into playing provincial and,<br />
eventually, international rugby.<br />
In 1993, the step from UCD to<br />
Lansdowne put Rooney in the line of<br />
sight of <strong>Leinster</strong>’s management.<br />
One of the first official <strong>Leinster</strong> caps<br />
came against Northern Transvaal in<br />
February 1995 when Malcolm O’Kelly<br />
also made his debut for the province.<br />
Stephen would play the same South<br />
African side again a few weeks later as<br />
part of the Combined Provinces team.<br />
Chris Pim was the captain. Conor<br />
O’Shea, Paul Wallace, Martin Ridge<br />
and Niall Woods were there. Victor<br />
Costello was just on the scene.<br />
At least, future Irish legend O’Kelly<br />
would be able to put his best foot<br />
forward from his natural position in<br />
the second row whereas Donal Spring<br />
picked Stephen at seven rather than six.<br />
It would become a familiar theme for<br />
the blindside, one that would leave him<br />
harbouring regrets around not being<br />
able to flex his true rugby muscle.<br />
“Donal picked me at seven because<br />
we were up against a bunch of huge<br />
Afrikaaners and he wanted me to tackle<br />
all day. I was very happy to do that,<br />
but seven was never really my position,”<br />
says Stephen.<br />
“<strong>Leinster</strong> wasn’t the machine that it<br />
is now. Their matches would attract<br />
roughly the same crowd as an AIL<br />
game, maybe 2,000 in Donnybrook.”<br />
As fate would have it, that game<br />
against Northern Transvaal provided<br />
the opportunity to play against the best<br />
player he would come across in his time<br />
in rugby.<br />
“Joost van der Westhuizen played in<br />
that game. He was incredible, the most<br />
impressive rugby player I ever played<br />
against.<br />
“At one stage, I thought I had him<br />
nailed. I was planning on slamming him<br />
into the advertising hoardings,” he says,<br />
with perfect recall.<br />
“He had such a low centre of gravity for<br />
a tall guy. He saw me coming and, in a<br />
split-second, somehow managed to shift<br />
his weight underneath me. I scragged<br />
him into touch, but not in the way I had<br />
planned.<br />
“I have forgotten so much about my<br />
playing days. It seems like such a long<br />
time ago. But, I still remember that<br />
moment very clearly.”<br />
www.leinsterrugby.ie | 63
There was no Celtic League. There were<br />
just a couple of friendlies before the<br />
Interprovincial Championship and the<br />
odd touring game in the early-to-mid-<br />
1990s.<br />
“In the first season I was involved in the<br />
Interpros, in 1995, I played against<br />
Denis McBride up in Ulster and we got<br />
a first win in something like 12 years up<br />
there.”<br />
There was a share of tussles with<br />
Munster at Thomond Park and in<br />
Donnybrook with formidable opponents<br />
in Anthony Foley, Alan Quinlan and<br />
Eddie Halvey.<br />
<strong>Leinster</strong> weren’t too shabby themselves,<br />
Stephen vying for selection with Pim,<br />
Trevor Brennan, Kelvin Leahy, Paddy<br />
Kenny and Pat Ward.<br />
When the Heineken Cup came about in<br />
1995/96, Stephen was on the outskirts<br />
looking in until an injury to Dean<br />
Oswald opened up a place in the back<br />
row against Pontypridd in the second of<br />
two Pool matches and against Cardiff<br />
in the first European Cup semi-final at<br />
Lansdowne Road before a crowd of<br />
7,350.<br />
“We viewed it as the proper European<br />
Cup. We were really into it,” he stresses.<br />
“The competition was in its infancy.<br />
The English clubs didn’t participate.<br />
But, it was still a very good standard. I<br />
remember in the semi-final Cardiff were<br />
stacked with Wales internationals.”<br />
Stephen was working in Ulster Bank<br />
Investment Services out of college for a<br />
couple of years when professionalism<br />
began to happen.<br />
There was an exodus of Irish players to<br />
England, led by Conor O’Shea, Paul<br />
Wallace and Nick Popplewell and<br />
Stephen met with Clive Woodward of<br />
London Irish in The Gresham Hotel<br />
“I guess, for me, - it was probably<br />
common for a lot of players - I really just<br />
wanted to play for <strong>Leinster</strong>,” he says.<br />
“Nowadays, players go where the<br />
credit Inpho.ie<br />
contracts are. Growing up, that wasn’t<br />
my motivation. This was the twilight<br />
zone.<br />
“The first professional contracts were<br />
offered for the 1997/98 season<br />
when money started to come into the<br />
equation.<br />
“<strong>Leinster</strong> couldn’t afford to make<br />
everyone fully professional. I was<br />
lucky enough to be one of a handful<br />
of players to sign full-time for<br />
€20,000-a-year.<br />
“It was possible for me to accept it<br />
because I was only in a junior role<br />
at Ulster Bank whereas a parttime<br />
payment of, say, €6,000 or<br />
€7,000-a-year with match fees, was<br />
available to those with better jobs to<br />
add to what they were already making<br />
rather than give up their civilian career<br />
for a big drop in salary.<br />
“To me, this was the best way to go<br />
about playing for <strong>Leinster</strong> and Ireland.<br />
Simple as that.”<br />
That season, Stephen was involved<br />
against Pau, Scottish Borders, Martin<br />
Johnson’s Leicester and Emile Ntamack’s<br />
Toulouse, <strong>Leinster</strong> failing to qualify for<br />
the knock-out stages.<br />
It was at this point in the conversation<br />
that the mention of Toulouse jogged his<br />
memory.<br />
“That was probably my last major game<br />
for <strong>Leinster</strong>.,” he recalls.<br />
Jumping ahead, it must seem strange<br />
to look back on <strong>Leinster</strong> in those early,<br />
coming to professionalism years, given<br />
the current standing of an industry<br />
leader.<br />
“You must remember when we became<br />
full-time with <strong>Leinster</strong>, the coaches had<br />
never been professional before either.<br />
“Everyone was learning on the job.<br />
Jim Glennon, Liam Hennessy and Mike<br />
Ruddock had huge tasks to get <strong>Leinster</strong><br />
up to speed.<br />
“They would flog you one week to see<br />
if that worked. At the same time, you<br />
were training with your club. You could<br />
be training three or four times a day. It<br />
was exhausting. There was a lot of trial<br />
and error.<br />
64 | www.leinsterrugby.ie
“Being Director of Rugby at Lansdowne<br />
now, I am able to see how the<br />
players prepare. To say it has come<br />
on in leaps and bounds is a massive<br />
understatement.<br />
“Am I envious of the set-ups today?<br />
Yes. But, I really enjoyed my time. The<br />
camaraderie we had at <strong>Leinster</strong> and<br />
Lansdowne was such great craic. We<br />
were definitely given more license to<br />
enjoy ourselves off the field.”<br />
When the time came for Stephen to talk<br />
money again, <strong>Leinster</strong> was not inclined<br />
to offer a new contract.<br />
“It just wasn’t going to happen. Trevor<br />
Brennan had arrived on the scene<br />
and Mike (Ruddock) had a grá for<br />
him. Declan O’Brien was there too. In<br />
fairness, I’m not sure I was ever Mike’s<br />
type of blindside.<br />
“I definitely was frustrated because<br />
he also picked me as a seven when I<br />
knew I really wasn’t one. I was never<br />
comfortable playing the position at that<br />
level.”<br />
Even then, Rooney experienced the<br />
psychological challenge of being paid<br />
to play while sometimes not playing.<br />
“Everyone is talking about mental health<br />
these days. I definitely can understand<br />
why. There were times when I was really<br />
frustrated.<br />
“When we were playing there was very<br />
little video analysis going on. There was<br />
none of it.<br />
“Video analysis is a great way of<br />
purging things from your system. You<br />
address your mistakes. You work on<br />
whatever you need to work on. You<br />
move on.<br />
“That was a lot harder to do back in the<br />
mid-1990s. It could be a journalist who<br />
might write that I had a bad game.<br />
“That could stay with you for weeks<br />
because you had fewer games back<br />
then too. You had a lot of time to dwell<br />
on your failings.<br />
“These days, you always have the next<br />
game to concentrate on. You play. You<br />
review. You move on.”<br />
Even though there were contract offers<br />
from French club Pau and two of the<br />
provinces, they just didn’t feel right for<br />
someone who bled the blue of <strong>Leinster</strong>.<br />
“I had loved my time at <strong>Leinster</strong> and<br />
was very grateful for the opportunities<br />
but I felt I needed to focus on my career<br />
away from rugby.”<br />
It was time to move on to Davy<br />
Stockbrokers for four years and,<br />
thereafter, onto investment managers<br />
Quilter Cheviot, where he currently<br />
works as an Executive Director.<br />
Nowadays he remains heavily involved<br />
in rugby as Director of Senior Rugby in<br />
Lansdowne and takes great satisfaction<br />
from seeing young players at the club<br />
push through into the professional ranks.<br />
He cites the rugby values of “teamwork”<br />
and “discipline” as strengths to bring to<br />
any job or to any aspect in later life and<br />
values the lifelong friendships rugby has<br />
given him.<br />
Values for which he is grateful.<br />
www.leinsterrugby.ie | 65
Referees<br />
Corner<br />
BY DAN WALLACE<br />
Welcome to another issue<br />
of Referees Corner.<br />
A warm congratulations to our<br />
teams of officials from the recent<br />
Bank of Ireland Schools Cup<br />
finals. The team for the Senior<br />
Cup Final between Blackrock<br />
College and Gonzaga was<br />
Andrew Cole, with Paul Haycock<br />
and last minute replacement<br />
John Carvill. James Fegan and<br />
Keith Spendlove were the fourth<br />
and fifth officials and Nigel Corell<br />
was TMO.<br />
The team for the Junior Cup Final<br />
between St Michael’s College and<br />
Roscrea were Sam Holt in the middle,<br />
assisted by Paul O’Connor and Michael<br />
Forrestal. Well done to both teams on<br />
fine refereeing displays.<br />
Want to get<br />
involved?<br />
Feel free to make contact with the <strong>Leinster</strong> Rugby Referees<br />
at hayley.whyte@leinsterrugby.ie If you are interested<br />
in becoming a referee get in contact with us through our<br />
Facebook, our website www.leinsterrugbyreferees.ie or<br />
through twitter @leinsterreferee.<br />
66 | www.leinsterrugby.ie
Acme Whistles<br />
<strong>Leinster</strong> Rugby Referees are<br />
delighted to announce our<br />
partnership with Acme whistles<br />
as our preferred whistle supplier.<br />
Speaking about the partnership <strong>Leinster</strong><br />
Rugby Referees President David<br />
Robb said: “We are delighted to be<br />
partnering with Acme as our whistle<br />
supplier, a company that has been<br />
providing whistles to referees since<br />
before the foundation of <strong>Leinster</strong> Rugby<br />
Referees in 1902.<br />
“It’s a company of long-standing<br />
tradition with quality workmanship<br />
providing rugby referees from grassroots<br />
to the elite of the game with a quality<br />
whistle to officiate.”<br />
Ben McFarlane of Acme Whistles<br />
said: “Through this partnership we<br />
continue to evolve and align ourselves<br />
with proactive and forward thinking<br />
organisations such as <strong>Leinster</strong> Rugby<br />
Referees. Playing our small part in the<br />
wider rugby community is one we take<br />
immense pride in, the role of the official,<br />
from grassroots to elite level cannot be<br />
underestimated, and we are here to<br />
support and help in any way we can.”<br />
Annual Dinner<br />
The annual dinner of the <strong>Leinster</strong><br />
Rugby Referees is the highlight<br />
of our somewhat limited social<br />
calendar and is always a great<br />
event. This year it took place in<br />
Lansdowne FC on Saturday, 9<br />
April, and was hosted by <strong>Leinster</strong><br />
Rugby Referees President David<br />
Robb, who had to wait an extra<br />
year for this fantastic evening.<br />
On the night our much-anticipated<br />
annual awards are handed out. There<br />
are five main awards, one for lifetime<br />
achievement, one for referee of the year,<br />
another for refereeing performance<br />
of the year, one for the referee who<br />
progressed the most during the year and<br />
one for club of the year.<br />
The lifetime achievement award is<br />
named after Ham Lambert who passed<br />
away a few years ago. Ham was an<br />
Irish cricketer, rugby union player<br />
and later international rugby referee.<br />
By profession a veterinary surgeon,<br />
he was noted for being the first in<br />
Ireland to own a practice devoted to<br />
the care of companion animals. This<br />
year’s winner was Peter Donnelly of St<br />
Mary’s College RFC who has devoted<br />
a number of years to the association.<br />
As well as being a former president of<br />
the association he is in charge of match<br />
ticketing, an unenviable task. He follows<br />
a long line of winners including Brendan<br />
Jenkinson, Tom Aplin, Des McCabe and<br />
Brian Pender, to name a few.<br />
The award for referee of the year is<br />
named after Harold ‘Harry’ Ardill.<br />
Harry was instrumental in developing,<br />
recruiting and educating referees within<br />
<strong>Leinster</strong>. The referee of the year award<br />
accounts for both on- and off-field efforts<br />
and contribution to the association.<br />
This year’s award went to long-serving<br />
member and Honorary Treasurer Keith<br />
Spendlove. Keith officiates at all levels<br />
and is always there when needed,<br />
another tireless servant to the referees.<br />
The Club of the Year award is named<br />
after Terry Doyle, former President of<br />
the association and was presented<br />
by his wife Deirdre. The award was<br />
named after Terry in 2011 and the first<br />
recipients were Edenderry RFC. This<br />
year’s recipients of the Terry Doyle<br />
Memorial Award were first-time winners<br />
Coolmine RFC. In a tightly fought<br />
contest they came out above last year’s<br />
winner Greystones (2nd), and Terenure<br />
College (3rd). Other winners of this<br />
award include Old Wesley, Greystones,<br />
Terenure College, Lansdowne,<br />
Ashbourne and Skerries. Coolmine were<br />
clear winners amongst the active referee<br />
population for both their captains’ and<br />
players’ attitudes and their off-field<br />
facilities and welcome.<br />
The Alain Rolland Referee Performance<br />
of the Year was won last year by<br />
Andrew Cole. Andrew had an even<br />
better season this year culminating<br />
in an international appointment and<br />
Schools Cup Final. This year’s winner<br />
was Robbie jenkinson. Robbie, a new<br />
national panel member, is a member of<br />
Skerries RFC and made his All-Ireland<br />
League debut earlier this year, in a<br />
great match between Malahide and<br />
Blackrock, Robbie has progressed<br />
through the ranks over the last number<br />
of seasons and is thoroughly deserving<br />
of this award.<br />
The last award of the night was the<br />
Denis Collins Perpetual Award for<br />
Progressive Referee. Presented by the<br />
great man himself, this award is for the<br />
referee who was seen to progress the<br />
most during the season and has shown<br />
themselves to have put in time and effort<br />
into their own development.<br />
No one encouraged referees more in<br />
his time as referee administrator than<br />
Denis Collins. Last year, Katie Byrne<br />
won the inaugural trophy. This year’s<br />
winner was Mitch Enderby. Mitch<br />
hails from Zimbabwe and became a<br />
<strong>Leinster</strong> Rugby Referee in 2017 and<br />
has made great progress since joining.<br />
He refereed this year’s Junior Cup<br />
game between St Mary’s College and<br />
St Fintan’s. We’re looking forward to<br />
seeing his future progression.<br />
With only a few weeks left in the season<br />
we are immensely proud of the work<br />
that has been put in by referees at all<br />
levels this season and look forward<br />
to moving onwards in the 2022/23<br />
season.<br />
www.leinsterrugby.ie | 67
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<strong>Leinster</strong> Rugby<br />
Junior Team<br />
The Covid-19<br />
pandemic put<br />
so much of<br />
life on hold.<br />
As lockdowns<br />
descended and<br />
we retreated<br />
to find safety<br />
in isolation,<br />
no area was<br />
left untouched.<br />
Rugby was not<br />
unaffected.<br />
The Junior<br />
Interprovincial<br />
Championship<br />
was placed<br />
on ice since<br />
<strong>Leinster</strong> last<br />
won the title in<br />
2019.<br />
Now the long wait is over as the<br />
<strong>Leinster</strong> Juniors return to action<br />
this year.<br />
Robert McDermott is back for another<br />
season as Team Manager and he’s<br />
looking forward to this year’s campaign.<br />
“The <strong>Leinster</strong> Junior Team finally took<br />
to the pitch on March 9 in Newbridge<br />
RFC after 34 months of waiting. The last<br />
time the Juniors were on a pitch was in<br />
Dundalk in May 2019 where we retained<br />
the Interprovincial Championship,” he<br />
explains.<br />
“We are delighted to be back and there<br />
has been a great buy in from the players<br />
and we had 70 nominations from all the<br />
clubs across the province. The tough job<br />
of narrowing the squad down to 35 has<br />
begun and all the players deserve great<br />
credit for their commitment as they have<br />
to jump into their cars after a long day<br />
work to make training. This weekend<br />
we have a training camp in Tullow RFC,<br />
and we are grateful to them for their<br />
hospitality.”<br />
The former <strong>Leinster</strong> Branch President,<br />
Robert McDermott is joined in the<br />
<strong>Leinster</strong> set up by Cill Dara’s Enda Finn<br />
who returns as Head Coach. Maurice<br />
Logue of Tullow RFC is back as senior<br />
coach. Joe Duffy (Wicklow RFC) returns<br />
as Assistant Coach and he is joined by<br />
former <strong>Leinster</strong> Junior player Corey Carty<br />
(Co Carlow FC) who has come on board<br />
the coaching set-up.<br />
The coaches and management have<br />
been working hard over the past number<br />
of months to ensure that the <strong>Leinster</strong><br />
Juniors make a successful return. As part<br />
of their preparation for the Interprovincial<br />
Series, the <strong>Leinster</strong> team have played<br />
matches against the Ireland Police team<br />
and the Irish Defence Forces team.<br />
Team Captain for the 2021/22 season is<br />
Kilkenny RFC’s Wes Carter.<br />
“For me Junior rugby is all about<br />
representing your local provincial club<br />
2019 Team with Cup<br />
Wes Carter - Team Captain<br />
and I am extremely proud to represent<br />
Kilkenny RFC,” Carter says.<br />
“The club continues to go from strength<br />
to strength and the future is very bright.<br />
To have the avenue to represent your<br />
province from there, is something that<br />
Junior players across the country relish.<br />
“My first year with the Juniors was 2016,<br />
six years later now and I can’t wait for<br />
the 2022 campaign to start. The last two<br />
years in particular with the Juniors have<br />
been some of the most enjoyable rugby I<br />
have played.<br />
“Winning trophies in rugby is rare but<br />
the Interprovincial series provides the<br />
opportunity to do that. We have been<br />
70 | www.leinsterrugby.ie
2018 Cup Celebrations<br />
delighted to win the last two series and<br />
are under no illusions how difficult this<br />
year will be. When Enda called me about<br />
captaincy, it was an immediate yes, as a<br />
group we are really looking forward to<br />
the 2022 campaign. Leading the <strong>Leinster</strong><br />
Juniors out will be an extremely proud<br />
day for me. It’s great to have the series<br />
back after two years off with Covid.”<br />
Hopefully the boys will be well<br />
supported, and all are welcome at<br />
their upcoming Interpro games against<br />
Ulster in Carrickfergus RFC on April 23,<br />
<strong>Connacht</strong> in Buccaneers RFC on April 30<br />
and finally against Munster in New Ross<br />
RFC on May 7.<br />
That match should be a great occasion<br />
as <strong>Leinster</strong> will hopefully be chasing the<br />
Interpro title whilst hosts New Ross will<br />
be celebrating their 50th anniversary.<br />
All matches in the Interpro series have a<br />
2.30pm kick-off time.<br />
2022 LEINSTER RUGBY<br />
JUNIOR SQUAD<br />
Craig Miller Athy RFC<br />
Ciaran Fennessy Athy RFC<br />
Cal O'Connor Balbriggan RFC<br />
Paul O'Connor Balbriggan RFC<br />
Nick Smith Boyne RFC<br />
Rory Hennessy Boyne RFC<br />
Robbie Vallejo Boyne RFC<br />
Caomhán Brennan Co Carlow FC<br />
Daniel Crotty Co Carlow FC<br />
JJ McIlwrath Cill Dara RFC<br />
Gordon Shannon Cill Dara RFC<br />
Dylan Casey Edenderry RFC<br />
Andrew Walsh Gorey RFC<br />
Eoin Walsh Gorey RFC<br />
Fionn O'Loughlin Gorey RFC<br />
Mikey Duke Gorey RFC<br />
Wes Carter Kilkenny RFC<br />
Jake McDonald Kilkenny RFC<br />
Martin Murphy Monkstown FC<br />
Ruadhán McDonnell Monkstown FC<br />
Tristan Brady Monkstown FC<br />
James Ryan New Ross RFC<br />
Will Jennings Newbridge RFC<br />
Tom Tracey Newbridge RFC<br />
Michael Tracey Roscrea RFC<br />
Zach Jungmann Seapoint RFC<br />
Eddie Weaver Seapoint RFC<br />
Matt McKenna Seapoint RFC<br />
John O'Brien Suttonians RFC<br />
Thomas Culleton Suttonians RFC<br />
Jordan Leybourne Tullow RFC<br />
Jack McDonald Tullow RFC<br />
Stevie Smith Tullow RFC<br />
Ben Watson Wicklow RFC<br />
David Nichloson Wicklow RFC<br />
2022 TEAM<br />
MANAGEMENT<br />
Enda Finn (Cill Dara RFC)<br />
HEAD COACH<br />
Maurice Logue (Tullow RFC)<br />
SENIOR COACH<br />
Joe Duffy (Wicklow RFC)<br />
ASSISTANT COACH<br />
Corey Carty (Co Carlow FC)<br />
ASSISTANT COACH<br />
Eoin Stanley (MU Barnhall RFC)<br />
PERFORMANCE COACH<br />
Robert McDermott (Edenderry RFC)<br />
MANAGER<br />
Damien Curly (Longford RFC)<br />
LOGISTICS<br />
Bláithín Brady (Monkstown FC)<br />
PHYSIO SUPPORT<br />
Dr. Maurice Carroll (Edenderry RFC)<br />
TEAM DOCTOR<br />
www.leinsterrugby.ie | 71
ank of ireland halftime<br />
inclusive rugby<br />
Dunbrody<br />
Warriors<br />
Players: Damien Phelan, Colm O Sullivan, Dumitra Kehoe,<br />
Ciara Brennan, Christine Byrne, Michael O’Neill,<br />
Dillon Murphy, Aidan Sinnott, Larry Kehoe,<br />
Martin Browne, Noel Kehoe<br />
Coaches: Rory Flynn and Laura Doyle<br />
Seapoint<br />
Dragons<br />
Players: Donal Brennan, Gordon Bergin, Hugh Brophy,<br />
Matthew Burke, Conor Byrne, Carrie Doyle, Mandy Finlay,<br />
Cormac Fenner, Jamie Harvey, Sam Harvey, Matthew<br />
Hickey, Eoin Kelly, Cameron Lawlor, Mac Dara Lambertini,<br />
Luke Mannion, Louis Mitchell, Andrew McCarthy,<br />
Christopher McKenna, Cathal McKiernan, Louis Olden,<br />
Fiodhna O’Leary, Charlie O’Reilly, Jack Tonge, Joe Whelan,<br />
Daniel Woods, Ben Purcell<br />
Coaches: Joanne Dwyer, Peter O’Brien and<br />
Maire Kelly<br />
Westmanstown<br />
Wasps<br />
Players: Mark O’Meara, Mark Wright, Marcus Tsang,<br />
Darius Tsang, Nathan Cummins, James Burke, Jimmy<br />
Kneafsey, Saul Hill, Derek McLoughlin, Rian Flynn, Seamus<br />
Johnson, Conor Howe, Jason Howe, David Kane, Will<br />
Walsh<br />
Greystones<br />
Seagulls<br />
Coaches: Eamon Cunningham, Eamon O’Grady, Paul<br />
Wright, Caitriona O’Grady, Aaron Slevin<br />
www.leinsterrugby.ie | 73
TO MAXIMISE YOUR SPORTS AND EXERCISE<br />
PERFORMANCE THROUGH NUTRITION<br />
Optimum Nutrition and <strong>Leinster</strong> Rugby have partnered to help share good nutrition tips throughout<br />
the season to help you achieve your performance goals. Here are some simple tips and things to<br />
remember to help maximise your performance and help you recover quickly to come back stronger.<br />
Protein Rich.<br />
Protein provides your muscles with<br />
the building blocks to repair & grow.<br />
Carb-Up.<br />
Carbohydrate foods are king as they<br />
power high intensity play.<br />
Fuel-Up.<br />
Consume the majority of your<br />
carbohydrates around training to<br />
support fuelling and recovery.<br />
Recover.<br />
Quality rest & nutrition between<br />
training sessions is the key to<br />
recovery. Remember to:<br />
Repair with protein,<br />
Refuel with carbohydrate,<br />
Rehydrate with fluid.<br />
Hydrate.<br />
Dehydration can lead to a drop in<br />
exercise intensity & can impact your<br />
decision making. Drink 2-3 litres of<br />
fluid each day to ensure hydration.<br />
Game Day.<br />
To fuel performance on the field,<br />
consume a large carbohydrate rich<br />
meal 2-3 hours before kick-off, i.e.<br />
chicken & pasta, turkey bolognaise<br />
wraps.<br />
Get 20% off all Optimum Nutrition products<br />
using code <strong>Leinster</strong>20 on optimumnutrition.ie
KNOWING WHAT ADVICE TO TAKE<br />
IS ESSENTIAL IN THIS GAME.<br />
beauchamps.ie<br />
OFFICIAL LEGAL ADVISOR<br />
Beauchamps LLP | Riverside Two | Sir John Rogerson’s Quay | Dublin 2 | D02 KV60
leinster rugby charity partner<br />
Irish Community<br />
Air Ambulance<br />
The Irish Community Air<br />
Ambulance is Ireland’s only<br />
charity Helicopter Emergency<br />
Medical Service (HEMS) Air<br />
Ambulance. The organisation<br />
works in partnership with the<br />
National Ambulance Service,<br />
responding to serious incidents<br />
and medical emergencies 365<br />
days a year.<br />
The Community Air Ambulance is based<br />
in Co Cork however the charity plays a<br />
significant role in <strong>Leinster</strong>. Last year, the<br />
HEMS Air Ambulance was tasked to<br />
incidents in Wexford, Kilkenny, Offaly,<br />
Wicklow and Kildare. It also funds a<br />
Critical Care Rapid Response service<br />
staffed by Volunteer Critical Care Doctors<br />
and an Advanced Life Support Doctor<br />
Service with community-based GPs. In<br />
total, the charity was tasked to 625<br />
incidents and emergencies in <strong>Leinster</strong><br />
during 2021.<br />
The Critical Care Rapid Response service<br />
has expanded in Dublin in recent weeks.<br />
Two Specialist Registrars in Emergency<br />
Medicine, Dr Andy Patton and Dr Daragh<br />
Mathews, are now volunteering with the<br />
service, providing pre-hospital emergency<br />
care to critically ill and injured patients<br />
across Dublin and surrounding counties.<br />
Dr Andy Patton who has been a<br />
Volunteer Doctor with the charity since<br />
2021 was tasked to 283 incidents<br />
and emergencies during 2021 alone<br />
including cardiac arrests, road traffic<br />
collisions and major traumas. He has<br />
been joined on the team by Dr Daragh<br />
Mathews. They are often called to the<br />
sickest and most critically injured patients<br />
including cardiac arrests, RTCs, falls from<br />
heights, assaults and stabbings.<br />
Dr Patton explains, “Critically ill and<br />
injured patients can deteriorate rapidly<br />
before reaching hospital. By responding<br />
to the patient in the community, we can<br />
intervene earlier and give them the<br />
best chance of survival with a good<br />
recovery. We are essentially bringing the<br />
Emergency Department to the patient.”<br />
Micheál Sheridan, CEO of the Irish<br />
Community Air Ambulance, added,<br />
“We now have a team of five specialists<br />
in Emergency Medicine volunteering<br />
their time in counties Dublin, Mayo and<br />
Donegal. We’re lucky to be joined by<br />
such highly qualified professionals who<br />
work in Emergency Departments across<br />
the country. The aim of our organisation is<br />
to bring hope to patients when they need<br />
it most and our rapid response teams are<br />
central to that.”<br />
Dr Daragh Mathews said, “I am<br />
delighted to be able to start providing<br />
Pre-Hospital Critical Care in Dublin and<br />
surrounding counties as a Volunteer<br />
Doctor with Irish Community Air<br />
Ambulance. We work alongside the<br />
brilliant paramedics and advanced<br />
paramedics of the National Ambulance<br />
Service and Dublin Fire Brigade to<br />
provide hospital level interventions at the<br />
roadside for the sickest or most seriously<br />
injured patients.<br />
Dr Jason Horan is a Consultant in<br />
Emergency Medicine at Mayo University<br />
Hospital. He volunteers with the Irish<br />
Community Air Ambulance in his spare<br />
time. “I make myself available to the HSE<br />
National Ambulance Service to respond<br />
to the more serious 999 calls in the local<br />
community. Because of the geographical<br />
spread, often I will be the first<br />
professional resource to arrive. I respond<br />
to the more serious road traffic collisions,<br />
other significant injuries, collapsed<br />
patients, seizing children, cardiac arrests<br />
and childbirth”<br />
For more information about the service<br />
or to make a donation to the Irish<br />
Community Air Ambulance visit:<br />
https://communityairambulance.ie<br />
76 | www.leinsterrugby.ie
Orin’s Story<br />
The Irish Community Air<br />
Ambulance transferred a<br />
seriously injured child from Kerry<br />
to Dublin after he was knocked<br />
down as he crossed the road in<br />
Listowel. Eleven-year-old Orin<br />
Hough from Limerick was the<br />
first child to be airlifted from the<br />
south-west of Ireland directly to<br />
the specialist neurosurgical centre<br />
at CHI Temple Street under new<br />
trauma protocols.<br />
This is his story:<br />
I’m Orin, and I can’t remember<br />
the helicopter trip to the hospital.<br />
Dad told me about it once I came<br />
out of my coma.<br />
It all started in May last year, I was<br />
knocked down by a car as I was crossing<br />
the road, going for a pizza with my<br />
Dad. I was badly hurt but someone rang<br />
999 and they sent the Air Ambulance,<br />
which came very quickly. They gave<br />
me emergency treatment on board their<br />
helicopter and flew me straight to hospital<br />
in Dublin. Dad went with me in the<br />
helicopter and the Gardai drove Mum up<br />
to meet us. Dad said the Air Ambulance<br />
was very quick to arrive, and that’s what<br />
saved my life! He told me that one of<br />
the crew kept giving him the thumbs up,<br />
which made him feel better.<br />
A team of surgeons were waiting for me<br />
at the hospital, and rushed me inside<br />
for scans. I was brought to the ICU and<br />
put into a coma for a whole week. I was<br />
paralysed on my left side and couldn’t<br />
speak for ages. Mum and Dad were up<br />
the walls with worry.<br />
Thankfully, I’m much better after rehab<br />
and physio. I’m back in school with<br />
my friends and can’t wait to play<br />
football again. Mum said my progress<br />
is phenomenal. I feel very lucky that<br />
everyone was so brilliant, especially the<br />
Air Ambulance team. When I was feeling<br />
better the crew even sent me a teddy.<br />
I call him Hero, because they are my<br />
heroes!<br />
Without the Air Ambulance I might not be<br />
here. Mum and Dad have told me that<br />
the Air<br />
Ambulance is a charity and needs our<br />
support. So, please donate now. It will<br />
mean the world to me, and to all the<br />
people the Air Ambulance will be able to<br />
help in the future.<br />
www.leinsterrugby.ie | 77
opposing view<br />
Photo by Harry Murphy/Sportsfile<br />
8 April 2022<br />
<strong>Connacht</strong> players, from left,<br />
Mack Hansen, Bundee Aki and<br />
John Porch celebrate their side’s<br />
second try during the Heineken<br />
Champions Cup Round of 16 First<br />
Leg match between <strong>Connacht</strong> and<br />
<strong>Leinster</strong> at the Sportsground in<br />
Galway.<br />
78 | www.leinsterrugby.ie
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Head coach<br />
Andy Friend<br />
Andy Friend took over the reins at<br />
<strong>Connacht</strong> in 2018, joining from the<br />
Australian Sevens team.<br />
His coaching career has taken in wellknown<br />
clubs across both the southern<br />
and northern hemispheres.<br />
The Australia native presided over<br />
Premiership side Harlequins for three<br />
years in the mid-noughties before<br />
returning to Canberra to take the head<br />
coach position with Brumbies.<br />
He also coached Canon Eagles and<br />
Suntory Sungoliath in the Japanese Top<br />
League.<br />
Captain<br />
Jack Carty<br />
Flanker Jarrad Butler held the<br />
role of captain in Ireland’s<br />
western province from 2018,<br />
while Ireland international outhalf<br />
Jack Carty has recently been<br />
named as matchday captain for<br />
the side.<br />
The now 29-year-old has 176<br />
appearances for his province with a<br />
further 11 caps for Ireland.<br />
Originally from Athlone, Carty played<br />
during his formative years with Marist<br />
College and Buccaneers.<br />
connacht squad<br />
DECLAN ADAMSON<br />
HOOKER<br />
BUNDEE AKI<br />
CENTRE/WING<br />
SAM ARNOLD<br />
CENTRE<br />
JACK AUNGIER<br />
TIGHT HEAD PROP<br />
FINLAY BEALHAM<br />
LOOSE HEAD PROP<br />
CAOLIN BLADE<br />
SCRUM HALF<br />
SHAYNE BOLTON<br />
CENTRE<br />
PAUL BOYLE<br />
BACK ROW<br />
DENIS BUCKLEY<br />
LOOSE HEAD PROP<br />
MATTHEW BURKE<br />
LOOSE HEAD PROP<br />
JARRAD BUTLER<br />
BACK ROW<br />
DONNACHA BYRNE<br />
BACK ROW<br />
JACK CARTY<br />
OUTSIDE HALF<br />
TOM DALY<br />
CENTRE<br />
SHANE DELAHUNT<br />
HOOKER<br />
MATTHEW DEVINE<br />
SCRUM HALF<br />
ULTAN DILLANE<br />
LOCK<br />
OISIN DOWLING<br />
LOCK<br />
JORDAN DUGGAN<br />
LOOSE HEAD PROP<br />
TOM FARRELL<br />
CENTRE<br />
LEVA FIFITA<br />
LOCK<br />
CONOR FITZGERALD<br />
OUTSIDE HALF<br />
CATHAL FORDE<br />
OUTSIDE HALF<br />
HUBERT GILVARRY<br />
SCRUM HALF<br />
MACK HANSEN<br />
OUTSIDE HALF<br />
MATT HEALY<br />
WING<br />
DAVID HEFFERNAN<br />
HOOKER<br />
SAM ILLO<br />
TIGHT HEAD PROP<br />
DIARMUID KILGALLEN<br />
WING<br />
KIERAN MARMION<br />
SCRUM HALF<br />
SEAN MASTERSON<br />
BACK ROW<br />
EOGHAN MASTERSON<br />
BACK ROW<br />
OISÍN MCCORMACK<br />
BACK ROW<br />
GREG MCGRATH<br />
TIGHT HEAD PROP<br />
ORAN MCNULTY<br />
FULL BACK/WING<br />
JONNY MURPHY<br />
HOOKER<br />
DARRAGH MURRAY<br />
LOCK<br />
NIALL MURRAY<br />
LOCK<br />
JOSH O’CONNOR<br />
WING<br />
BEN O’DONNELL<br />
FULL BACK/WING<br />
TIERNAN O’HALLORAN<br />
FULL BACK/WING<br />
CONOR OLIVER<br />
FLANKER<br />
ABRAHAM PAPALI’I<br />
NO 8<br />
JOHN PORCH<br />
WING<br />
CIAN PRENDERGAST<br />
LOCK<br />
COLM REILLY<br />
SCRUM HALF<br />
WILL REILLY<br />
SCRUM HALF<br />
PETER ROBB<br />
CENTRE<br />
DOMINIC ROBERTSON-MCCOY<br />
TIGHT HEAD PROP<br />
PETER SULLIVAN<br />
FULL BACK/WING<br />
GAVIN THORNBURY<br />
LOCK<br />
DYLAN TIERNEY MARTIN<br />
HOOKER<br />
TIETIE TUIMAUGA<br />
LOOSE HEAD PROP<br />
CHARLIE WARD<br />
LOOSE HEAD PROP<br />
ALEX WOOTTON<br />
FULL BACK/WING<br />
www.leinsterrugby.ie | 81
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12 Counties, One Club<br />
tallaght<br />
in Focus<br />
RFC<br />
Twenty<br />
years ago,<br />
a directive<br />
came out<br />
from the IRFU<br />
encouraging<br />
the creation<br />
of new rugby<br />
clubs in nontraditional<br />
areas, causing<br />
the creation of<br />
Tallaght RFC.<br />
In the intervening years, the club<br />
has moved from venue to venue,<br />
on terms set down by the Dublin<br />
Council, longing for a place to call<br />
their ‘forever home’.<br />
“We are currently playing out of a<br />
Dublin Council-owned pitch in Firhouse,<br />
across the road from the Community<br />
School,” said Director of Rugby Stephen<br />
Heaney.<br />
“Pitch 100 has been our home for<br />
the last number of years. Two 40-foot<br />
containers serve our facility’s needs,<br />
one as a changing room and one as<br />
a storage room. It is not much by any<br />
standard, but it is home for us, at the<br />
moment.<br />
In recent years, Tallaght has embraced<br />
the positivity and direction that comes<br />
with planning for the future, not just<br />
letting it happen.<br />
“The main point of our Five-Year Plan<br />
is to secure our ‘Forever Home’,” said<br />
Stephen.<br />
“The fact we are renting our pitch from<br />
the Council leaves our future in their<br />
hands. We want to take control of where<br />
we are going as a club.<br />
“Don’t get me wrong, we are grateful for<br />
the facilities provided by South Dublin<br />
84 | www.leinsterrugby.ie
County Council. However, we cannot put<br />
down plans to grow and evolve when we<br />
don’t own our own land.<br />
“It would be lovely to have our own<br />
place. That is what we are working on.<br />
We are meeting with schools in the area.<br />
We are meeting with councillors, all in<br />
the name of having our own home.”<br />
The absence of a long-term lease or<br />
ownership of the land prevents the club<br />
from applying for the significant grants<br />
they need to build a clubhouse and<br />
install modern facilities, like floodlights.<br />
“Until we have the money to buy a<br />
home, we can’t apply for those larger<br />
grants,” he said.<br />
It is akin to having their hands tied<br />
behind their backs when there is a plate<br />
of possibilities staring them in the face.<br />
There is no reason why Tallaght shouldn’t<br />
think bigger and better when it is located<br />
in the heart of a rising population area,<br />
catering to 75,000 locals with 10<br />
secondary schools containing 6,000<br />
students.<br />
The large volume of housing makes for a<br />
steady stream of potential new members.<br />
This has been partly tapped into by a<br />
doubling of men’s and women’s numbers<br />
in recent years, albeit coming from a low<br />
base.<br />
Following a spate of vandalism acts<br />
within their allocated grounds, the<br />
club created a ‘GoFundMe’ for their<br />
permanent home, raising just over<br />
€35,000 and growing.<br />
bring to an area as large and diverse as<br />
Tallaght.<br />
The club is constantly in search of a<br />
piece of land, within Dublin 24, that<br />
it can develop, and make its own.<br />
Chairman Niall Mahon is doing<br />
incredible work in the background to<br />
help make this dream a reality.<br />
It would certainly make for an increase<br />
in numbers from the current base of<br />
250 players, based on what it has been<br />
able to do to date, without the basics of<br />
running water and toilets.<br />
The support from the wider rugby<br />
community has been incredibly heartwarming<br />
with many domestic clubs<br />
rowing in behind them to help.<br />
They have also garnered support from<br />
professional sports stars, like Cian Healy,<br />
Donncha O’Callaghan, CJ Stander, Sene<br />
Naoupu, Lindsay Peat, Alan Quinlan, to<br />
name a few.<br />
They got involved because they<br />
understand the huge benefit rugby can<br />
Tallaght is also one of the few clubs<br />
aiming to have the same number of<br />
men’s and women’s teams as early as<br />
next season.<br />
“Our Ladies Development Officer,<br />
Martina Fitzpatrick, has been with the<br />
club for a long time and has been at the<br />
helm of women’s recruitment. We have<br />
a new women’s coach in Sean Bishop,<br />
who has made a three-year commitment<br />
with us, along with two senior men’s<br />
players as backs and forwards coaches<br />
helping out too,” issues Stephen.<br />
There has been considerable uptake<br />
in sponsorship. Tallaght based<br />
entrepreneurs have put close to €20,000<br />
into the men’s, women’s and now youths<br />
teams. All the teams are fully kitted out in<br />
the branding of local company logos.<br />
The club is leading the field in growing<br />
numbers through its online presence,<br />
using smart and creative social media<br />
campaigns to generate enough interest<br />
for new members to join the club.<br />
“The way things are going you have to<br />
have a big social media presence and<br />
we are very lucky with the work our club<br />
PRO Emma Louise Keogh is doing on this<br />
front,” adds Stephen.<br />
www.leinsterrugby.ie | 85
“She is always pushing fun ideas and<br />
links in regularly with <strong>Leinster</strong> and the<br />
IRFU which makes for thousands of<br />
exposures for such a small club. It just<br />
puts us on the rugby map a little more.”<br />
Sponsorship has come from people with<br />
Tallaght close to their hearts or locals<br />
looking to help. They include 123ink.<br />
ie, PeachyLean, Inivo Medical, Tadhg<br />
Riordan Motors, Windsor Motors and<br />
this list is growing.<br />
As a local parish community club, it<br />
has been able to get support from the<br />
professional side of the game. benefiting<br />
from a training day with former Ireland<br />
coach Joe Schmidt as well as kicking and<br />
skills sessions with Ireland U-20 coach<br />
Richie Murphy.<br />
In addition, Colin McEntee, the Director<br />
of the IRFU Domestic Game, has joined<br />
the club for a few training sessions, along<br />
with Ultan and Donncha O’Callaghan<br />
who hosted an evening of talks with<br />
senior men’s players ahead of a final<br />
back in 2020.<br />
There have also been supporting<br />
video messages from Mike McCarthy,<br />
O’Callaghan, Tommy Bowe, Ellis Genge<br />
and Wallaby Dane Haylett-Petty wishing<br />
the players well for various matches.<br />
At the moment, there are two men’s<br />
teams competing from 65 registered<br />
players. The women’s squad has 30<br />
registered players and there are plans<br />
afoot to create a second team as soon as<br />
next season. There are age-grade teams<br />
in the youths section and a growing minis<br />
group from six to 13 years of age.<br />
Tag rugby will take place in the summer,<br />
running to eight teams from a total<br />
playing membership of 250. There<br />
are also a number of <strong>Leinster</strong> referees<br />
registered within the club, such as<br />
Audrey Fulham, who started playing on<br />
the women’s team in the second row.<br />
“We can only hope to continue the<br />
growth of referees within the club and<br />
see them excel and grow in the way<br />
Audrey has,” says Stephen.<br />
There has been a lot done. There is so<br />
much more to do. Imagine what could be<br />
achieved if Tallaght RFC actually had a<br />
pitch, a clubhouse.<br />
A ‘Forever Home’.<br />
86 | www.leinsterrugby.ie
YOUR ACCESS TO THE HEART OF EUROPEAN<br />
RUGBY HAS NEVER BEEN BETTER<br />
HEINEKENCHAMPIONSCUP.COM<br />
#HeinekenChampionsCup
88 | www.leinsterrugby.ie
alex<br />
soroka<br />
THE ACADEMY<br />
INTERVIEW<br />
BY PAUL CAHILL<br />
On February 11, 2022, a<br />
week before his 21st<br />
birthday, Alex Soroka<br />
was flying high.<br />
He had just come off<br />
the bench for his first<br />
senior appearance<br />
of the season in<br />
<strong>Leinster</strong>’s 26-7 win<br />
over Edinburgh at the<br />
RDS Arena.<br />
Less than two weeks later, his<br />
world was rocked as Ukraine, the<br />
birthplace of his brother and his<br />
parents, was invaded by Russia.<br />
With his grandmother and lots of friends<br />
and family still in Ukraine, it has been<br />
an incredibly tough time for the Soroka<br />
family in Dublin.<br />
“I watch the news just to make sure I’m<br />
caught up with what is going on over<br />
there each day,” reflects the <strong>Leinster</strong><br />
Academy back row.<br />
“It’s tough, but at the same time it’s not<br />
tough for me at all. There’s nothing wrong<br />
with me and a shell isn’t going to hit my<br />
house. Sometimes it can get to me but<br />
then I remember what they are going<br />
through in Ukraine and it’s a completely<br />
different story.<br />
www.leinsterrugby.ie | 89
“It’s more that I feel a bit helpless<br />
sometimes, because I’m here and they<br />
are there and I feel like I can’t do much.”<br />
Alex was born in Ireland shortly after<br />
his parents, Tanya and Vassyl, moved<br />
to Cork with their six-year-old son, Ivan.<br />
Their daughter, Dasha, was born a few<br />
years later after the family moved to<br />
Dublin.<br />
His rugby adventures started in Bective<br />
Rangers, following in the footsteps of big<br />
brother Ivan, before going to school and<br />
representing Belvedere College.<br />
It wasn’t long before representative<br />
honours came his way and he has worn<br />
the green jersey of Ireland on numerous<br />
occasions across two U-20 Six Nations<br />
campaigns.<br />
Like so many young people his age in<br />
Ireland, Alex is very aware and equally<br />
proud of his Irish and Ukrainian roots.<br />
“I’ve lived here my whole life but I<br />
consider myself as much Ukrainian as I<br />
do Irish. All of my extended family are in<br />
Ukraine. I don’t have any Irish relatives,<br />
but at the same time, I was born here<br />
and I grew up here so I feel half and half<br />
basically.”<br />
Having made his <strong>Leinster</strong> Rugby debut<br />
last year against Glasgow, Soroka has<br />
impressed the coaches, earning further<br />
caps against Zebre and Edinburgh,<br />
despite a frustrating injury lay-off earlier<br />
this year.<br />
But, for the time being, his rugby career<br />
is very much secondary on his mind as<br />
he and his family do all they can for their<br />
extended family in Ukraine.<br />
“My granny is still there. I speak to her<br />
on the phone a lot. I have one aunt in<br />
London but all of my other aunts, uncles<br />
and cousins are in Ukraine right now.<br />
“My father’s family are all in Kyiv and my<br />
mother’s family are all in Dnipropetro<strong>vs</strong>k,<br />
which is further down the Dnipro river. It is<br />
worrying though because Dnipropetro<strong>vs</strong>k<br />
is in the south-east and the Russians could<br />
go there next. Thankfully, nothing bad has<br />
happened to any of them at the moment.”<br />
His use of the phrase “at the moment” is<br />
well founded given the proximity of both<br />
sides of his family to the ongoing war. His<br />
mother’s family, based in Dnipropetro<strong>vs</strong>k,<br />
are roughly 500km south-east of Kyiv. The<br />
fighting and the shelling that he referenced<br />
earlier is all too real for them all.<br />
The one bit of solace that Alex takes from<br />
his daily calls to Ukraine is the incredible<br />
strength and calmness that he hears from<br />
his extended family.<br />
“My granny is doing fine. I don’t know if<br />
it’s the Ukrainian nature, but they are so<br />
tough. When we are talking to her, it’s<br />
like we are more stressed than she is.<br />
“My mum and dad’s friends are the<br />
same. They are so calm about everything.<br />
My dad says that if he was over there it<br />
would be easier, because he would be<br />
there and wouldn’t be as stressed all the<br />
way over here.”<br />
We all watched the news in horror as<br />
the war intensified throughout parts of<br />
Ukraine.<br />
A sense of helplessness fell on most<br />
people. Soroka and his family decided<br />
that they had to do something.<br />
Knowing the city of Kyiv well, and seeing<br />
the images of injured children, they<br />
decided to start a GoFundMe page,<br />
which has been a huge success.<br />
“The Okhmadyt Children’s Hospital is<br />
the biggest in Ukraine. So, when<br />
everything started over there, we were<br />
trying to help our family and friends by<br />
sending what we can and giving what<br />
we can. But, I started to think, what else<br />
can I do? Because you do feel helpless<br />
over here. You are so far away from<br />
everything.<br />
“I had seen a few GoFundMe campaigns<br />
before, so I thought I would start one.<br />
We thought that there’s no better place<br />
90 | www.leinsterrugby.ie
to send the money than the children’s<br />
hospital.<br />
“A section of the hospital was actually<br />
shelled around the time I started the<br />
campaign. A lot of the kids in there<br />
are having to get their treatment done<br />
underground.<br />
“My dad got in contact with the hospital<br />
so the logistics of sending the money<br />
are sorted. I’ll probably keep it running<br />
for another few weeks. But, if we can<br />
help some of the injured kids back to full<br />
health, hopefully it can be of help.”<br />
The goodwill of the Irish people was<br />
clear as the campaign grew quickly.<br />
“The original goal was €5,000. I didn’t<br />
really know what amount to put the goal<br />
as. We hit that within a few hours so I<br />
doubled it. Then we hit that quickly so I<br />
doubled it again.<br />
“I moved it up to €50,000 and see how<br />
it goes, but we’re nearly there now.”<br />
Incredibly, the campaign is now just shy<br />
of €48,000 having been posted less<br />
than three weeks ago.<br />
“The day I put it live, all of the <strong>Leinster</strong><br />
players supported it and shared it across<br />
their social media pages. All my friends<br />
and teammates in Clontarf shared it too,<br />
so it got great exposure and I’m really<br />
grateful for that.”<br />
That support Alex talks about has come<br />
from all four corners of Ireland.<br />
“Cork Constitution FC gave a great<br />
contribution. I had no idea they were<br />
doing a fundraiser. We played them a<br />
few weeks ago with Clontarf and Donal<br />
Lenihan came up to me after the match<br />
and gave me an envelope to add to the<br />
fund. That was really nice.<br />
“UCD Rugby Club also gave a donation<br />
after our game last week which was<br />
really nice from them. When you see<br />
things like that, it makes you proud to be<br />
a part of the rugby community.”<br />
Those trips in the Energia AIL with Clontarf<br />
FC, and training in UCD with the <strong>Leinster</strong><br />
Academy are the few hours each week<br />
that Alex isn’t thinking about the war. It’s<br />
a good distraction for the 21-year-old,<br />
knowing that everyone at Clontarf and<br />
<strong>Leinster</strong> Rugby is behind him.<br />
“Not that you ever forget that the war<br />
is going on, but coming into UCD to<br />
train gives you something else to focus<br />
on for the time that I’m with the team. It<br />
definitely helps. It’s good to blow some<br />
steam off doing a gym session and it puts<br />
you in a better headspace overall.<br />
“The lads have been great. The<br />
support has been unbelievable.<br />
The whole squad here in <strong>Leinster</strong>,<br />
and all of the coaches have<br />
been so supportive. Everyone has<br />
said that if there’s anything they can do<br />
to help, they would love to do it. It means<br />
a lot.”<br />
This year, before the war began, rugby<br />
had brought the Soroka family a lot of<br />
big days out together as Alex, and his<br />
older brother, Ivan, who has previously<br />
played with tonight’s opponents<br />
<strong>Connacht</strong>, finally got to play on the same<br />
team.<br />
“Ivan is about six or seven years older<br />
than me so when we were growing up<br />
we never had a chance to play together.<br />
I signed back with Clontarf during Covid,<br />
but, obviously we didn’t get a chance to<br />
play any games.<br />
“I picked up an injury at the start of<br />
this season and I only got back in<br />
January. My first game back was against<br />
Garryowen and I finally got to play on<br />
the same team as my brother. That was<br />
special. It’s probably my favourite rugby<br />
memory.<br />
“We were waiting for a long time, and<br />
my parents were waiting for a long time<br />
too. They were happier than we were.<br />
My sister Dasha was there as well so it<br />
was special. It was just a really good day<br />
out. We won, thankfully. It would have<br />
been an anti-climax if we lost!<br />
“I think we’ve played nine games<br />
together this year for Clontarf and my<br />
parents have been to every one of them.<br />
They’ve travelled down to Cork for away<br />
games and everything.”<br />
Having that Clontarf Rugby Club<br />
community support has clearly been a<br />
great help to the entire Soroka family.<br />
Between the players and the supporters,<br />
92 | www.leinsterrugby.ie
the club has raised more than €6,000 for<br />
the campaign.<br />
The club is now working on helping as<br />
many Ukrainians as possible who move<br />
into the area.<br />
“A lot of families have moved into<br />
Clontarf, and the rugby club has set up a<br />
training session for Ukrainian kids. It’s on<br />
Mondays at 5.30pm in the rugby club.<br />
“Rugby isn’t very popular in Ukraine, but<br />
it’s just great that they have somewhere<br />
for the kids to run around and have a bit<br />
of craic. There’s so many examples of that<br />
goodwill around Ireland.<br />
“I couldn’t ask for anymore from the<br />
players, staff and the people behind the<br />
scenes at Clontarf. My family and I really<br />
appreciate it. It’s nice to be a part of a<br />
club like that.”<br />
From a rugby perspective, Alex is focused<br />
on impressing the <strong>Leinster</strong> coaches and<br />
adding to his three caps to date, as<br />
well as repaying Clontarf for all of their<br />
support with some silverware.<br />
“We’ve been going well this season with<br />
Clontarf and we’re into the play-offs.<br />
we’ll just try<br />
and help out<br />
as much as we<br />
can. We’ll keep<br />
organising<br />
things to help<br />
the Ukrainians<br />
coming over to<br />
Ireland.<br />
We’re playing Cork Con at home in the<br />
semi-final, so hopefully we can bring it<br />
home.”<br />
More importantly, Alex and his family are<br />
focused on helping Ukrainians arriving<br />
in Ireland as well as doing anything they<br />
can for family and friends back home in<br />
Ukraine.<br />
“Looking ahead, we’ll just try and help<br />
out as much as we can. We’ll keep<br />
organising things to help the Ukrainians<br />
coming over to Ireland.<br />
“There are a few Facebook groups that<br />
we’re in, so if somebody sees a good<br />
donation page, we’ll share it, or help set<br />
up a meet and greet for Ukrainians who<br />
have just come in at St Stephen’s Green<br />
on Saturdays. All of that kind of stuff.<br />
“It’s very daunting for the Ukrainians who<br />
are coming over here now. Especially the<br />
children.<br />
“It’s a new environment, a new language,<br />
a new climate, a new everything. Small<br />
things we can do to help them to make<br />
their lives a little bit easier, can go a long<br />
way.”<br />
94 | www.leinsterrugby.ie
If you<br />
would like<br />
to support<br />
the Soroka<br />
family<br />
GoFundMe<br />
campaign<br />
which is<br />
raising<br />
funds for the<br />
Okhmadyt<br />
Children’s<br />
Hospital<br />
in Ukraine,<br />
please<br />
donate here.<br />
www.leinsterrugby.ie | 95
Success in rugby is about collective excellence,<br />
the sort of excellence demonstrated last season<br />
by Stade Toulousain when they memorably<br />
clinched a record-breaking fifth Heineken<br />
Champions Cup title, and by Montpellier Hérault<br />
Rugby who lifted the EPCR Challenge Cup for<br />
the second time in their history.<br />
But within a group of players there is always<br />
the opportunity for individual brilliance and<br />
that is where the EPCR European Player of the<br />
Year award comes in. This prestigious accolade,<br />
won with such style in 2021 by the outstanding<br />
Antoine Dupont, is in the spotlight once again<br />
following announcement of this season’s 15<br />
nominees who are now vying to claim the<br />
Anthony Foley Memorial Trophy.<br />
Voting remains open and fans will be in the<br />
running to win a signed ball and a signed jersey<br />
courtesy of one of the Heineken Champions<br />
Cup finalist clubs. The list will be reduced<br />
to five candidates after the semi-finals by a<br />
combination of the public vote and the verdict<br />
of the judging panel, and players who have not<br />
been included in the initial longlist, but who<br />
make a significant impact during the knockout<br />
stages, may be considered for the shortlist.<br />
The voting will then re-open and the winner of<br />
the 2022 award will be announced following the<br />
Heineken Champions Cup final in Marseille.<br />
JUDGING PANEL<br />
Erik Bonneval (beIN SPORTS),<br />
Bryan Habana (two-time<br />
Heineken Champions Cup<br />
winner), Lee McKenzie<br />
(Channel 4), Alan Quinlan<br />
(Virgin Media and two-time<br />
Heineken Cup winner) and<br />
Dimitri Yachvili (France<br />
Télévisions)<br />
ROLL OF HONOUR<br />
2021: Antoine Dupont (Stade<br />
Toulousain); 2020: Sam<br />
Simmonds (Exeter Chiefs);<br />
2019: Alex Goode (Saracens);<br />
2018: Leone Nakarawa<br />
(Racing 92); 2017: Owen<br />
Farrell (Saracens); 2016: Maro<br />
Itoje (Saracens); 2015: Nick<br />
Abendanon (ASM Clermont<br />
Auvergne); 2014: Steffon<br />
Armitage (RC Toulon); 2013:<br />
Jonny Wilkinson (RC Toulon);<br />
2012: Rob Kearney (<strong>Leinster</strong><br />
Rugby); 2011: Sean O’Brien<br />
(<strong>Leinster</strong> Rugby); 2010: Ronan<br />
O’Gara (Munster Rugby –<br />
best player of first 15 years of<br />
European professional club<br />
competitions)
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HARLEQUINS HARLEQUINS HARLEQUINS LEINSTER RUGBYLEINSTER UNION RUGBY BORDEAUX-BÈGLES<br />
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UNION VOTE NOW<br />
EPCRUGBY.COM/EPOTY<br />
#EPOTY2022
<strong>Leinster</strong> Rugby Academy<br />
Year Three 2021/22:<br />
<strong>Leinster</strong> Rugby Academy<br />
Year two 2021/22:<br />
Second Row<br />
Brian Deeny<br />
DOB: 02/03/2000<br />
HEIGHT: 1.99m WEIGHT: 121kg<br />
HONOURS: Ireland U20 (8 caps)<br />
Did You Know: Brian played youth rugby with Wexford<br />
Wanderers RFC. He got his first Irish cap playing for<br />
Ireland Under-18 Sevens. Brian played midfield for<br />
his school St Peter’s College in Gaelic football and<br />
reached the All-Ireland Colleges Final in 2017. He is<br />
currently studying Science in Trinity and lives in Abbey<br />
House B&B, Wexford...if you are looking for a room?!<br />
Instagram: brian_deeny<br />
wing<br />
Niall Comerford<br />
DOB: 06/04/2000<br />
HEIGHT: 1.83m WEIGHT: 86kg<br />
HONOURS: Ireland U20<br />
Did You Know: Niall played both hurling and Gaelic<br />
football with Kilmacud Crokes for 14 years. He also<br />
represented Dublin in Gaelic football in the U17<br />
<strong>Leinster</strong> Championship. He is currently studying<br />
Commerce in UCD.<br />
Instagram: niall_c123<br />
Cormac Foley #1299<br />
DOB: 24/10/1999<br />
HEIGHT: 1.81m WEIGHT: 88kg<br />
HONOURS: Ireland U20 (9 caps)<br />
& <strong>Leinster</strong> Rugby (2 caps)<br />
Marcus Hanan #1295<br />
DOB: 03/10/2000<br />
HEIGHT:1.8m WEIGHT:110.91kg<br />
HONOURS: Ireland U20 (2 caps)<br />
& <strong>Leinster</strong> Rugby (3 caps)<br />
Scrum Half<br />
Did You Know: Started playing rugby with Greystones<br />
RFC when he was nine. Growing up, Cormac did a lot<br />
of show jumping and he is now studying Economics and<br />
Finance in UCD.<br />
Instagram: cormacfoley6<br />
prop<br />
Did You Know? Marcus is from Clane in Kildare and is the<br />
youngest of three. His dad went to the High School and then<br />
played rugby in Old Wesley before coaching back at Clane<br />
RFC. Marcus has Italian connections on his mother’s side with her<br />
father, Luigi Rea, being from Italy. Marcus is studying Business<br />
Management in Griffith College. Instagram: @marcus_hanan<br />
Back Row<br />
Martin Moloney #1300<br />
DOB: 19/10/1999<br />
HEIGHT: 1.88m WEIGHT: 99kg<br />
HONOURS: Ireland U20 (5 caps) &<br />
<strong>Leinster</strong> Rugby (5 caps)<br />
Did You Know: Martin played hurling for Kildare and<br />
played GAA and basketball for his secondary school,<br />
Knockbeg College, and local GAA club, St Laurence’s.<br />
He played his youth rugby with Athy RFC. He is now<br />
studying Business and Law in UCD, He also enjoys<br />
working on the family farm. Instagram: martin_moloney<br />
Second Row<br />
Joe McCarthy #1303<br />
DOB: 26/03/2001<br />
HEIGHT: 1.95m WEIGHT: 119kg<br />
HONOURS: Ireland U20 (3 caps) &<br />
<strong>Leinster</strong> Rugby (5 caps)<br />
Did You Know: Joe started playing rugby with Blackrock<br />
College RFC at the age of six before moving to<br />
Willow Park and then Blackrock College. He was also<br />
on the Blackrock swim team for five years. He’s currently<br />
studying Global Business in Trinity College Dublin.<br />
Instagram: joetmmcc<br />
Second Row<br />
Charlie Ryan<br />
DOB: 03/02/1999<br />
HEIGHT: 2.01m WEIGHT: 115kg<br />
HONOURS: Ireland U20 (15 caps)<br />
Did You Know: Charlie played youth rugby at Blackrock<br />
College RFC while also attending the school since<br />
Senior Infants. He captained Ireland to the U20 Grand<br />
Slam in 2019 and again for the U20s World Cup. His<br />
friends call him Chuck! He is currently studying Business<br />
and Legal Studies in UCD.<br />
Instagram: chuck_ryan5<br />
hooker<br />
John McKee<br />
DOB: 15/02/2000<br />
HEIGHT: 1.82m WEIGHT: 105kg<br />
HONOURS: Ireland U20 (12 caps)<br />
Did You Know: John grew up in Belfast going to school<br />
at Campbell College where he won a Senior Cup. He<br />
was involved with Ulster at age grade level until moving<br />
to Dublin after school. He also has multiple medals<br />
from Northern Irish Schools Judo competitions.<br />
Instagram: johnmckee_<br />
Centre<br />
Liam Turner #1287<br />
DOB: 14/07/1999<br />
HEIGHT: 1.73m WEIGHT: 91kg<br />
HONOURS: Ireland U20 (10 caps)<br />
& <strong>Leinster</strong> Rugby (6 caps)<br />
Did You Know: Liam started to play rugby at the age<br />
of six at Blackrock College RFC. He later joined<br />
Blackrock College and was part of the 2018 Senior Cup<br />
winning team. He was also part of the Ireland U20 team<br />
that went on to win the 2019 Grand Slam. Liam currently<br />
studys BESS in Trinity College. Instagram: liamtn123<br />
Centre / Full Back<br />
Jamie Osborne #1294<br />
DOB: 16/11/2001<br />
HEIGHT:1.93m WEIGHT:96.82kg<br />
HONOURS: <strong>Leinster</strong> Rugby (16 caps)<br />
Did you know? Jamie is studying commerce in UCD. His<br />
grandad, Paddy Osborne, was a horse trainer in Naas,<br />
while his dad played rugby all throughout his life and<br />
his mum played hockey. Other than rugby, Jamie loves<br />
all sports especially soccer, GAA and NFL. Jamie is<br />
currently in a house with fellow <strong>Leinster</strong> Academy players<br />
Brian Deeny, Martin Moloney and Max O’Reilly.<br />
Instagram: @jamieosborne01<br />
98 | www.leinsterrugby.ie
Seán O’Brien #1297<br />
Lee Barron<br />
Back Row<br />
DOB: 31/07/2000<br />
HEIGHT: 1.90m WEIGHT: 103kg<br />
HONOURS: Ireland U20 (3 caps)<br />
& <strong>Leinster</strong> Rugby (2 caps)<br />
Did You Know: Seán started playing rugby at age<br />
six with Greystones RFC where he played up until Under-13.<br />
He then played on the Junior and Senior Cup<br />
teams in Blackrock College. He is currently studying<br />
Economics and Finance in UCD<br />
Instagram: seanobrien456<br />
Hooker<br />
DOB: 15/02/2001<br />
HEIGHT: 1.91m WEIGHT: 108kg<br />
Did You Know: Lee played golf growing up in the<br />
Castle Golf Club and in the end was playing off a<br />
handicap of eight. He has family roots in Carlow but<br />
went to school in Dublin and attended St Michael’s College.<br />
As well as rugby with his school, he also played<br />
GAA and even lined out in Croke Park.<br />
Instagram: @lleebarron<br />
Max O’Reilly #1291<br />
Chris Cosgrave #1305<br />
Full Back<br />
DOB: 26/02/2000<br />
HEIGHT: 1.85m WEIGHT: 86kg<br />
HONOURS: Ireland U20 (3 caps) &<br />
<strong>Leinster</strong> Rugby (8 caps)<br />
Did You Know: Max is currently in his third year of<br />
Business and Management in DIT. His preferred sport<br />
was soccer until about the age of 15, which he had<br />
played at centre midfield with Enniskerry FC for over 10<br />
years and also for Wicklow.<br />
Instagram: max_oreilly<br />
full back<br />
DOB: 24/07/2001<br />
HEIGHT:1.83m WEIGHT:85kg<br />
Did You Know: Chris is a member of UCD RFC, where<br />
he is also an Ad Astra scholar studying Agricultural<br />
Science. His athleticism is best highlighted by his feats<br />
in the field of Athletics with All-Ireland honours to his<br />
name in both the 4x100m relay and the Discus. Before<br />
the UCD and St Michael’s College days, he played at<br />
a young age with Old Belvedere RFC.<br />
Instagram: @chriscosgrave1<br />
Andrew Smith #1292<br />
Mark Hernan<br />
DOB: 21/07/2000<br />
HEIGHT: 1.83m WEIGHT: 91kg<br />
HONOURS: Ireland U20 (3 caps) &<br />
<strong>Leinster</strong> Rugby (2 caps)<br />
DOB: 04/07/2000<br />
HEIGHT: 1.88m WEIGHT: 99kg<br />
HONOURS: <strong>Leinster</strong> Rugby (1 cap)<br />
Back Three<br />
Did You Know: Andrew is currently studying Quantity<br />
Surveying and Construction Economics in TUD. In<br />
2019, he won the <strong>Leinster</strong> Schools Senior Cup with St<br />
Michael’s College. Andrew also played Gaelic football<br />
with his local club - Clanna Gael Fontenoy GAA Club.<br />
Instagram: andrew.sm1th<br />
Flanker<br />
Did You Know: Mark was coached by Ross Molony,<br />
Josh Murphy, Ross Byrne and Nick McCarthy when in<br />
St. Michael’s College. His grandfather Fergus O’Brien<br />
was Lord Mayor of Dublin and his father, Ray, played<br />
for <strong>Connacht</strong> seniors and Ireland u25s.<br />
Instagram: @mark_hernani<br />
Alex Soroka #1296<br />
Temi Lasisi #1304<br />
Back Row<br />
DOB: 19/02/2001<br />
HEIGHT: 1.95m WEIGHT: 104.5kg<br />
HONOURS: Ireland U20 (7 caps)<br />
& <strong>Leinster</strong> Rugby (3 caps)<br />
Did You Know: Alex’s family moved to Ireland from<br />
Ukraine shortly before his birth. He was born in Cork<br />
before moving to Dublin.<br />
Instagram: alex._.soroka<br />
prop<br />
DOB: 09/05/2001<br />
HEIGHT: 1.78m WEIGHT: 115.8kg<br />
HONOURS: <strong>Leinster</strong> Rugby (1 cap)<br />
Did You Know: The TUD Mechanical Engineering<br />
student originally picked up the oval ball in Enniscorthy<br />
before later moving to Lansdowne FC. Temi rose<br />
through the ranks in the Youths system, his first outing<br />
with the province came at U-18 level against Northampton.<br />
He also describes himself as a ‘competent<br />
pianist’. Instagram: @lasisi.temi<br />
<strong>Leinster</strong> Rugby Academy<br />
Year one 2021/22:<br />
Scrum half<br />
Ben Murphy<br />
DOB: 23/04/2001<br />
HEIGHT: 1.75m WEIGHT: 80kg<br />
HONOURS: Ireland U20 (3 caps)<br />
& <strong>Leinster</strong> Rugby (1 cap)<br />
Did You Know: Ben played all different sports growing<br />
up including football, GAA and golf and won an 800m<br />
gold in the U-14 East <strong>Leinster</strong>s. He is studying economics<br />
in UCD. Ben’s father Richie played for <strong>Leinster</strong><br />
Rugby and has coached at all levels of the game and is<br />
the current Ireland U-20s head coach. I<br />
nstagram: @ben._murphy01<br />
Jack Boyle<br />
DOB: 10/03/2002<br />
HEIGHT: 1.85m WEIGHT: 106kg<br />
HONOURS: Ireland U20 (9 caps)<br />
Rob Russell #1302<br />
DOB: 13/01/1999<br />
HEIGHT: 1.83m WEIGHT: 90kg<br />
HONOURS: <strong>Leinster</strong> Rugby (3 caps)<br />
Prop<br />
Did You Know: Jack’s father, Herbie, and uncles, Colon<br />
and Eric, all represented Old Wesley rugby club for<br />
years. His cousin Stephen Boyle also represented the<br />
<strong>Leinster</strong> Rugby youths. Jack is currently studying for a<br />
Commerce Degree in UCD.<br />
Instagram: @jackboyle1<br />
Full Back / Wing<br />
Did You Know: Rob is currently in his final year of<br />
Business and Management in DIT. He started playing<br />
rugby at the age of five with Wanderers RFC. He also<br />
played football up to minor level with Kilmacud Crokes<br />
and it took priority over rugby until he left school.<br />
Instagram: @robrussell7<br />
www.leinsterrugby.ie | 99
celebrating International<br />
Women’s Day<br />
<strong>Leinster</strong> Rugby celebrated<br />
International Women’s Day<br />
with a week full of activities.<br />
Among these was a new initiative<br />
encouraging members of the<br />
Area U-18 Girls squads to referee,<br />
under supervision, at the Girls<br />
U-10 and U-12 Festivals on the<br />
Friday night.<br />
Among those who took up the challenge<br />
was Blathnaid Smith, a member of the<br />
PortDara <strong>Leinster</strong> U-18 Cup-winning side<br />
and a member of the North Midlands<br />
team in the 2022 Sarah Robinson Cup.<br />
Joining, Playing,<br />
Refereeing - A<br />
Youth Player’s View<br />
BY BLATHNAID SMITH<br />
When I was about nine years<br />
old, my dad brought me down<br />
to Portarlington rugby club. We<br />
went down one Saturday when<br />
there were a few matches on and<br />
it just went from there. I’ve been<br />
playing ever since.<br />
Once I began playing U-18, I was old<br />
enough to be selected for the North<br />
Midlands team, but unfortunately, I did<br />
not get on.<br />
That year, I realized how much I loved<br />
rugby and was gutted not to be put<br />
forward for the team. Then I decided<br />
to work really hard for what I wanted<br />
to achieve. So, I went running, and<br />
practiced all my rugby skills to improve<br />
myself as a player and a person so they<br />
could do nothing but pick me for the<br />
team.<br />
As we went into lockdown in 2020, I was<br />
picked to play on the North Midlands<br />
U-18 team. We didn't get to play any<br />
matches for the North Midlands that year<br />
due to Covid-19.<br />
My first match with the team was one<br />
year later in 2021. We played Midlands<br />
in Edenderry as a warm-up game. This<br />
was to prepare ourselves to face them in<br />
Donnybrook in the Sarah Robinson Cup.<br />
We won that match and it was great to<br />
be playing.<br />
As a North Midlands player, I was asked,<br />
‘Would I be interested in refereeing<br />
minis?’ This was an opportunity not to be<br />
missed as I love the game of rugby and I<br />
wanted to help encourage young girls to<br />
play the sport.<br />
During my Transition Year, I had<br />
completed the Minis Coaching course<br />
with <strong>Leinster</strong> Rugby. I loved coaching<br />
girls and I felt that refereeing was a great<br />
idea.<br />
I had a bit of learning to do on the<br />
laws of rugby before then. We did a<br />
refereeing module with Sean Gallagher,<br />
the Referee Development Manager for<br />
<strong>Leinster</strong> Rugby. It was a very informative<br />
session on anything we didn't understand,<br />
this helped to educate us further on the<br />
laws of rugby.<br />
It really showed me the work referees<br />
put in in preparing to referee a game is<br />
equally important as that of the player in<br />
preparation for playing. It was great to<br />
hear from people with lots of experience<br />
in refereeing the game.<br />
Joy Neville was a special guest; she was<br />
a great player and a great role model<br />
as a pro referee. I learned it's all about<br />
fundamentals of refereeing.<br />
With all this prep, we finally got to Friday,<br />
11 March, the North Midlands Girls Mini<br />
Festival. I was a bit nervous because I<br />
wanted to do well.<br />
I was amazed at the sheer number of<br />
girls playing rugby in the U-10s and<br />
U-12s, it was fabulous. I refereed the<br />
U-10s where they know their rugby.<br />
I wasn't sure if they knew what an offside<br />
rule was. But, they explained it to me, it<br />
was delightful for the girls to know all the<br />
laws of rugby. The games were excellent,<br />
the girls were driving with the ball, a few<br />
dummies and steps mixed in. Everybody,<br />
including me, was delighted when a<br />
try was scored. It didn't matter if it was<br />
against you or for you. Everybody was<br />
happy to be playing rugby.<br />
I would suggest minis rugby refereeing to<br />
all players. If you are stepping away from<br />
playing for whatever reason, refereeing<br />
could be for you. It's so much fun and<br />
time flies. It was a wonderful experience<br />
and really enjoyable.<br />
www.leinsterrugby.ie | 101
Date<br />
25/09<br />
03/10<br />
09/10<br />
16/10<br />
22/10<br />
27/11<br />
03/12<br />
11/12<br />
1/12<br />
1/01<br />
22/01<br />
29/01<br />
11/02<br />
19/02<br />
25/02<br />
05/03<br />
12/03<br />
26/03<br />
02/05<br />
08/04<br />
KO/<br />
Result<br />
W<br />
31-3<br />
W<br />
7-6<br />
W<br />
43-7<br />
Opposiotion Venue 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 1 2<br />
URC VODACOM<br />
BULLS<br />
URC DRAGONS<br />
Aviva<br />
Stadium<br />
Rodney<br />
Parade<br />
URC ZEBRE RDS Arena J O’BRIEN<br />
KEENAN O’LOUGHLIN RINGROSE FRAWLEY LOWE<br />
SEXTON<br />
3C 1P<br />
MCGRATH<br />
PORTER<br />
1T<br />
SHEEHAN<br />
KEENAN RUSSELL RINGROSE C O’BRIEN O’LOUGHLIN R BYRNE GIBSON-PARK PORTER SHEEHAN<br />
A BYRNE<br />
2T<br />
OSBORNE<br />
FRAWLEY<br />
W<br />
50-15 URC SCARLETS RDS Arena KEENAN LARMOUR RINGROSE FRAWLEY<br />
1C<br />
W<br />
31-15<br />
URC GLASGOW<br />
Scotstoun<br />
Stadium<br />
KEENAN<br />
1T<br />
A BYRNE<br />
1T<br />
L<br />
10-20 URC ULSTER RDS Arena J O’BRIEN A BYRNE HENSHAW<br />
1T<br />
W<br />
47-19 URC CONNACHT RDS Arena KEENAN LARMOUR 1T RINGROSE<br />
1T<br />
W<br />
45-20 HCC BATH Aviva<br />
Stadium<br />
L<br />
0-28<br />
W<br />
89-7<br />
W<br />
64-7<br />
L<br />
29-27<br />
W<br />
26-7<br />
W<br />
29-7<br />
W<br />
21-13<br />
HCC MONTPELLIER<br />
GGL (Altrad)<br />
Stadium<br />
KEENAN<br />
1T<br />
HCC MONTPELLIER RDS Arena KEENAN<br />
HCC BATH<br />
URC<br />
CARDIFF<br />
RUGBY<br />
Recreation<br />
Ground<br />
Cardiff Arms<br />
Park<br />
LARMOUR<br />
1T<br />
LOWE<br />
RINGROSE FRAWLEY LOWE<br />
FRAWLEY<br />
HENSHAW<br />
LARMOUR RINGROSE FRAWLEY<br />
LARMOUR<br />
LOWE<br />
LOWE<br />
1T<br />
H BYRNE<br />
SEXTON<br />
1C 1P<br />
R BYRNE<br />
4C 1P<br />
R BYRNE<br />
1C 1P<br />
H BYRNE<br />
5C<br />
R BYRNE<br />
5C<br />
MCGRATH<br />
GIBSON-PARK<br />
MCGRATH<br />
E BYRNE<br />
1T<br />
PORTER<br />
1T<br />
HEALY<br />
CRONIN<br />
1T<br />
KELLEHER<br />
1T<br />
KELLEHER<br />
1T<br />
MCGRATH E BYRNE TRACY<br />
MCGRATH<br />
GIBSON-PARK<br />
2T<br />
HEALY<br />
PORTER<br />
- - - - - - - - -<br />
KEENAN<br />
1T<br />
LARMOUR<br />
1T<br />
LARMOUR<br />
1T<br />
RINGROSE<br />
RINGROSE<br />
FRAWLEY<br />
HENSHAW<br />
J O’BRIEN<br />
1T<br />
J O’BRIEN<br />
4T<br />
J O’BRIEN A BYRNE 1T OSBORNE FRAWLEY O’LOUGHLIN<br />
URC EDINBURGH RDS Arena OSBORNE T O’BRIEN O’LOUGHLIN FRAWLEY KEARNEY<br />
URC OSPREYS RDS Arena J O’BRIEN<br />
URC<br />
EMIRATES<br />
LIONS<br />
W<br />
17-61 URC BENETTON Stadio<br />
Monigo<br />
L<br />
13-18 URC ULSTER Kingspan<br />
Stadium<br />
W<br />
45-8<br />
LARMOUR<br />
1T<br />
OSBORNE H BYRNE KEARNEY<br />
RDS Arena O’REILLY T O’BRIEN OSBORNE H BYRNE<br />
J O’BRIEN<br />
2T 1C<br />
URC CONNACHT Sportsground J O’BRIEN<br />
W<br />
34-19 URC MUNSTER Thomond<br />
Park<br />
LARMOUR<br />
1T<br />
KEARNEY<br />
1T<br />
OSBORNE H BYRNE T O’BRIEN<br />
J O’BRIEN A BYRNE O’LOUGHLIN OSBORNE T O’BRIEN<br />
KEENAN<br />
W<br />
26-21 HCC CONNACHT Sportsground KEENAN<br />
1T<br />
15/04 17:30 HCC CONNACHT<br />
23/04 17:15 URC CELL C<br />
SHARKS<br />
30/04 16:15 URC DHL<br />
STORMERS<br />
20|21/05 19:00 URC MUNSTER<br />
fixtures and<br />
results 2021/22<br />
Aviva<br />
Stadium<br />
Jonsson<br />
Kings Park<br />
Green Point<br />
Stadium<br />
Aviva<br />
Stadium<br />
T O’BRIEN<br />
2T<br />
J O’BRIEN<br />
1T<br />
OSBORNE<br />
RINGROSE<br />
1T<br />
FRAWLEY<br />
1T<br />
HENSHAW<br />
J O’BRIEN RINGROSE HENSHAW<br />
O’LOUGHLIN<br />
1T<br />
LOWE<br />
2T<br />
LOWE<br />
2T<br />
R BYRNE<br />
1T 7C<br />
SEXTON<br />
5C<br />
R BYRNE<br />
3C 2P<br />
R BYRNE<br />
3C<br />
R BYRNE<br />
3C 1P<br />
R BYRNE<br />
3C<br />
R BYRNE<br />
1T 7C<br />
R BYRNE<br />
1C 2P<br />
R BYRNE<br />
1C<br />
R BYRNE<br />
1P 4C<br />
SEXTON<br />
1C 2P<br />
GIBSON-PARK<br />
1T<br />
MCGRATH<br />
PORTER<br />
PORTER<br />
1T<br />
SHEEHAN<br />
1T<br />
KELLEHER<br />
1T<br />
KELLEHER<br />
KELLEHER<br />
MCGRATH E BYRNE CRONIN<br />
N MCCARTHY<br />
1T<br />
MCGRATH<br />
E BYRNE<br />
HEALY<br />
1T<br />
TRACY<br />
TRACY<br />
N MCCARTHY E BYRNE TRACY<br />
MCGRATH<br />
DOOLEY<br />
CRONIN<br />
2T<br />
MCGRATH DOOLEY TRACY<br />
MCGRATH DOOLEY TRACY<br />
GIBSON-PARK E BYRNE TRACY<br />
MCGRATH HEALY SHEEHAN<br />
102 | www.leinsterrugby.ie
3 4 5 6 7 8 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23<br />
ALAALATOA MOLONY J RYAN RUDDOCK<br />
VAN DER FLIER<br />
1T<br />
ALAALATOA MOLONY RYAN RUDDOCK VAN DER FLIER<br />
ALAALATOA BAIRD TONER LEAVY<br />
FURLONG MOLONY RYAN<br />
DORIS<br />
2T<br />
PENNY<br />
1T<br />
VAN DER FLIER<br />
DORIS<br />
DEEGAN<br />
1T<br />
RUDDOCK<br />
CONAN<br />
FURLONG MOLONY BAIRD DORIS LEAVY CONAN<br />
TRACY<br />
1T<br />
E BYRNE HEALY BAIRD DEEGAN GIBSON-PARK<br />
R BYRNE<br />
1T 1C<br />
TRACY E BYRNE HEALY BAIRD LEAVY N MCCARTHY C FRAWLEY<br />
KELLEHER<br />
1T<br />
SHEEHAN<br />
2T<br />
SHEEHAN<br />
1T<br />
DOOLEY HEALY MOLONY DEEGAN N MCCARTHY<br />
HEALY<br />
1T<br />
ALAALATOA BAIRD RUDDOCK MCGRATH<br />
SEXTON<br />
4C<br />
R BYRNE<br />
3C<br />
OSBORNE<br />
S PENNY<br />
[UNUSED]<br />
RUSSELL<br />
T O’BRIEN<br />
E BYRNE ALAALATOA TONER RUDDOCK GIBSON-PARK OSBORNE VAN DER FLIER<br />
FURLONG MOLONY TONER LEAVY PENNY RUDDOCK CRONIN DOOLEY ABDALADZE DEEGAN CONNORS N MCCARTHY H BYRNE T O’BRIEN<br />
ALA’ALATOA<br />
BAIRD<br />
1T<br />
TONER<br />
RUDDOCK<br />
1T<br />
VAN DER FLIER<br />
DORIS<br />
1T<br />
KELLEHER PORTER ABDALADZE J MURPHY<br />
DEEGAN<br />
1T<br />
N MCCARTHY<br />
R BYRNE<br />
1C<br />
T O’BRIEN<br />
FURLONG<br />
1T<br />
MOLONY BAIRD RUDDOCK<br />
VAN DER FLIER<br />
1T<br />
DORIS SHEEHAN HEALY ALAALATOA TONER DEEGAN MCGRATH J O’BRIEN T O’BRIEN<br />
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -<br />
FURLONG<br />
MOLONY<br />
1T<br />
J MURPHY<br />
DORIS<br />
VAN DER FLIER<br />
2T<br />
CONAN<br />
2T<br />
SHEEHAN<br />
2T<br />
HEALY<br />
ALAALATOA<br />
1T<br />
RUDDOCK DEEGAN MCGRATH<br />
SEXTON<br />
5C<br />
LOWE<br />
1T<br />
ALAALATOA MOLONY MURPHY DORIS<br />
VAN DER FLIER<br />
1T<br />
CONAN<br />
SHEEHAN<br />
1T<br />
HEALY ABDALADZE BAIRD DEEGAN GIBSON-PARK<br />
R BYRNE<br />
2C<br />
FRAWLEY<br />
1T<br />
ALAALATOA TONER J MCCARTHY RUDDOCK CONNORS PENNY 1T TRACY 1T DOOLEY ABDALADZE MOLONY DEEGAN N MCCARTHY H BYRNE T O’BRIEN<br />
ALAALATOA MOLONY J MURPHY MOLONEY<br />
ALAALATOA MOLONY BAIRD MOLONEY<br />
ALAALATOA<br />
1T<br />
PENNY<br />
1T<br />
PENNY<br />
1T<br />
DEEGAN<br />
1T<br />
CRONIN<br />
DOOLEY<br />
ABDALADZE<br />
1T<br />
TONER SOROKA MCGRATH H BYRNE RUSSELL<br />
DEEGAN CRONIN DOOLEY CLARKSON DUNNE RUDDOCK N MCCARTHY A BYRNE<br />
TONER J MCCARTHY J MURPHY LEAVY RUDDOCK CRONIN DOOLEY CLARKSON DUNNE DEEGAN MCGRATH A BYRNE<br />
CLARKSON MOLONY J MCCARTHY RUDDOCK PENNY<br />
ALAALATOA MOLONY J MCCARTHY RUDDOCK PENNY<br />
ALAALATOA MOLONY J MCCARTHY RUDDOCK PENNY<br />
DEEGAN<br />
1T<br />
DEEGAN<br />
1T<br />
DEEGAN<br />
1T<br />
TRACY<br />
2T<br />
LOWE<br />
1T<br />
PENNY<br />
1T<br />
E BYRNE ALAALATOA TONER LEAVY FOLEY O’LOUGHLIN KEARNEY<br />
CRONIN LASISI CLARKSON TONER LEAVY N MCCARTHY HAWKSHAW MOLONEY<br />
CRONIN E BYRNE CLARKSON J MURPHY MOLONEY N MCCARTHY<br />
HAWKSHAW<br />
1T 4C<br />
ALAALATOA TONER DUNNE DORIS VAN DER FLIER CONAN SHEEHAN HEALY FURLONG MOLONY MURPHY MCGRATH FRAWLEY DEEGAN<br />
COSGRAVE<br />
FURLONG MOLONY J MURPHY DORIS VAN DER FLIER CONAN TRACY E BYRNE ALAALATOA TONER DEEGAN GIBSON-PARK<br />
R BYRNE<br />
1P<br />
FRAWLEY<br />
www.leinsterrugby.ie | 103
matchday<br />
Squads officials<br />
REFEREE<br />
LUKE PEARCE<br />
(ENG)<br />
ASSISTANT REFEREE<br />
DANIEL JONES<br />
(ENG)<br />
ASSISTANT REFEREE<br />
PAUL DIX (<br />
ENG)<br />
Hugo Keenan<br />
Jimmy O’Brien<br />
Garry Ringrose<br />
Robbie Henshaw<br />
James Lowe<br />
Johnny Sexton [C]<br />
15<br />
14<br />
13<br />
12<br />
11<br />
10<br />
9<br />
FULL BACK<br />
RIGHT WING<br />
OUTSIDE CENTRE<br />
INSIDE CENTRE<br />
LEFT WING<br />
FLY HALF<br />
Tiernan O’Halloran<br />
John Porch<br />
Tom Farrell<br />
Bundee Aki<br />
Mack Hansen<br />
Jack Carty [C]<br />
TMO<br />
TOM FOLEY<br />
(ENG)<br />
CITING COMMISSIONER<br />
STUART SCOTT<br />
(WAL)<br />
Jamison Gibson-Park<br />
SCRUM HALF<br />
Caolin Blade<br />
Andrew Porter<br />
Rónan Kelleher<br />
Tadhg Furlong<br />
Ross Molony<br />
Josh Murphy<br />
Caelan Doris<br />
Josh van der Flier<br />
Jack Conan<br />
1<br />
2<br />
3<br />
4<br />
5<br />
6<br />
7<br />
8<br />
LOOSE HEAD PROP Matthew Burke<br />
FRONT PAGE<br />
HOOKER Dave Heffernan<br />
TIGHT HEAD PROP Finlay Bealham<br />
SECOND ROW Gavin Thornbury<br />
SECOND ROW Leva Fifita<br />
BLINDSIDE FLANKER Cian Prendergast<br />
OPENSIDE FLANKER Conor Oliver<br />
NUMBER 8 Jarrad Butler<br />
Dan Sheehan<br />
Ed Byrne<br />
Michael Ala’alatoa<br />
Devin Toner<br />
Rhys Ruddock<br />
Luke McGrath<br />
Ross Byrne<br />
Ciarán Frawley<br />
16<br />
17<br />
18<br />
19<br />
20<br />
21<br />
22<br />
23<br />
REPLACEMENT<br />
REPLACEMENT<br />
REPLACEMENT<br />
REPLACEMENT<br />
REPLACEMENT<br />
REPLACEMENT<br />
REPLACEMENT<br />
REPLACEMENT<br />
Jonny Murphy<br />
Denis Buckley<br />
Jack Aungier<br />
Oisin Dowling<br />
Abraham Papali’i<br />
Kieran Marmion<br />
Sammy Arnold<br />
Conor Fitzgerald
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Parting Shot<br />
Photo by Brendan Moran/Sportsfile<br />
8 April 2022<br />
Jonathan Sexton of <strong>Leinster</strong><br />
before the Heineken Champions<br />
Cup Round of 16 first leg match<br />
between <strong>Connacht</strong> and <strong>Leinster</strong> at<br />
the Sportsground in Galway.<br />
106 | www.leinsterrugby.ie
RUGBY.<br />
DELIVERED.<br />
TEAMWORK. SPEED. DELIVERY. THERE CAN BE ONLY ONE<br />
OFFICIAL LOGISTICS PARTNER. DHL.