Leinster Rugby vs Benetton Rugby

LEINSTER 

VS 

ISSUE 01 | LEINSTER RUGBY OFFICIAL MATCHDAY PROGRAMME 

benetton 

rugby 

FRI 23 rd SEPTEMBER 

RDS ARENA 

KO 7.35PM

Our People, Our Home 

TWELVE COUNTIES. ONE SHIRT. 

Aaron Craig 

From a lad wearing Leinster blue to the RDS, to 

designing this season’s shirt. Aaron Craig’s journey has 

been amazing. The adidas Designer talks us through 

his design and what it means to create the shirt for his 

boyhood club. 

How did you begin working with adidas? 

When I was at the National College of Art and Design Dublin, I learned 

of adidas’ intern program. A lifelong fan of the brand, I knew it was an 

amazing opportunity. Luckily, I got to join adidas as an intern in 2016 

and I’ve been in Herzogenaurach (adidas HQ) ever since. I’m now a 

licensed apparel designer for some of the biggest teams in the world. 

What drew you to this project? 

Leinster asked if there were any Irish designers at adidas HQ they 

could collaborate with. For a lad who comes from Leinster that grew 

up supporting the team, this was a massive bucket list moment. My 

grandfather even worked the entrance gates the RDS and Donnybrook 

for years. 

What was your inspiration for the design? 

The inspiration came quite naturally. Each county of Leinster was to be 

represented equally with their heraldic crests – instantly recognisable 

symbols. I wanted to recount my own Leinster memories too. That 

meant introducing the darker blue sleeves and the collegiate gold 

detailing. To me, it’s a design that could be worn by players from any 

generation, from O’Driscoll to Sexton. 

How do you keep designs fresh year on year? 

We work closely with clubs to find authentic and fresh stories. At 

adidas, we also want to be at the forefront of performance technologies 

and sustainability. So every year we work to combine the two. 

Which design excited you the most? 

On a professional level, I designed the Spanish national team kits for 

the World Cup this season. The biggest sporting event there is. But, 

on a personal level, being part of the first adidas Celtic jersey in 2020 

and now seeing the framed Leinster kits in my parents’ home in Dublin 

might just be level with the World Cup. 

How does it feel to see your designs worn by thousands of fans? 

Seeing your jersey enjoyed by fans is definitely one of the most 

rewarding aspects of our jobs. Seeing people of all ages around Dublin 

on game day. Outside the pubs and cafés around the RDS. It’s a real 

pinch yourself moment for sure.

Newstead Building A, 

UCD, 

Belfield, 

Dublin 4 

#LEIVBEN 

The Line up 

Telephone: 

012693224 

Fax: 

012693142 

E-mail: 

information@leinsterrugby.ie 

www.leinsterrugby.ie 

6 

24 

EXECUTIVE MANAGEMENT 

President: Debbie Carty 

Chief Executive: Michael Dawson 

Honorary Secretary: Stuart Bayley 

Honorary Treasurer: Michael McGrail 

RUGBY MANAGEMENT 

Head Coach: Leo Cullen 

Senior Coach: Stuart Lancaster 

Head of Rugby Operations: 

Guy Easterby 

Assistant Coach: Robin McBryde 

Backs Coach: Andrew Goodman 

Kicking Coach: Emmet Farrell 

Contact Skills Coach: Seán O’Brien 

14 

PROGRAMME CREDITS 

Editorial Team: Marcus Ó Buachalla, 

Ryan Corry & Paul Cahill 

Advertising: Gary Nolan 

Design: Julian Tredinnick, 

Ignition Sports Media 

Photography: Sportsfile 

Chief Steward: Sword Security 

Ambulance: St. John’s Ambulance 

Medilink 

Event Control & Safety Services: 

Eamonn O’Boyle & Associates 

60 

82 

STAY 

CONNECTED 

& KEEP 

UP-TO-DATE 

www.leinsterrugby.ie | 3

Debbie Carty welcome 

PRESIDENT, LEINSTER RUGBY 2022/23 

On behalf of Leinster Rugby, I would 

like to welcome you all to the RDS 

Arena for this evening’s match 

against Benetton Rugby in Round 

2 of this season’s United Rugby 

Championship. 

In particular, I wish to extend a 

warm welcome to Dublin to our 

Italian visitors, to the Benetton 

Rugby squad, their head coach 

Marco Bortolami and their 

management team and hope you 

are enjoying your visit here for the 

URC match. 

The season ahead will be challenging for 

the Leinster Rugby team, as we strive for 

the elusive fifth star in the EPCR and to 

take back the URC that was denied to us 

last year but I have no doubt that Leo and 

his squad are up for the challenge and 

we look forward to the season ahead. 

With an Emerging Ireland tour, Autumn 

Internationals and a Six Nations it will 

be a busy rugby season but I know 

you will join me in wishing Leo and the 

squad every success this season. I look 

forward to meeting our many supporters 

of the Leinster team be it in Energia Park, 

the RDS Arena, the Aviva Stadium and 

beyond. 

On the domestic front, we are just 

returning to rugby after what has been 

a difficult two years following the Covid 

outbreak, but I look forward to seeing 

pitches and stadiums full again after a 

tough two seasons. At home we are just 

starting our rugby season and it’s great 

to see the Area leagues are back up and 

running ahead of the start of the Leinster 

League and AIL next month. 

On the age grade interpros side, we’ve 

had a very busy few weeks with a Tour to 

Malvern in August which got them ready 

to face their interpro games with great 

enthusiasm, I was very fortunate that I 

was able to make it to some of their well 

fought games in the UK. 

Whilst unfortunately our U-18 Schools 

team didn’t win their series, the U-18 

Clubs, Girls U-18s and U-19s both won 

their series with strong wins over Ulster, 

Munster and Connacht. Our Youths teams 

are thriving within Leinster and it is a 

testament to Phil Lawlor and his staff and 

how hard they all work getting players 

through the pathway in order to wear 

the blue jersey and I look forward to 

watching these players proceed into the 

Academy and toward the Senior men’s 

and women’s teams in the future. Leinster’s 

motto of ‘From the Ground Up’ can 

evidently be seen in this framework and 

I urge everyone to try to take in a game 

when they are playing in Energia Park. 

The Leinster ‘A’ team have also started 

their interpro programme with games 

against Connacht and Ulster over the past 

couple of weeks, under the watchful eye 

of Simon Broughton. 

The Leinster Senior women’s team’s 

interpro series has changed its fixtures this 

season and will be starting in February 

2023, I again urge you to drop into 

Energia Park to support our ‘Girls in Blue’ 

when they play in their series. 

Congratulations to Bective Rangers on 

winning the Leinster League Division 1A, 

Also, congratulations are due to Boyne on 

their success in winning Division 1B, Athy 

on winning 2A, New Ross on winning 2B, 

and to Portarlington on winning Division 

3 of the Leinster League. Those winners 

are truly province wide showing strong 

activity across our 12 counties. 

Congratulations also to Kilkenny RFC on 

winning the Bank of Ireland Provincial 

Towns Cup against Asbourne last season. 

I would like to welcome to the RDS this 

evening the mini rugby teams who will 

play at half-time in the Bank of Ireland 

Mini Games. To the players from from 

Gorey, Clondalkin, Old Wesley and 

St Mary’s College rugby clubs, your 

coaches and parents, I know you will 

all enjoy the occasion. I would ask all 

supporters to show your appreciation and 

cheer on these young stars of the future. 

To our title sponsor Bank of Ireland, great 

patrons of both our professional and 

domestic games, who along with all our 

premium partners and suppliers, who do 

so much to support Leinster Rugby, I offer 

my sincere thanks. 

Finally, to you the fans, our Season Ticket 

Holders, members of the Official Leinster 

Supporters Club and Friends of Leinster, 

I thank you for the contribution you make 

on match days. I am sure this evening 

will be no different as you get the roar 

going and the flags waving to cheer on 

the ‘Boys in Blue’ to another victory. Let us 

hope for an energetic, exciting and injury 

free match tonight. 

Debbie Carty 

Leinster Rugby President 2022/23 

4 | www.leinsterrugby.ie

With an 

Emerging Ireland 

tour, Autumn 

Internationals 

and a Six Nations 

it will be a busy 

rugby season 

but I know you 

will join me in 

wishing Leo and 

the squad every 

success this 

season. 


Leo Cullen 

head Coach Welcome 

Good evening and welcome back to the RDS 

Arena for our first home game of this 

season’s BKT United Rugby Championship. We 

are hugely excited to get back playing in 

front of our home support and we hope to 

see lots of you throughout what we hope 

will be an action-packed season. 

A particular welcome to Marco 

Bortolami and his Benetton Rugby 

team. I played against Marco on 

numerous occasions in our former 

lives as players, so it’s great to 

see him making his mark as a 

coach. 

Many of you will have seen how 

impressive Benetton were in their bonuspoint 

win over Glasgow Warriors in 

Round 1, so we are well aware that we 

have a serious challenge on our hands 

this evening. 

Since the end of last season, there 

have been plenty of changes in the 

background. 

In terms of coaches, it’s been great to 

welcome Seán O’Brien and Andrew 

Goodman back to the club. Andrew was 

here for a relatively short stint as a player 

but he has amassed plenty of experience 

as a coach with Tasman and Crusaders 

which we are hoping we can all learn 

from. 

Seán, on the other hand, is starting out 

on his coaching journey after achieving 

pretty much everything there is to achieve 

as a player. I am really enthused about 

having these two great rugby brains join 

our group and we’re all looking forward 

to working together in the months ahead. 

We also have a few new members in 

our performance team. A big welcome 

to Declan Darcy, who many of you will 

know from his contribution to Dublin 

GAA. Declan brings fresh eyes to 

our group as we are all (players and 

coaches) looking to improve on what 

we deliver on a week-to-week basis. 

Welcome also to Eoghan Hickey, who 

joins us as performance nutritionist from 

Sport Wales. 

In welcoming new faces, I also want to 

take a moment to remember a sadly 

departed friend. 

This summer, Leinster learned of the 

passing of Ken Ging, our former Team 

Manager. Ken was part of the fabric 

here, an endless source of good humour 

and good stories, and we all miss him 

dearly. Our thoughts are with Ken’s 

family, in particular his daughters Debbie 

and Kim. 

Last week, we opened our URC 

campaign with a bonus point win on 

the road against Zebre. The start of the 

season is never easy, with players being 

managed back into the group post-tour, 

so it was pleasing to get up and running 

with a win. We had a number of 

Academy players involved in the 

Zebre game, which will have been 

a brilliant experience for them. 

It was great to see Jason Jenkins 

and Charlie Ngatai make their 

Leinster debuts last weekend, 

with Jason even managing to 

get over for a try. These two 

players add greatly to our 

playing group in terms of the 

different experiences they have 

accumulated. We hope both of 

them go on to make many more 

appearances in blue. 

A big thanks to all our sponsors, 

particularly Bank of Ireland, for their 

generous support. We look forward to 

seeing all of you on match-days over the 

course of the season ahead. 


The start of 

the season is 

never easy, with 

players being 

managed back 

into the group 

post-tour, so 

it was pleasing 

to get up and 

running with a 

win. 

Good luck to Debbie Carty in her role 

as Leinster President. We hope you have 

a great year on the circuit. We are lucky 

that we have so many people who give 

up so much of their time to ensure Leinster 

Rugby remains strong and vibrant in all 

areas of the game and Debbie is just one 

of these and it’s great that she is now 

getting the recognition she deserves. 

All of us involved with the Senior team 

witnessed that brilliant energy and 

volunteer effort at first hand when we 

embarked on a 12 county tour over two 

days back in August. 

We were greeted with such warm 

welcomes everywhere we went and it 

was fantastic to see so many Leinster 

flags and jerseys. 

We have a beautiful province and 

we’re lucky to have such great support. 

Our challenge for this season is to 

create a strong connection with you, 

our supporters. We hope we can put 

on performances that you are fully 

invested in, as it means so much for our 

players to represent this team of ours. 

Starting tonight! Many thanks for 

reading and for being here to support 

the team this evening. It means a lot 

to us. 

I hope you enjoy the game and 

everything the season ahead has to 

offer. 

Leo 


Carla 

Delaney 

BANK OF IRELAND 

AREA EAST DIRECTOR 

Bank of lIreland 

are proud 

partners to 

Leinster Rugby. 

Like us, they are rooted in local communities 

across the 12 counties of Leinster. 

We are delighted to support Leo Cullen and his coaching 

team in building Leinster Rugby through clubs and schools, 

developing home grown talent and always ensuring that 

Leinster #NeverStopCompeting. 

Much of that amazing talent will be on display on the pitch 

this evening. 

We wish Leinster Rugby every success, and hope that you 

enjoy the game. 


Did you 

know? 

• Leinster have lost just 

one of their last four BKT 

United Rugby Championship 

matches: 26-27 to the 

Vodacom Bulls at the RDS 

Arena in last season’s semifinal. 

• Leinster have only ever 

lost back-to-back home 

games in the URC just once 

before, when they were 

playing at Donnybrook in 

2004. 

• Benetton have won their 

last three BKT URC fixtures, 

but all those fixtures were 

played at Stadio Monigo. 

• Benetton have won just 

once outside of Italy in the 

URC since 2018, on a visit to 

Dragons RFC in March 2020. 

• Benetton have beaten an 

Irish province just once 

since 2018: 20-12 at home to 

Connacht in the Rainbow Cup 

in May 2021. 

• Leinster have won their 

last three encounters 

against Benetton in the URC 

since their 27-all draw at 

the RDS Arena in April 2019. 

• Benetton’s only previous 

victory at the venue was 17- 

15 in April 2018. 

COMPARISON 

Overall URC head-to-head record: 

Played 21, Leinster won 17, Benetton won 2 with 2 matches drawn. 

Last 3 URC results: 

4 Jun - Glasgow (H) W 76-14 14 May - Zebre (H) W 39-17 

10 Jun - Bulls (H) L 26-27 20 May - Cardiff Rugby (H) W 69-21 

17 Sep - Zebre (A) W 33-29 16 Sep - Glasgow (H) W 33-11 

4TH - W1 D0 L0 - 5PTS 

W (5pts) 

URC 2022/23 

URC form 

Top try scorer 

3RD - W1 D0 L0 - 5PTS 

W (5pts) 

2 - Rhys Ruddock 2 - Ignacio Mendy 

Top points scorer 

10 - Rhys Ruddock 13 - Rhyno Smith 

Date Venue L B Leinster scorers Benetton scorers 

Sat 14 Apr 18 RDS Arena 15 17 Barry Daly(T) Joey Carbery(C/P) Richardt 

Strauss(T) 

Sat 27 Oct 18 Stadio Monigo 31 3 Adam Byrne(T) Ross Byrne(3C) Andrew 

Porter(T) Joe Tomane(T) James Tracy(T) 

Conor O'Brien(T) 

Sat 6 Apr 19 RDS Arena 27 27 Noel Reid(P) James Lowe(T) Ciaran 

Frawley(T/3C/P) Bryan Byrne(T) 

Sat 28 Sep 19 Stadio Monigo 32 27 Adam Byrne(T) Ross Byrne(3C/P) Harry 

Byrne(P) Dave Kearney(3T) 

Sat 10 Oct 20 Stadio Monigo 37 25 James Lowe(T) Ross Byrne(3C/3P) James 

Ryan(T) James Tracy(T) Penalty Try(T) 

Sat 5 Mar 22 Stadio Monigo 61 17 Ross Byrne(T/7C) Max Deegan(T) 

James Tracy(2T) Sean Cronin(2T) Jordan 

Larmour(T) Jimmy O'Brien(2T/C) 

Luca Bigi(T) Tommaso Allan(T/C) Federico 

Ruzza(T) 

Antonio Rizzi(P) 

Luca Bigi(T) Tommaso Allan(3C/2P) 

Federico Ruzza(T) Iliesa Ratuva Tavuyara(T) 

Luca Sperandio(T) Tomas Baravalle(T) 

Derrick Appiah(T) Ian Keatley(3C/2P) 

Paolo Garbisi(2C/2P) Hame Faiva(T) 

Gianmarco Lucchesi(T) Sebastian Negri da 

Ollegio(T) 

Rhyno Smith(2C/P) Nicola Piantella(T) 

Lorenzo Cannone(T) 



james 

ryan 

the big interview 

BY MARCUS Ó BUACHALLA 

And we go again! 

A first home game of 

the BKT United Rugby 

Championship for Leinster 

Rugby and for some players 

who missed out on the trip 

to Parma last week, a first 

game in a Leinster jersey 

for the new season. 

Excitement levels are 

building. 


You see 

what it 

means 

to those 

supporters 

and then 

what it 

meant to 

everyone 

back home 

and the 

lift it gave 

everyone. 

We were 

very much 

aware of 

that. 

After a historic summer down the 

way of the silver fern, you could 

forgive James Ryan and the other 

Irish players for basking a little 

while longer in the glory that 

comes with a first ever win and 

then a first ever series win in New 

Zealand. 

Far from it. 

Instead, for Ryan & Co., their excitement 

levels are building nicely too, as he 

explains at the Leinster base in UCD. 

“It’s funny because after a long season, 

and then a summer tour, you’d think that 

there might be a bit of a slow burn into 

a new season but it’s not long before 

you start to get the itch again and that’s 

definitely been the case this week. 

“Everyone is looking forward to that 

first game at the RDS, especially off the 

back of a win last week, and being at 

home and everything that goes with that, 

playing in front of family and friends, just 

makes it more special.” 

Not that Ryan has an insatiable appetite 

for rugby. Like everyone else he needed 

a break from rugby and thankfully was 

able to get away and do just that. 

“It was great. After New Zealand, I 

barely saw Dublin for five weeks. It 

was needed too. Both mentally and 

physically to have that time to switch off 

and completely step away from rugby 

for a while. 

“I went to Italy first with my girlfriend, 

Sarah, and then it was off to Spain 

with a few mates, then back for 

a few days, then back to Spain 

again for a cousin’s wedding. 

So yeah, it flew by the five 

weeks but then as I said you 

get the itch to get back at it 

again.” 


He’s mentioned that itch a few times now. 

So, when does that ‘itch’ as he calls it 

need scratching? 

Thankfully for those around him it doesn’t 

take hold while on holidays and Ryan 

is able to take a proper break but as 

he explains it doesn’t take much for it to 

creep up on him. 

“It’s that first morning. You open the door, 

you walk into UCD for the first day, the 

first session of the season and you just 

start to feel an energy to get going again. 

“Of course you can’t just launch straight 

into games and there are some tough 

sessions ahead but genuinely the energy 

is there straight away which is great. 

And I think all the lads are the same. 

Mad keen to get going now and to get 

cracking.” 

Before taking those first steps of the 

new season this evening at the RDS 

Arena, how does he reflect on last 

season? 

“I think we can take a lot of positives 

from last season but then, we reached 

the knock-out stages of two competitions 

and came up short in both and that is a 

frustration, massively so.” 

From the outside many will judge Leinster 

on trophies and trophies alone and will 

find it hard to see the positives in last 

season. 

How does Ryan himself look at that 

viewpoint and indeed what does he see 

as the positives of last season? 

“This club and this team is also all about 

that to be fair. About challenging for 

honours and then about winning trophies 

so of course there is that disappointment. 

“But for us as a squad, we used 60 

players last year, so I think heading into 

this season our depth is a lot stronger. 

“Then you look at that tour to South 

Africa and the players that went down 

there, won first caps, experienced playing 

in Durban and Cape Town, played 

against World Cup winners and nearly 

won both games, that makes us stronger 

for that experience. 

“And to be fair, of course there is that 

massive disappointment at the end of 

the season, but you don’t reach the 

Heineken Cup Final without doing a lot 

of things right. As I said earlier, we don’t 

benchmark ourselves on reaching finals, 

it’s about winning, but again, I think we 

can take plenty from that campaign. 

“And then the URC itself, the standard 

has gone up massively. Not only the 

South African teams but I think we saw 

with Zebre last weekend and Benetton 

beating Glasgow, that all the teams are 

lifting their games to compete. So losing 

in a semi-final hurts, but we now know 

how tough this URC is to win. You can’t 

afford off days. 


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“Those are the positives and the lessons, 

and I feel with a few new voices into the 

coaching mix and a few new players in 

too, I am very much looking forward to 

the season ahead. Knock-out rugby and 

that end game is a long way away yet, 

but coming off the back of last season with 

Leinster, I genuinely believe there is a lot to 

be positive about.” 

Ryan, who turned 26 over the summer 

months, is by no means a veteran yet but 

with 58 Leinster caps and 46 Irish caps he 

already has a more than solid CV to his 

name. 

The chance to do 

something special and 

that has never been 

done before and it was 

brilliant to see the 

support at the grounds. 

And as he heads into another season with 

Leinster Rugby, he also has an impressive 

body of work down in New Zealand to fall 

back on and be positive about. 

Three tests against the All Blacks, 219 

minutes and two wins from three. And the 

most important part of it all, a first ever 

series win down there for Ireland. 

Yet for the first time since 2017, the Leinster 

Rugby players were joining the national setup 

without a trophy to show for their efforts. 

Was it difficult to leave that disappointment 

behind them? 

“To be honest I actually felt sorry for the 

lads not getting selected because it gave 

us all that were selected a focus going 

into camp and something to move on to. 

Straight away. You couldn’t stew on what 

happened against La Rochelle or against 

the Bulls. You had to just park it and move 

on and start getting up to speed with 

national camp. 

“You have to turn the page pretty quickly 

and then before long you get energised by 

the challenge ahead of you and ahead of 

us as a squad and that gets you motivated 

again.” 

And then there is the small matter of 

creating history. 

“It’s why you play the game, isn’t it? 

“Moments like that. The chance to do 

something special and that has never been 

done before and it was brilliant to see 

the support at the grounds. In Dunedin, 

Wellington and Auckland. There were 

plenty that travelled from Ireland but even 

more so those living over there and even 

those that came from Australia to see us in 

the games. 


You need 

to do well 

in the URC 

to get 

into the 

Champions 

Cup. Nothing 

is easy. 


“You see what it means to those 

supporters and then what it meant to 

everyone back home and the lift it gave 

everyone. We were very much aware 

of that. 

“It really was something very special to 

be a part of.” 

It was also the first tour in a while that you 

could call a ‘proper’ tour. 

No Covid-19 restrictions, stadiums 

bursting at the seams with supporters, 

friends and family members and the 

squad able to mingle with their opposite 

numbers after the games. 

It also had the small matter of the midweek 

games against the Mãori All-Blacks. 

It all added to that feeling of something 

special brewing. 

“Yeah, the overall experience was 

great. It was the first time for some of 

the younger lads to really experience a 

tour and how good it can be to be away 

and able to see different places and 

experience a different rugby culture and 

also see the local sights. 

“I think too the mid-week games were 

great because for the whole tour, 

everyone felt connected. Everyone felt 

they were focusing or building towards 

something. It can happen sometimes 

where lads don’t get game time or don’t 

get opportunities and they can become 

frustrated with life on tour as a result, but 

this time everyone bought in and you 

could see that in the last ten days or so. 

“The win against the Mãori and then 

the two test wins against the All Blacks. 

Special days definitely and hopefully all 

those little things will add up and will help 

those younger lads, and all of us really, 

as we build towards bigger things over 

the next 12 months.” 

We won’t mention the small matter of a 

tournament that takes place this time next 

year. Too far away and too much can 

happen. 

You know that it’s there somewhere in the 

back of all their minds. It can wait. 

First though, it’s about picking up points 

in the URC and then making their way 

through the Heineken Champions Cup 

pool stages in the coming months. 

And first up for Ryan this season is the 

visit of Benetton Rugby to the RDS this 

evening. 

“For the last number of years Glasgow 

have been going really well. 

“They’re a strong, aggressive, abrasive 

side and they’ve been consistent in that 

regard. We played them in that final in 

Celtic Park only a few season ago so we 

know what they can do. 

“Benetton put over 30 points on them 

last weekend and only conceded 

one try. And honestly it’s the best I’ve 

seen Benetton play ever. And that just 

reinforces to me that you can’t stand still 

in this competition. 

“The same with Zebre last weekend. 

They lost over 20 players in the offseason, 

took in another 20 and you’d 

expect a sloppy performance but after 

the first 20 minutes they started to play 

really well and again it goes back to 

my point earlier, every team knows how 

much more difficult it is to do well in the 

URC. 

“You need to do well in the URC to get 

into the Champions Cup. Nothing is easy. 

So teams know that now and know that 

you need to put in good performances 

week in, week out. 

“We nearly got caught last weekend by 

Zebre but that will hopefully narrow our 

focus this week and we’ll be better for 

that experience.” 

One man who played last weekend 

against Zebre, made his debut and 

scored his first try for Leinster Rugby was 

new signing, Jason Jenkins. 

The two men line out alongside each 

other this evening. 

What has he made of his new second 

row partner? 

“Jason has been good, really good. It 

goes without saying that he’s a big man, 

good in the air, a physical player but 

what I really like about him is that he is 

effective on both sides of the ball. 

“He also has a really good rugby IQ. 

He’s played in South Africa, in Japan, in 

Munster, has played for the Springboks. 

So he has a lot of experience for 

a relatively young man of different 

environments already and I think we can 

benefit from that as a squad. 

“But he has it all really. Good at scrum 

time, a good line-out operator, it’s been 

very enjoyable training with him and I’m 

looking forward to playing with him now 

on Friday.” 

The itch is back for James Ryan, for his 

fellow players and for all the supporters 

that will welcome them onto the pitch this 

evening at 7.34pm. 

It’s time to hear the RDS roar once again! 


29 

33 

Action 

replay 

SATURDAY 17 SEPTEMBER 2022 

STADIO SERGIO LANFRANCHI 

REFEREE: BEN BLAIN 

ATTENDANCE: 2,000 

UNITED RUGBY CHAMPIONSHIP 

ZEBRE: 

Kriel, Bruno, Cronje, Lucchin, Gesi, Eden, 

Cook, Buonfiglio, Du Toit, Nocera, Sisi, 

Krumov, Andreani, Pelser, Fox-Matamua. 

REPLACEMENTS: 

Bigi, Pitinari, Hasa, Furno, Volpi, Fusco, 

Smith, Trulla. 

TRIES: 

Kriel, Bruno, Gesi, Pelser, Smith 

CONS: 

Eden 2 

It’s a massive honour to pull 

on this jersey and to represent 

Leinster. It’s a dream start really. 

The last 12 months have been tough 

for me (with injuries) and it was 

nice to start and to score the try 

and a bit of a pressure release for 

me to get back into it. 

Jason Jenkins 

LEINSTER: 

O’Reilly: Russell, Osborne, Ngatai, 

Kearney; R Byrne, McGrath; E Byrne, 

Kelleher, Ala’alatoa; Molony, Jenkins; 

Ruddock, Penny, Deegan. 

REPLACEMENTS: 

McKee, Milne, Abdaladze, Deeny, 

Soroka, N McCarthy, Frawley, Conners. 

TRIES: 

McGrath, Ruddock 2, Jenkins, Kearney 

CONS: 

R Byrne 4 


A great first 

half where we 

put ourselves in 

a commanding 

position but 

the start of the 

second half we 

were probably 

just a bit loose 

in terms of the 

physical contact 

points of the 

game. We were 

second best for 

most of that 

second half so 

we’ve plenty to 

work on ahead 

of the game next 

Friday at the 

RDS. 

Leo Cullen 


Ken Ging - A Tribute 

BY MATT WILLIAMS 

Former Leinster Rugby Team Manager, Ken 

Ging, was laid to rest earlier this month. 

In tribute, we asked former 

Leinster Rugby Head Coach, Matt 

Williams, for his reflections on 

Ken. 

Ken Ging lived a life deeply immersed in 

rugby and humour. 

Famously, Ken played in the game when 

Munster defeated the touring Wallabies 

in 1967. This was the first victory over an 

international touring team by any Irish 

province. 

Ken would move on after his playing 

days to become a Leinster Rugby selector 

in the amateur era, President of his 

beloved Greystones Rugby Club and 

eventually Team Manager of Leinster in 

the first days of professionalism. 

Gifted with an extroverted personality, 

blessed with the ability to make others 

laugh, a natural storyteller, raconteur and 

a brilliant after dinner speaker, “Ginger” 

as we all called him, was a man far 

larger than life itself. 

It was during the 1999 Rugby World Cup 

that Ken and I first met. 

My old friend Mike Ruddock was coach 

of Leinster at the time and had asked me 

if I could help out for six weeks as the 

backs coach across the Heineken Cup 

Pool stages campaign. I had just finished 

four years with the Waratahs in Super 

Rugby and I was feeling more than a little 

burned out, so at first, I hesitated. 

I remember meeting Ken one morning to 

discuss the possibilities of coaching with 

Mike in what was then Leinster’s spiritual 

home and administrative hub, Kiely’s Pub 

in Donnybrook. 

Ross O’Carroll-Kelly has always been 

telling the truth about Leinster and Kiely’s. 

The place was a circus that the Leinster 

team used as a restaurant, cafe, office 

space, business meeting room and social 

venue. All conducted under one big top 

roof, with Ken Ging as its ringmaster. 

Nothing happened in Donnybrook 

without Ginger’s knowledge. 

Over several cups of coffee, which was 

to become a daily ritual between us, I 

laughed at all of Ken’s jokes as even his 

poor ones were good. 

That day he reminded me for the first of 

thousands of times across our friendship, 

that he had played for Munster when 

they beat the Wallabies in 1967. That 

was to be Ken’s running gag with me. 

We liked each other immediately and 

so I stayed. At the time I thought it was 

only for six weeks. I had not planned on 

staying 23 years, but Ginger could be 

persuasive. 

‘Kenny’ took me under his wing and with 

his seemingly endless rugby network of 

contacts from electricians, to pension 

advisors and bank managers, in no time 

at all he had me and my family sorted. 

Of course, there was a condition. I had 

to settle in what Ken told me was God’s 

country in Ireland, Greystones, County 

Wicklow. 

While I was very grateful for his help, I 

was not a special case. 

Every newcomer to the team had coffee 

with Ken and as if by a Harry Potter 

magic spell, he had their off-field life 

organised. 

The early days of professional rugby in 

Leinster were not easy. 

Moving the Leinster administrators from 

focusing on the AIL clubs to viewing 

Leinster as an independent club that 

required a huge influx of resources was 

a massive task that caused friction from 

some of the ‘old guard’ of administrators. 

Treading this path took great political 

acumen and patience. Qualities that at 

the time I did not possess. 

Ken’s long standing relationships and 

understanding of the system greased 

the political wheels of change that 

empowered that incredibly talented 

generation of Leinster players from the 

early 2000s, to begin their rise as they 

learned how to become professional 

rugby players. 

Over the years I was privileged to be 

the head coach of Leinster Rugby, Kenny 

was not only by my side, he always had 

my back and that of every player on our 

team. 

From the most talented of players like 

Brian O’Driscoll and Denis Hickie, to the 

youngest rookie, Ken surrounded us all 

with humour and joy. 

One evening in the Bective changing 

room after Leinster had performed 

magnificently at Donnybrook the joy from 

the players and staff was bubbling in the 

atmosphere of a great win. 

Yet, I saw Ken sitting in the corner with his 

head in his hands. For a moment I thought 

my old mate was ill. When I reached him 

and asked if he was OK, Ken looked up 

at me with tears streaming down his face. 

He smiled and simply said, “That was a 

sensational win.” 

Ken loved his Leinster players, the running 

attacking style that the team played and 

his role in supporting us all. 


Kenny was also the greatest practical 

joker I have ever worked with. 

He would often spend hours organising 

and setting up a ‘sting’, as he called 

them, on many unsuspecting victims. 

Often I was the brunt of Kens multifaceted 

organised plans. 

One morning when Leinster were playing 

Toulouse in France in 2002, Ken and I 

were having our morning organisation 

meeting over coffee in the foyer of the 

hotel at 7am. 

Our meeting was interrupted by a heavily 

French accented voice calling out loudly, 

“Urgent message for a Mr Ging.” 

Ginger looked at me with a shocked 

expression on his face. 

“I am Mr Ging,” Kenny replied. 

The hotel employee ran towards us, then 

stopped in his tracks a few metres away, 

with his mouth agape staring in awe at 

Ginger. 

With horrible over acting he cried out, 

“Are you THE Mr Ging who played for 

Munster when they beat the Wallabies 

in 1967?” 

Munster have lost a wonderful former 

player. Leinster have lost a long serving 

administrator whose wisdom guided 

some of the club’s greatest ever players 

in their developing days and helped lay 

the foundations for Leinster in the world 

of professional rugby. 

The Leinster Rugby team from the early 

2000s have lost not only a valued team 

member but a wonderful and much 

loved friend. The coaching staff from 

those days have lost a comrade and 

a great old mate. 

All of that is nothing compared 

to the loss being felt by Ken’s 

cherished family. Many times 

Ken told me of his deep 

love for his two daughters, 

Debbie and Kim, and his 

beautiful grandchildren. 

Today the planet is a 

much lesser place with 

Ken Ging no longer 

in our midst to make 

us smile and bring 

us joy. 

Kenny looked at me feigning shock. 

“Why, yes,” he replied with innocence, 

“however did you know that?” 

All we could both do was laugh until the 

tears fell from our eyes. As they have 

done this week. 

The losses have been great. 

Rugby in Ireland has lost a soul mate. 


SHOP THE 

LEINSTER RUGBY 

2022/23 RANGE

leo 

the lion’s 

kids 

corner 

ANAGRAMS 

Can you un-jumble 

the names of these 

academy players? 

A ETHICAL 

GRAIN 

COY JET 

CHARM 

spot the difference! 

Can you find all six? 

zoomed in! 

WHo is this leinster player 

having an extreme close-up? 

how did you do? 

ANAGRAMS 

NAME 

ZOOMED IN! 

NAME 

a... 

...maze... 

...ing 

can you make 

your way 

through the 

maze to the 

ball? 


AJ Products provides unique 

solutions for office, 

warehouse and 

environment 

www.ajproducts.ie

AZTO 

with 

Ross Byrne 

A – Action: If you could be a superhero, 

which would you be? 

Ironman 

B – Boyhood: Who was your favourite 

sporting idol growing up? 

Seán Cronin 

C – Childhood: What is your favourite 

childhood memory? 

Watching Nugget (aka Seán Cronin) 

score in 2012 European Final 

D – Dish: What’s your go-to pre-match 

meal? 

Pancakes 

E – Education: What was your favourite 

subject in school? 

Economics 

F – Film buff: What’s your favourite film? 

Wedding Crashers 

G – Groove: Who is the best dancer in 

the squad? 

Josh Murphy used to be…haven’t 

figured out his replacement yet! 

H – Holiday: What’s your favourite 

holiday destination? 

Greece 

I – Inside: Who is the worst to sit beside 

in the dressing room? 

Seán Cronin. Do you notice a trend?! 

J – Joker: Who is the funniest in the 

squad? 

Rónan Kelleher….hahahaha!! 

K – Kick-off: What’s your favourite time 

of the day to play a match? 

5.00pm 

L – Languages: How many languages 

can you speak? 

Two 

M – Music: Your favourite artist and 

song right now? 

Rory O’Loughlin does a mean version 

of Candy…hopefully that has been 

well received in Exeter! 


N – Number: Do you have a 

lucky number? 

No 

O – Others: What’s your 

favourite sport outside of rugby? 

Football 

P – Pal: Who is your best mate in 

the squad? 

Seán Cronin hasn’t been 

replaced yet. 

Q – Quirky: Who has the most 

interesting fashion sense? 

James Ryan – that man needs 

help! 

R – Red Carpet: Who is the most 

famous contact in your phone? 

Still Seán Cronin 

S – Superstitions: Do you have 

any matchday routines? 

Too many! 

T – Trim: What’s the worst 

haircut you’ve ever had? 

Buzz cut…see Ross Molony for 

reference! 

U: Under pressure: Who in the 

squad would be the best in a 

bad situation? 

Hugo Keenan 

V – Verified: How often do you 

use social media? 

Not enough 

W – Worst fear: What are you 

most scared of? 

Sharks 

X – X-ray: Have you ever broken 

any bones? 

Nose 

Y – Youth: Where did you grow 

up? 

Dublin 

Z – Zoo: What’s your favourite 

animal? 

Wolf 


THE 

LAIGHIN 

DEN 

We have some big news for 

all Leinster Rugby fans, our 

new fanzone the “Laighin 

Den” will be launching 

tonight in the RDS Arena. 

we will have a number of senior Leinster Rugby players appearing in 

the Laighin Den before and after the game. 

Player appearances, refreshments and live music will make the Laighin Den the perfect 

spot for Leinster Rugby supporters on matchday. This week, Riff Shop and Rake the 

Ashes will be performing live at the Laighin Den. Season ticket holders will also be able 

to collect their Season Ticket packs in the Industries Hall, so the Laighin Den fanzone is 

the perfect place to relax before kick off. 

Below shows the Laighin Den, located between the South Stand and the Anglesea 

Stand near the Simmonscourt Road. 

LEINSTER 

RUGBY FANZONE 

PRE GAME: 

17.00 

Fanzone Opens 

17.15 

Live music (Riff Shop Music) 

18.30 

Player Q&A (MC Bernard Jackman with 

three current senior Leinster players) 

19.00 

Live music until 15 mins before kick off 

POST GAME: 

Final Whistle 

Live Music (Rake the ashes) 

22.00 

Player Q&A (Senior Coach and player 

of the match) 

23.30 

Fanzone closing time 

SEASON TICKET 

HOLDER PACK 

COLLECTION 

This season’s pack collection will take 

place before the first home game of the 

season against Benetton on Friday, 23 

September. Collection open pre game 

from 5pm – 7.15pm and post game 

9.10pm approx. 


ENERGIA ALL 

IRELAND LEAGUE 

2022/23 

Saturday, 

1 October, 

sees the 

commencement 

of this 

season’s 

Energia 

All-Ireland 

League. 

Eighteen clubs 

from across 

the province 

will compete 

across 

the five 

divisions of 

10 teams that 

make up the 

competition. 

Last season saw Clontarf crowned 

overall champions after beating 

Terenure 29-23 in an epic final 

played in front of 6,000 avid 

spectators in the Aviva Stadium, 

a wonderful spectacle and a 

great advertisement for our club 

game. 

Other Leinster clubs to taste success 

were Blackrock who won promotion 

from Division 2B to 2A, and Enniscorthy 

promoted from 2C to 2B. 

Indeed, in a season considered to be one 

of the most successful and entertaining for 

a number of years, the league attracted 

large numbers of supporters at matches 

across the country post covid. Another 

great season of club rugby is anticipated 

as those competing vie to be crowned 

champions, win promotion, finish as 

high as possible and avoid dreaded 

relegation. So, all to play for and each 

of our Leinster clubs will want to get off 

to a winning start next weekend and set 

out their stall for the remainder of the 

campaign. 

In Division 1A, five Leinster clubs 

compete, and in round one, champions 

Clontarf will travel across the city to 

face the students of UCD at the Bowl 

in Belfield. Last season’s runners-up 

Terenure make the journey to Limerick to 

face newly-promoted Shannon. Dublin 

University also travel to Limerick to 

play Garryowen, while Lansdowne will 

entertain Ulster’s Ballynahinch. 

Division 1B sees four clubs from the 

province involved and ironically the 

four are matched together in round 

one, so two exciting games in prospect. 

Old Wesley will have Naas as visitors 

to Energia Park, while Old Belvedere 

face St Mary’s College at home in Ollie 

Campbell Park. 

In Division 2A, newly-promoted 

Blackrock, along with MU Barnhall 

and Navan represent the province. 

Blackrock start off their campaign at 

home in Stradbrook where they will 

face Ballymena. MU Barnhall host Old 

Crescent in Leixlip, while Navan are also 

at home against Cashel. 

Division 2B sees four clubs from Leinster 

involved and as is the case in division 1B, 

they are matched together in round one. 

Newly promoted to this division, Wexford 

club Enniscorthy visit neighbouring 

County Wicklow where they will take on 

Greystones in Dr Hickey Park. Wanderers 

make the journey northside where the D4 

outfit face Malahide. 

Skerries and Tullamore fly the flag for the 

province in Division 2C. Both clubs are on 

their travels first time out as Skerries head 

west to play Ballina, while Tullamore 

head north to Ulster where they will have 

Instonians as opposition. 

So, excitement mounts as the start of 

this season’s Energia All-Ireland League 

is upon us. All first- round matches are 

scheduled to kick-off next Saturday, 1 

October, at 2.30pm. Check the various 

websites and club social media outlets 

for updates. 

When you attend an Energia All-Ireland 

League match in your local Leinster club, 

you will not leave disappointed by the 

experience. 

Good luck to all 18 Leinster clubs 

involved. 


leinster 

squad 2022/23 

season 

Vakhtang Abdaladze #1263 

Prop 

DOB 6 Feb 1996 

HEIGHT 1.85m (6’ 1”) 

WEIGHT 121kg (19st 1 lb) 

Michael Ala’alatoa #1301 

9 

CAPS 

Prop 

DOB 28 August 1991 

HEIGHT 1.91m (6’ 3”) 

WEIGHT 126kg (19st 11lbs) 

Ryan Baird #1278 

Second Row 

DOB 26 July 1999 

HEIGHT 1.98m (6’ 6”) 


8 

CAPS 

Ed Byrne #1222 

Prop 

DOB 9 September 1993 

HEIGHT 1.80m (5’ 11”) 

WEIGHT 115kg (18st) 

6 

CAP 

Harry Byrne #1280 

2 

CAPS 

Outhalf 

DOB 22 April 1999 

HEIGHT 1.91m (6’ 3”) 


Ross Byrne #1236 

Out-half 


HEIGHT 1.91m (6’ 3”) 


13 

CAPS 

Thomas Clarkson #1285 

Prop 

DOB 22 February 2000 

HEIGHT 1.85m (6’ 1”) 


Jack Conan #1223 

30 

CAPS 

7 

CAPS 

No 8 


HEIGHT 1.93m (6’ 4”) 

WEIGHT 110kg (17st 4 lbs) 


Will Connors #1264 

9 

CAPS 

Max Deegan #1256 

1 

CAPS 

Brian Deeny #1306 

Caelan Doris #1268 

20 

CAPS 

Back Row 


HEIGHT 1.96 (6’ 5”) 


No 8 

DOB 1 October 1996 

HEIGHT 1.93m (6’ 4”) 


Second Row 

DOB 2 March 2000 

HEIGHT 1.99m (6’ 6”) 


Back Row 


HEIGHT 1.94m (6’ 4”) 


Cormac Foley #1299 

Scrum-half 


HEIGHT 1.81m (5’ 11 ”) 

WEIGHT 90kg (14 st 2 lbs) 

Ciarán Frawley #1265 

Out-half 

DOB 4 December 1997 

HEIGHT 1.92m (6’ 3”) 


Tadhg Furlong #1220 

60 

CAPS 

13 

CAPS 

Prop 

DOB 14 November 1992 

HEIGHT 1.85m (6’ 1”) 


Jamison Gibson-Park #1247 

Scrum-half 


HEIGHT 1.76m (5’ 9”) 


20 

CAPS 

Cian Healy #1142 

118 

CAPS 

2 

CAPS 

Robbie Henshaw #1251 

60 

CAPS 

9 

CAPS 

Jason Jenkins 

1 

CAP 

Dave Kearney #1158 

19 

CAPS 

Prop 


HEIGHT 1.85m (6’ 1”) 


Centre / Full Back 

DOB 12 June 1993 

HEIGHT 1.91m (6’ 3”) 


Lock 

DOB 2 December 1995 

HEIGHT 2.03 m (6’ 8”) 


Wing / Full Back 


HEIGHT 1.81m (5’ 11”) 


Hugo Keenan #1253 

23 

CAPS 

Rónan Kelleher #1277 

18 

CAPS 

Jordan Larmour #1258 

30 

CAPS 

James Lowe #1262 

15 

CAPS 

Full Back 


HEIGHT 1.85m (6’ 1”) 


Hooker 

DOB 24 January 1998 

HEIGHT 1.85m (6’ 0”) 


Wing 


HEIGHT 1.78m (5’ 10”) 


Wing / Full Back 


HEIGHT 1.88m (6’ 2”) 



Joe McCarthy #1303 

Nick McCarthy #1241 

Luke McGrath #1206 

19 

CAPS 

Michael Milne #1279 

Second Row 


HEIGHT 1.98m (6’ 6”) 


Scrum Half 


HEIGHT 1.8m (5’ 11”) 


Scrum Half 


HEIGHT 1.75m (5’ 9”) 


Prop 


HEIGHT 1.83m (6’ 0”) 


Martin Moloney #1300 

Ross Molony #1233 

Charlie Ngatai 

1 

CAP 

Jimmy O’Brien #1272 

Back Row 


HEIGHT 1.88m (6’ 2”) 


Lock 

DOB 11 May 1994 

HEIGHT 2.00m (6’ 6”) 


Centre / Full Back 


HEIGHT 1.87 m (6’ 2”) 


Back Three 


HEIGHT 1.84m (6’ 0”) 


Tommy O’Brien #1283 

Jamie Osborne #1294 

Scott Penny #1271 

Andrew Porter #1246 

46 

CAPS 

Wing 

DOB 28 May 1998 

HEIGHT 1.83m (6’ 0”) 


Centre 


HEIGHT 1.93m (6’ 4”) 

WEIGHT 97.5kg (15st 5lbs) 

Flanker 


HEIGHT 1.85m (6’ 1”) 


Prop 


HEIGHT 1.84m (6’ 1”) 


Garry Ringrose #1237 

44 

CAPS 

Rhys Ruddock #1167 

27 

CAPS 

Charlie Ryan 

James Ryan #1259 

46 

CAPS 

Centre 


HEIGHT 1.87m (6’ 2”) 


Back Row 


HEIGHT 1.91m (6’ 3”) 


Lock 


HEIGHT 2.01m (6’ 7”) 


Lock 


HEIGHT 2.00m (6’ 7”) 



Johnny Sexton #1127 

108 

CAPS 

14 

CAPS 

Dan Sheehan #1286 

10 

CAPS 

James Tracy #1211 

6 

CAPS 

Liam Turner #1287 

Out-half 


HEIGHT 1.88m (6’ 2”) 


Hooker 


HEIGHT 1.91m (6’ 3”) 


Hooker 


HEIGHT 1.85m (6’ 1”) 


Centre 


HEIGHT 1.73m (5’ 8”) 


Josh van der Flier #1228 

43 

CAPS 

Flanker 


HEIGHT 1.87m (6’ 2”) 


for full squad profiles please click here 

Coaching 

Staff 2022/23 

Stuart 

Lancaster 

Senior Coach 

season 

Leo Cullen 

Head 

Coach 

Emmet 

Farrell 

Kicking Coach and 

Lead Performance Analyst 

Robin 

McBryde 

Assistant Coach 

SEÁN 

O’BRIEN 

CONTACT SKILLS Coach 

ANDREW 

GOODMAN 

ASSISTANT COACH 

Guy 

Easterby 

Head of Rugby Operations 


We always strive to be 

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Grand Opening of 

Skerries RFC 3G Pitch 

A milestone moment for Skerries 

RFC and a memory made for 

many on the August 27, the date 

of the official Grand Opening 

of their 3G pitch, a delayed 

ceremony at the hand of 

Covid-19. 

A celebration of what a club can achieve 

with support, involvement and inclusion 

from the wider community and dedication 

from the club itself to enhance the 

facilities to the betterment of its players, 

members and the community of Skerries 

as a whole. 

Joining in this momentous day for the club 

were representatives from the Leinster 

Branch Management Committee, Skerries 

neighbouring rugby clubs, local Fingal 

Government representatives, Leinster 

Rugby Community Relation Officers and 

the club’s many sponsors. 

The honours of the official cutting the 

ribbon ceremony was given to IRFU 

President, John Robinson and Skerries 

RFC President, Padraic Connolly. 

The day full of entertainment with their 

mini and youth rugby players given 

the opportunity to exhibit their skills in 

front of two of their home-grown heroes, 

Leinster Rugby’s Ciarán Frawley and 

Ulster Rugby’s Alan O’Connor. Both Irish 

provincial stars gave their time willingly, 

chatting and signing anything that came 

to hand, a magic moment for these young 

players. 

Adding to the day was the presentation 

from Frawley to the club of his Irish Rugby 

jersey that he wore during the historic 

tour to New Zealand in July. 

Skerries Rugby club are now the envy 

of many clubs in Leinster and around 

the country, years of fundraising and 

campaigning have resulted in a top-class 

facility that enables the club to really 

help build the player pathway and 

increase the numbers of those involved. 

A testament to the ethos of this great 

club where community is at its core and 

always has been, Club is Community! 

Skerries will begin their Energia AIL 

campaign in Division 2C on the October 

1 up against Ballina RFC. Losing out 

on promotion to 2B last season to 

Enniscorthy, it will be interesting to see 

how the seasider Goats get on during this 

22/23 rugby season. 


A new Era Dawns for 

Stillorgan-Rathfarnham RFC 

By Robert Deacon 

After 50 years, the south Dublin club finally 

has a place to call home... 

On 10th September, Stillorgan- 

Rathfarnham held the official 

opening of its new grounds at 

Heavey Technology Park on 

Tibradden Road in Rathfarnham. 

Consisting of three floodlit grass 

pitches, modular changing 

rooms and large car park, the 

new facilities provide a fantastic 

foundation for Ireland’s fastest 

growing rugby club. Membership 

this season consists of over 200 

minis, girls’ teams, youths and 

three mens’ teams, with plans 

afoot to introduce the club’s first 

womens’ team soon. 

Founded in 1973 as Salesians RFC, 

the club consisted of one or two mens’ 

teams (depending on the weekend!) and 

played matches in Kildare. Renamed 

as Stillorgan RFC in the 1990s, the club 

played home games from Bird Avenue, 

but in 2013 was left without a home as a 

result of the development of its pitch for 

housing. The club was on the precipice 

of dissolution – now without a home, and 

with membership numbers falling. Was 

the end in sight? The benefit of hindsight 

now views this period as the end of the 

beginning, rather than the beginning of 

the end. 

A newly established strategic committee 

found training and playing facilities in 

both Stillorgan and Rathfarnham to solve 

the immediate facilities challenges and 

set a medium-term objective of the holy 

grail – a home for the club! 

Exhaustive research found that ten acres 

of farmland at Tibradden was for sale, 

and the club secured the land. Planning 

Permission was secured for development 

and construction began in 2019, with 

funding secured from Sports Capital 

Grants, LEADER Funding, Dún Laoghaire 

Rathdown County Council and club-led 

fundraising activities. 

The weeks leading up to 10th September 

saw the completion of the final aspects 

of the development, including installation 

of floodlighting, goalposts and changing 

room facilities. 

While 80,000 people were attending 

Garth Brooks in Croke Park on the night 

of 9th September, a motley crew of 

volunteers put the final touches together 

for the opening day, the gentle northerly 

wind sending country sounds to the 

hills of Rathfarnham – aka new rugby 

country! 

The opening day of Heavey Technology 

Park was a huge success, with over 500 

people attending for the ribbon cutting 

and to cheer on Stillorgan-Rathfarnham’s 

1st XV against Monkstown FC in the 

inaugural match on the hallowed turf! 

The future is bright for Stillorgan- 

Rathfarnham RFC, and the club now 

boasts home grounds that are befitting of 

its ambition. 

So, what’s next? 

Stillorgan-Rathfarnham RFC has two 

immediate goals. 

Firstly, to continue to expand their minis, 

girls and youth programmes so that the 

club is represented at every age grade in 

both girls and boys rugby. Secondly, the 

fundraising process is underway for the 

development of a clubhouse at Heavey 

Technology Park within a three-year 

timeframe. 

Stillorgan-Rathfarnham RFC wishes to 

thank Ecopipe Ireland, Ma Nolans, 

Heavey Technology, Toyota Sandyford, 

Kidology Childcare, Cahill’s Centra and 

Taylor’s Three Rock for their fantastic 

support. In addition, the club wishes to 

express its gratitude to Fleming’s Butchers 

and CHM for their assistance with the 

opening day of Heavey Technology Park. 


compiled by stuart farmer 

media services limited 

Leinster Player 

Statistics 

SQUAD 

CAP 

NO 

DEBUT 

2022/23 SEASON FOR LEINSTER LEINSTER CAREER 

ALL GAMES URC EPCR ALL GAMES PRO14/URC EPCR 

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

SINCE LAST TRY 

CAPS 

VAKHTANG ABDALADZE 1263 2 DEC 17 0+1 - - 0+1 - - - - - 0+18 2 10 0+17 2 10 0+1 - - 3 - 

MICHAEL ALA'ALATOA 1301 25 SEP 21 1 - - 1 - - - - - 13+13 3 15 12+6 2 10 1+7 1 5 3 WS 9 

RYAN BAIRD 1278 27 APR 19 - - - - - - - - - 19+19 7 35 17+14 7 35 2+5 - - 6 IR 8 

LEE BARRON 1308 23 APR 22 - - - - - - - - - 0+2 - - 0+2 - - - - - - - 

ED BYRNE 1222 9 FEB 14 1 - - 1 - - - - - 28+58 12 60 28+45 11 55 0+13 1 5 3 IR 6 

HARRY BYRNE 1280 28 SEP 19 - - - - - - - - - 21+15 6 183 21+14 6 178 0+1 - 5 15 IR 2 

ROSS BYRNE 1236 4 SEP 15 1 - 8 1 - 8 - - - 86+43 9 834 72+21 4 604 14+22 5 230 12 IR 13 

TOM CLARKSON 1285 29 AUG 20 - - - - - - - - - 6+12 - - 6+12 - - - - - - - 

JACK CONAN 1223 20 FEB 14 - - - - - - - - - 91+26 25 125 63+16 16 80 28+10 9 45 10 IR 30 

WILL CONNORS 1264 9 FEB 18 0+1 - - 0+1 - - - - - 18+8 2 10 17+8 2 10 1 - - 13 IR 9 

CHRIS COSGRAVE 1305 26 MAR 22 - - - - - - - - - 1+1 - - 1+1 - - - - - - - 

MAX DEEGAN 1256 3 DEC 16 1 - - 1 - - - - - 44+41 24 120 41+29 22 110 3+12 2 10 6 IR 1 

BRIAN DEENY 1306 23 APR 22 0+1 - - 0+1 - - - - - 2+1 - - 2+1 - - - - - - - 

CAELAN DORIS 1268 28 APR 18 - - - - - - - - - 47+8 8 40 33+6 6 30 14+2 2 10 2 IR 20 

CORMAC FOLEY 1299 24 APR 21 - - - - - - - - - 2+3 1 5 2+3 1 5 - - - 1 - 

CIARAN FRAWLEY 1265 17 FEB 18 0+1 - - 0+1 - - - - - 31+26 7 179 28+18 5 163 3+8 2 16 3 - 

TADHG FURLONG 1220 1 NOV 13 - - - - - - - - - 85+42 10 50 47+34 3 15 38+8 7 35 6 IR 60 

JAMISON GIBSON-PARK 1247 2 SEP 16 - - - - - - - - - 60+56 22 110 49+30 15 75 11+26 7 35 2 IR 20 

MARCUS HANAN 1295 19 FEB 21 - - - - - - - - - 0+3 - - 0+3 - - - - - - - 

CIAN HEALY 1142 5 MAY 07 - - - - - - - - - 160+89 30 150 93+56 16 80 65+32 13 65 1 IR 118 

ROBBIE HENSHAW 1251 8 OCT 16 - - - - - - - - - 66+2 16 80 29+1 7 35 37+1 9 45 1 IR 60 

JASON JENKINS 1310 17 SEP 22 1 1 5 1 1 5 - - - 1 1 5 1 1 5 - - - 1 SA 1 

DAVE KEARNEY 1158 16 MAY 09 1 1 5 1 1 5 - - - 151+23 53 265 125+16 46 230 25+6 7 35 1 IR 19 

HUGO KEENAN 1253 5 NOV 16 - - - - - - - - - 41+3 9 45 28+3 5 25 13 4 20 2 IR 23 

RONAN KELLEHER 1277 22 FEB 19 1 - - 1 - - - - - 30+7 13 65 17+5 11 55 13+2 2 10 8 IR 18 

JORDAN LARMOUR 1258 2 SEP 17 - - - - - - - - - 64+10 27 135 40+7 20 100 24+3 7 35 2 IR 30 

TEMI LASISI 1304 12 MAR 22 - - - - - - - - - 0+1 - - 0+1 - - - - - - - 

JAMES LOWE 1262 2 DEC 17 - - - - - - - - - 63+2 47 235 39+1 28 140 24+1 19 95 2 IR 15 

JOE MCCARTHY 1303 29 JAN 22 - - - - - - - - - 8+3 1 5 8 1 5 0+3 - - 2 - 

NICK MCCARTHY 1241 19 DEC 15 0+1 - - 0+1 - - - - - 9+38 5 25 9+32 5 25 0+6 - - 7 - 

LUKE MCGRATH 1206 5 MAY 12 1 1 5 1 1 5 - - - 115+61 42 210 80+49 34 170 35+12 8 40 1 IR 19 

JOHN MCKEE 1307 23 APR 22 0+1 - - 0+1 - - - - - 2+2 - - 2+2 - - - - - - - 


SQUAD 

CAP 

NO 

DEBUT 


ALL GAMES URC EPCR ALL GAMES PRO14/URC EPCR 

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

SINCE LAST TRY 

CAPS 

MICHAEL MILNE 1279 28 SEP 19 0+1 - - 0+1 - - - - - 1+17 2 10 1+17 2 10 - - - 16 - 

MARTIN MOLONEY 1300 24 APR 21 - - - - - - - - - 2+5 - - 2+5 - - - - - - - 

ROSS MOLONY 1233 20 FEB 15 1 - - 1 - - - - - 83+57 5 25 73+42 4 20 10+15 1 5 17 - 

BEN MURPHY 1309 21 MAY 22 - - - - - - - - - 0+1 - - 0+1 - - - - - - - 

CHARLIE NGATAI 1311 17 SEP 22 1 - - 1 - - - - - 1 - - 1 - - - - - - NZ 1 

JAMIE OSBORNE 1294 30 JAN 21 1 - - 1 - - - - - 14+6 1 5 14+6 1 5 - - - 15 - 

JIMMY O'BRIEN 1272 23 NOV 18 - - - - - - - - - 43+10 16 84 34+9 10 54 9+1 6 30 2 - 

SEAN O'BRIEN 1297 12 MAR 21 - - - - - - - - - 0+3 - - 0+3 - - - - - - - 

TOMMY O'BRIEN 1283 20 DEC 19 - - - - - - - - - 10+11 6 30 10+9 6 30 0+2 - - 2 - 

MAX O'REILLY 1291 2 JAN 21 1 - - 1 - - - - - 9+1 1 5 9+1 1 5 - - - 9 - 

SCOTT PENNY 1271 23 NOV 18 1 - - 1 - - - - - 35+7 23 115 35+7 23 115 - - - 2 - 

ANDREW PORTER 1246 2 SEP 16 - - - - - - - - - 41+50 14 70 29+31 10 50 12+19 4 20 8 IR 46 

GARRY RINGROSE 1237 12 SEP 15 - - - - - - - - - 100+2 30 158 60+1 19 103 40+1 11 55 2 IR 44 

RHYS RUDDOCK 1167 6 DEC 09 1 2 10 1 2 10 - - - 157+54 14 70 119+35 12 60 37+17 2 10 1 IR 27 

ROB RUSSELL 1302 3 OCT 21 1 - - 1 - - - - - 4+2 - - 4+2 - - - - - - - 

CHARLIE RYAN - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

JAMES RYAN 1259 2 SEP 17 - - - - - - - - - 52+6 3 15 27+1 1 5 25+5 2 10 18 IR 46 

JOHNNY SEXTON 1127 27 JAN 06 - - - - - - - - - 156+28 26 1614 89+21 13 857 65+7 12 726 24 IR 108 

DAN SHEEHAN 1286 23 OCT 20 - - - - - - - - - 9+20 16 80 8+13 13 65 1+7 3 15 1 IR 10 

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

ALEX SOROKA 1296 28 FEB 21 0+1 - - 0+1 - - - - - 2+4 - - 2+4 - - - - - - - 

JAMES TRACY 1211 4 NOV 12 - - - - - - - - - 64+77 18 90 57+48 17 85 7+29 1 5 5 IR 6 

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

JOSH VAN DER 

1228 11 OCT 14 - - - - - - - - - 90+24 18 90 52+18 8 40 38+6 10 50 4 IR 43 

FLIER 

JOHNNY SEXTON 1127 27 JAN 06 8+3 - 107 2+2 - 24 6+1 - 83 156+28 26 1614 89+21 13 857 65+7 12 726 24 IR 108 

DAN SHEEHAN 1286 23 OCT 20 6+10 10 50 5+3 7 35 1+7 3 15 9+20 16 80 8+13 13 65 1+7 3 15 1 IR 10 

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

ALEX SOROKA 1296 28 FEB 21 1+2 - - 1+2 - - - - - 2+3 - - 2+3 - - - - - - - 

DEVIN TONER 1128 27 JAN 06 6+8 - - 6+5 - - 0+3 - - 212+68 4 20 146+47 4 20 63+21 - - 63 IR 70 

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 

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

JOSH VAN DER FLIER 1228 11 OCT 14 15+1 7 35 7+1 1 5 8 6 30 90+24 18 90 52+18 8 40 38+6 10 50 4 IR 43 

KICKING 


ALL GAMES URC EPCR ALL GAMES PRO14/URC EPCR OVERALL 

SUCCESS 

RATE 

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

% 

- - - HARRY BYRNE - - - - - - - - - - 63 9 62 8 1 1 92 78.26% 

ROSS BYRNE 80.00% 4 - - 4 - - - - - 258 90 1 199 61 1 59 29 - 445 78.20% 

CIARAN FRAWLEY - - - - - - - - - - 54 12 - 51 12 - 3 - - 80 82.50% 

JIMMY O'BRIEN - - - - - - - - - - 2 - - 2 - - - - - 4 50.00% 

GARRY RINGROSE - - - - - - - - - - 4 - - 4 - - - - - 6 66.67% 

JOHNNY SEXTON - - - - - - - - - - 265 307 11 129 171 7 129 132 4 714 80.11% 


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26 August 2022 

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60 | www.leinsterrugby.ie 

NICK 

BY DES BERRY 

POPPLEWELL

THEN: Nick 

Popplewell 

played for 

Leinster 

for 10 years 

(1987-1997) on 

the way to 48 

Ireland caps 

and three for 

the British 

and Irish 

Lions. 

NOW: He lives 

in Wexford 

with his wife 

Rachel, has 

three children 

Sophie (25), 

Rebecca (23) 

and Ben (20) 

and works as 

an auctioneer 

for Sherry 

Fitzgerald 

Radford. 

British and Irish Lions test prop 

Nick Popplewell was an Ireland 

Schools international alright. Just 

at hockey, not rugby. 

“I was a sweeper where the philosophy 

was the ball could pass you, the player 

could pass you. But they couldn’t both 

pass you at the same time,” he says. 

This ‘thou shall not pass’ attitude 

translated perfectly to rugby where 

Popplewell was something of a late 

bloomer, rising from representing Munster 

B Schools at Newtown in Waterford in 

1982 to playing for Gorey, Greystones, 

Leinster and Ireland. 

At least, this was the Irish tributary of a 

journey that took in English clubs Wasps 

and Newcastle Falcons as well as three 

test starts for the 1993 Lions in New 

Zealand. 

Back then, of course, Leinster was about 

as far from where it is now as the earth is 

from the sun. 

A long apprenticeship in the dark arts 

of the front row meant meetings with the 

likes of Kilkenny’s Ned Byrne for Gorey 

at the Junior level and Lansdowne’s 

Des Fitzgerald in the All-Ireland League 

marked his ascension. 

“The second match I played for 

Greystones was against Lansdowne 

where I was, as they say, ‘seagulling’ 

against Des, the Ireland tighthead prop 

at the time. 


“In fairness, after that match, Des came 

into the changing room and we met in the 

bar afterwards. 

“He said: ‘Well done, today. Well 

played!’ 

“I said: ‘Thanks, my feet literally didn’t 

touch the ground.’ 

“He said: ‘Listen, I want you to meet Roly 

Meates.’” 

The Dublin dentist, a legendary lifelong 

guru of the scrum, was able to impart his 

wisdom to a young man eager to make 

headway in the game. 

“I went up to Roly’s house in Donnybrook 

where I did scrummaging sessions with 

his wife Heather. 

“You couldn’t write it as a comedy script. 

Can you imagine it? He would have me 

locking down with Heather in the garden. 

“He would tell me where I was going 

wrong, what I should do with my feet, 

technical issues that had to be sorted 

out.” 

As Leinster legend Phil Orr moved into 

retirement in 1987, the late great Ken 

Ging was the man on the other end of 

the landline, inviting Nick back from a 

year in Australia to battle for his Leinster 

shirt. 

“My father used to be involved in Pointto-Pointing. 

He always had a few spare 

lead weights around at home that he had 

to put in the saddle for the races. 

“I was only 106kg when I first arrived 

into Leinster. We had to weigh ourselves 

at the beginning of every year. I 

remember putting in a couple of lead 

weights in my pocket at the first weigh-in, 

just to push it up to 108kg. 

“The memories of my playing days with 

Leinster are vague, to be honest,” he 

admits. 

“The culture was everyone enjoyed a 

pint and a few enjoyed a cigarette as 

well. We would have trained hard and, I 

suppose, you would say we would have 

played hard.” 

The outsider came in blind to the 

standards set and immune to the 

reputations of those ahead of him. 

“I don’t know if it was arrogance or 

confidence, but I wasn’t intimidated. I had 

nothing to lose,” he says. 

“This was back when Ulster was 

completely dominant. We never beat 

them. We always beat Munster at 

Donnybrook and always lost to them 

away when I had to deal with John 

‘Paco’ Fitzgerald. I also remember losing 

to Connacht twice where Tom Clancy 

was my personal challenge.” 

Once Nick moved beyond fighting for air 

at Leinster - he even captained for one 

season - to be a ‘bona fide’ first-choice 

Ireland prop, the significance of the 

province began to wane. 

“My main memories of Leinster are of 

the beginning rather than the end,” he 

declares. 

“You looked forward to the pre-season 

mini-tours for the fun you would have. I’m 

not sure which year it was when we went 

to Bath or Bristol one year. The selectors 

were Ken Ging, Malachy McEvoy, 

Ned Thornton, Mick Cuddy and Eric 

Campbell. 

“In one game, we had a lineout near 

halfway. I took a look up and the five 

of them were asleep in the stand. It 

was unpaid leave for the players and 

selectors back then, so we all enjoyed the 

late hours. 

“Having said that, I learned a huge 

amount about propping from Dessie. 

He was at the peak of his powers when 

I came into Leinster. There was a vast 

amount of information and learning to be 

derived from him. 

“In those early days, I had Jim Glennon 

behind me in the second row. It was like 

scrummaging in an armchair. He was 

such a big man with the widest shoulders. 

You were never going to go backwards. 

“You were either going to go forward or 

you were going to go up. If you went up, 

it only happened once because you were 

crucified by Des or Jim. You could say, I 

was well-minded.” 

All the while, Leinster was little more than 

a stop off on the way to his destination. 


In those early days, I had Jim 

Glennon behind me in the second 

row. It was like scrummaging 

in an armchair. 

“Like every rugby-playing kid then, if I 

had a dream it was to play for Ireland, 

not Leinster,” he declares. 

“At that stage, if you were aspiring to 

play international rugby, the pathway 

was through the province, trying to shine 

in those derbies, culminating in an Irish 

trial based on what happened in those 

games. 

“Leinster wasn’t the be-all and end-all. 

It was an avenue to test yourself at the 

next level. The Interpros became a way 

of ticking off players ahead of me in the 

pecking order, men like Tom Clancy and 

‘Paco’ Fitzgerald.” 

In fact, the glamour lay with the All- 

Ireland League where great rivalries were 

stoked on a weekly basis. 

“Tactics back then were slightly different. 

I remember Greystones went down to 

play Young Munster in a crucial All- 

Ireland League match. 

“We went there the night before to let 

the young fellas on the team soak in 

the atmosphere. There were three fire 

brigades putting water on the pitch and 

they narrowed the pitch by five metres. 

No better tactic than that. It was an epic 

three-all.” 

“Really, your club was Greystones. It 

wasn’t Leinster. It was a ‘Brucey bonus’ 

on the avenue to playing for Ireland. It 

was a process that took up six weeks of 

the year. The window for the Interpros 

was tight. The club was the priority.” 

When the game turned professional 

in 1996, Nick was already in London 

playing for Wasps. 

“I was the first to go. I would have made 

more money if I was the last to go,” he 

laughs. 

“I left Greystones in 1995 to move to 

London to play for Wasps, but not as a 

professional. I had an office job in the 

city. 

“At Wasps, I met Dean Ryan, Rob 

Andrew and Steven Bates, all England 

internationals. When Rob left for 

Newcastle Falcons, he called me and I 

became a professional for three seasons. 

“Work and career were never a priority 

for me. I am not hugely motivated by 

money. As long as I had enough to live 

on, I was happy to follow my instincts.” 

Those instincts eventually took Nick back 

to Wexford where he settled down with 

his wife Rachel and raised his family. 

You sense he wouldn’t change a thing. 


Referees 

Corner 

BY DAN WALLACE 

Welcome to another season! 

It is great to be back on the pitch after what 

seems a very quick summer break. The 2022/23 

season kicked off with our Annual Seminar, held 

in the Green Isle Hotel on Sunday August 21st with 

over 150 referees taking part in the day. 

Our President Gordon Condell 

opened proceedings welcoming 

the referees to the seminar along 

with Leinster Rugby President 

Debbie Carty. Peter Donnelly 

spoke about International 

Tickets, one of the many 

benefits of being a referee. Sean 

Gallagher, Referee Development 

Manager with the IRFU then 

spoke about the laws changes 

for the season ahead. 

The main one is adding brake foot to 

scrum engagement. 

The trial means that hookers will be 

required to have one foot forward as the 

scrum sets up (19.10c), which acts as a 

brake on the scrum until the call of ‘Set’ 

in the engagement sequence (19.12) 

The primary intention of this law trial is 

to remove axial loading on the necks 

and heads of front row players 

Sean also spoke about the previous 

Global Law Trials that were adopted 

into law. 

All five trials were deemed to have 

positively enhanced both safety and 

spectacle and were unanimously 

approved by the Council. 

They are: 

• 50:22 

•Goal Line Drop Out 

• Pre-Bound Pods of Players 

(or “Flying Wedge”) 

• Sanctioning of lower-limb 

clearout 

• Latching 

The majority of these trials were born 

from the 2018 Player Welfare and Laws 

Symposium and reflect the sport’s united 

and unwavering intent when it comes to 

protecting players at all levels. 

Each new law has been developed 

with the input of experts and reflect an 

evidence-based approach to reducing 

higher-risk behaviours by changing 

the nature of the contact area of the 

game or reducing overall contact in 

a game situation, according to World 

Rugby Chief Player Welfare and Rugby 

Services Officer Mark Harrington. 


Want to get 

involved? 

Feel free to make contact 

with the Leinster Rugby 

Referees at hayley.whyte@ 

leinsterrugby.ie 

If you are interested in 

becoming a referee get in 

contact with us through 

our Facebook, our website 

www.leinsterrugbyreferees. 

ie or through twitter @ 

leinsterreferee. 

Sean also spoke about technical zones 

and safety for the season ahead. 

Following Sean’s excellent presentation 

Tom Tuohy and John Dunne spoke about 

the referee panel that people are in for 

the season ahead. We also had some 

awards handed out, many long overdue 

from a pre-Covid era. Barry Armstrong 

and Paul Haycock seemed to clean up 

on the day, both stopping off in IKEA for 

new shelving on the way home. 

We were delighted to see 13 of our 

referees in this season’s IRFU National 

Panel. 

The referees included are: 

Dermot Blake, Andrew Cole, Paul 

Haycock, Cillian Hogan, John Carvill, 

Glenn Sheridan, John Flynn, Michael 

Forrestal, Sam Holt, Paul O’Connor, 

Padraic Reidy, Katie Byrne, Robbie 

Jenkinson and Colm Roche 

The IPAS referee for this season is Kevin 

Beakey. IPAS allows referees from all 

the provinces to officiate at a selected 

number of games across the country. 

Collated assessments from these games 

will determine who will be promoted 

from the provincial ranks to referee at 

national league level. 

With that we are looking forward to the 

season ahead. 


W W W . B E S T M E N S W E A R . C O M 

OFF 

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ank of ireland 

MATCHDAY MINIS 

Gorey RFC 

Players: Hugh Ahern, Rian Cullen, Finn O’Brien, 

Charlie Stephens, Ollie Syme, Aidan Hempenstall, Tom Kehoe, 

Andrew Jones, Micheal McGuinness, Dylan Copeland, 

Jimmy Collier, Hugo Ó Broin, Patryk Glinski, Tiernan Owley, 

Shane Rothwell, David Hill, Harry Swaine, Morgan Corbett, 

Donnacha Boland, Darragh Morris, Zach Curran, 

Tyler Klopper, Hugh Sheriff, Dylan Bailey, Dylan Kavanagh. 

Managers: Paddy Syme, Rory Sheriff. 

Clondalkin RFC 

Players: Charlie Ayres, Cathal Walsh, Tom Flynn, 

Callan Staunton, James Murphy, Ruadhan Burke, Aaron Carty, 

Cormac Fogarty, Charlie Rodgers, Oisin Doyle Rehner, 

Sam Purdy, Tadhg O’Loughlin, John Sheehan, Tomás Connolly, 

Tom Gahan, Conor McLindon, Alex Carroll, 

Nathan McCormack, Adam Craven, Vilis Luke 

Coaches: Ciaran Flynn, Mark Gahan, Andrew McLindon, 

Ollie Fogarty and Gavin Doyle. 

St Mary’s College RFC 

Players: Cillian Power, Harry Coates, Cojo Kinnear, 

Josh Tilley, Dylan Jay, Harry Wilson, Sam O’Connell, 

Mason Wallace, Cian Mitchell, Kyle Kenny, Tom Leech, 

Harry Brogan, Daniel Hunt, Sean Óg O’Toole, David Shiels, 

Max Lynam, Sam O’Donnell, Christian Ball, Liam Bass. 

Coaches:Paddy Power, Conor Leech. 

Old Wesley RFC 

Players: Alex O’Sullivan, Ben Flynn, Cate Steele, Finn Hodgins, 

Georgie Brigg, Harry Wrynn, Isaac Tweed, Jamie O’Farrell, 

Jamie Stewart, Leighton Plant, Max McBride, Milo Pust, 

Nathan Owens, Reuben Moran, Rory Webb, Zach White. 

Coaches: Brendan Wall, Chris Steele, Neville Moran, 

Ronan Bools. 


KNOWING WHAT ADVICE TO TAKE 

IS ESSENTIAL IN THIS GAME. 

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Beauchamps LLP | Riverside Two | Sir John Rogerson’s Quay | Dublin 2 | D02 KV60

Leinster Rugby and 

Children in Hospital 

Ireland Partnership 

Announced 


Rugby has 

announced 

Children in 

Hospital 

Ireland (CIH) 

as its latest 

charity 

partner for 

the month of 

September 

as part of 

the Charity 

Affiliate 

Programme. 

Since 1970, CIH’s team of staff, 

supporters and volunteers have 

been playing a major role in 

initiating and furthering changes 

in how children are cared for in 

Irish hospitals. 

Each year in Ireland there are, on 

average, over 325,000 hospital visits by 

children and for over 10,000 of those, 

this means an average of a three-night 

stay. 

Volunteers from all backgrounds, ages, 

and experiences give two hours a week 

to support children and their families 

through providing play in their local 

hospitals. 

CIH vets, trains and provides ongoing 

support for hundreds of volunteers in 14 

paediatric units in Ireland every year. 

Across Leinster, 145 volunteers are 

currently back in the major Dublin 

hospitals, Kilkenny and Drogheda. 

However, teams are eagerly growing 

again as new volunteers are recruited 

following long pauses during COVID 

restrictions. 

Community support means so much to 

families at a time filled with stress and 

anxiety. 

“Our son Freddie was born in June 

2021. He is a twin to Theo, but Freddie 

had a hard start due to some medical 

complexities and spent his first year of 

life in Crumlin. With a twin and older 

sibling at home there were times we 

couldn’t always be with Freddie and so 

the volunteers in Crumlin were a massive 

support to us with this,” say Tracy and 

Andrew Holmes. 

“We used their services a lot in that year 

and we could not be more grateful to 

them, it would have made our hospital 

journey much harder without their 

support.” 

In attendance at the launch in Leinster 

Rugby head office in UCD were a 

number of Leinster Rugby players, as well 

as representatives from CIH. 

Welcoming the news of the partnership, 

Anna Gunning, CEO of CIH said, “we 

are thrilled to have been selected as 

charity partner for Leinster Rugby for 

September. This provides us with an 

opportunity to highlight the work of 

Children in Hospital Ireland and bring it 

to new audiences. 

“We hope to attract new volunteers, 

supporters and partners which will help 

to develop our services and therefore 


Donate 

today 

support more children in hospital and 

their families. Thank you to all the team 

in Leinster Rugby for affording us this 

opportunity.” 

Speaking on behalf of Leinster Rugby, 

Marcus Ó Buachalla, who manages the 

charity partnerships, said, “It was great to 

meet the team from Children in Hospital 

Ireland here this morning, but more so, to 

meet some of their volunteers and some 

of the parents and the children that have 

come to rely on them over the last few 

years. 

“Chatting to them and hearing the impact 

that the charity has had on them and their 

lives while in hospital was eye opening 

and hopefully we can highlight over the 

month ahead the great work that they 

do.” 

Leinster Rugby also confirmed that Bank 

of Ireland would continue to support 

the charity partner scheme again this 

season and that its player of the month 

award donation will now be made to the 

monthly charity affiliate, rather than the 

player in question, a move that is also 

supported by the Leinster Rugby players. 

Like all the charities selected, Children in 

Hospital Ireland was selected by Leinster 

Further information 

about the Leinster 

Rugby Charity 

Affiliate Programme: 

The charities supported by 

Leinster Rugby as part of this 

initiative, include; 

2020/21 Season: Women’s 

Aid (November), Debra Ireland 

Rugby after a consultation process 

involving the leadership group of the 

men, women’s and Academy teams and 

consultation with the premium sponsors 

and partners and the OLSC. 

For more information on Children 

in Hospital Ireland, please visit their 

website. 

(December), numerous local causes 

supported by Bank of Ireland 

(January), ALONE (February), Pieta 

(March), AsIAm (April), LauraLynn 

(May), the Gavin Glynn Foundation 

(June), Irish Heart Foundation (August) 

and CRY (September) 

2021/22 Season: Alzheimer Society 

of Ireland (November), Peter McVerry 

Trust (December), numerous local 

causes supported by Bank of Ireland 

such as Outcomers, Citywise Means 

Business, New Horizon and Purple 

House (January), the RNLI (February), 

Irish Cancer Society (March), Irish 

Community Air Ambulance (April), CRY 

(May) and Belong To (June) 

The selection process for all the 

charities includes the Leinster Rugby 

players, Leinster Rugby sponsors and 

partners and also the Official Leinster 

Supporters Club (OLSC). 


COUNTRY ITALY HOME GROUND STADIO COMUNALE DI MONIGO FOUNDED 1932 

benetton 

last time out 

rugby 

benetton rugby 33 

glasgow warriors 11 

FRI 16 SEP 17:30 | STADIO MONIGO | URC 

Benetton Rugby 

won their 

opening match 

of their 2022/23 

BKT United Rugby 

Championship 

campaign in 

Treviso against 

Glasgow 

Warriors, 

playing for the 

first time under 

new head coach, 

Franco Smith. 

The home side ran 

in four tries to 

claim a deserved 

33-11 victory. 

images: inpho.ie 


Zander Fagerson’s second-half 

try was not enough to spark a 

fightback in northern Italy for 

the Warriors, as the home side 

claimed a bonus-point win to 

claim the full set of spoils under 

the floodlights. 

With the Stadio Comunale di Monigo 

in fine voice at the outset of a new 

campaign, the opening exchanges were 

dominated by the boot. Tom Jordan 

showed some early nice touches with the 

boot for the visitors but it would be the 

home side who would trouble the scorers 

first, with Rhyno Smith making no mistake 

from the tee with 12 minutes played after 

the Warriors were penalised for offside 

at a lineout on their own 22. 

It would be a lead that would last all 

of three minutes, as the Warriors hit 

straight back. When the home side were 

penalised for not rolling away, it would 

be George Horne who would take 

advantage, knocking over the kick to 

level the scores at 3-3. 

Neither side were really able to establish 

a rhythm as the opening quarter drew to 

a close, with errors and the concession 

of penalties putting paid to the attacks 

of both teams. Yet the first try of the 

match – and indeed of the URC season 

– would go to Benetton; a counter-attack 

from turnover ball saw the Italian side 

set up camp in the Glasgow 22, before 

Giacomo da Re’s floated pass over the 

top gave Eduardo Padovani a run-in to 

the corner. The conversion drifted wide, 

but Benetton led 8-3 after 22 minutes. 

Benetton were beginning to earn the 

upper hand at the scrum, something 

that would prove to be the catalyst for 

their second try of the evening. Penalties 

at successive scrums saw da Re direct 

his team into the corner, and when 

the lineout drive came on it would be

Gianmarco Lucchesi who would emerge 

with the ball. Smith’s conversion was 

pushed wide of the far post, but the home 

crowd were roaring their approval. 

Horne would cut the deficit with the 

final kick of the half, after a series 

of thunderous ball-carries inside the 

Benetton 22, leaving the gap at 13-6 at 

half-time. 

The home side were straight out of the 

blocks at the start of the second half and 

were rewarded for their endeavour with 

their third try of the night just two minutes 

into the second 40. 

A set move from a lineout saw Benetton 

work the blindside to set Ignacio Mendy 

free on the wing, the Argentina 7s star 

sprinting away before stepping inside 

the cover defence for the score. Smith’s 

conversion made it a two-score game, 

before extending the lead with a penalty 

to make it 23-6 after 46 minutes. 

Benetton were enjoying the lion’s share 

of possession and territory, a monopoly 

that Smith took full advantage of with his 

third successful penalty of the evening on 

56 minutes. 

The Warriors needed a response, and 

with the coaching team rolling out the 

replacements, momentum began to shift. 

From a penalty, Glasgow went to the 

corner and while the Glasgow maul was 

initially stopped short, Ali Price found 

Zander Fagerson on the short ball and 

the tight-head proved far too powerful 

for the covering defence, crashing over 

for the score to bring Glasgow back into 

proceedings. 

With the wind in their sails, Franco 

Smith’s men began to play from deep 

and a second try felt like it was coming, 

and no-one came closer than Sebastian 

Cancelliere with seven minutes to play. 

A Rory Darge turnover saw the winger 

thump the ball downfield and win the 

foot race, only for the ball to trickle 

agonisingly over the dead-ball line before 

it could be grounded. 

Instead, the final word would belong to 

Benetton. The breakdown of a Glasgow 

attack on halfway saw Mendy get a boot 

to the ball first, with the winger winning 

his own race to regather and touch 

down. Smith’s conversion took the final 

score to 33-11, much to the delight of the 

home supporters. 

A great start to the BKT URC season for 

Benetton Rugby and just the start they 

would have wanted too with a trip to 

Dublin and the RDS Arena next up. 

Benetton: (13) 33 

Tries: Padovani, Lucchesi, Mendy 2 

Cons: Smith 2 Penalties: Smith 3 

Glasgow Warriors: (6) 11 

Try: Z Fagerson 

Penalties: Horne 2 


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Marco 

Bortolami 

Head Coach 

Bortolami is a former captain of the 

Italian national team. Having impressed 

for the Italy U20s, he made his Italian 

debut, aged 20, in June 2001 against 

Namibia. At the age of just 22, he 

became Italy’s youngest ever captain. 

Bortolami would play over 100 times for 

his country and represented Petrarca, 

Narbonne, Gloucester, Aironi and finally 

Zebre, before retiring from playing in 

2016. He moved into coaching after 

retirement and took over from Kieran 

Crowley in 2021 as head coach of 

Benetton Rugby. 

Dewaldt 

Duvenage 

Captain 

Duvenage is South African and has been 

capped by the Springboks at U20s and 

‘A’ level. The scrumhalf joined Benetton 

Rugby in 2018, having represented the 

Stormers and Perpignan before that. 

The 34-year old is from Bellville in South 

Africa. 

benetton squad 

FORWARDS 

FILIPPO ALONGI 

PROP 

LORENZO CANNONE 

LOCK 

NICCOLO CANNONE 

LOCK 

MATTEO DRUDI 

PROP 

CORNIEL ELS 

HOOKER 

RICCARDO FAVRETTO 

LOCK 

SIMONE FERRARI 

PROP 

THOMAS GALLO 

PROP 

TOA HALAFIHI 

FLANKER 

MICHELE LAMARO 

FLANKER 

MARCO LAZZARONI 

FLANKER 

GIANMARCO LUCCHESI 

HOOKER 

SEBASTIAN NEGRI DA OLLEGIO 

LOCK 

IVAN NEMER 

PROP 

GIACOMO NICOTERA 

HOOKER 

TIZIANO PASQUALI 

PROP 

GIOVANNI PETTINELLI 

FLANKER 

FEDERICO RUZZA 

LOCK 

SCOTT SCRAFTON 

LOCK 

BRAAM STEYN 

FLANKER 

NAHUEL TETAZ CHAPARRO 

PROP 

HENRY TIME-STOWERS 

FLANKER 

CHERIF TRAORE 

PROP 

CARL WEGNER 

LOCK 

FEDERICO ZANI 

PROP 

MANUEL ZULIANI 

LOCK 

BACKS 

TOMAS ALBORNOZ 

FLY-HALF 

MATTIA BELLINI 

WING 

NACHO BREX 

CENTRE 

JOEY CAPUTO 

FLY-HALF 

GIACOMO DA RE 

FULLBACK 

FILIPPO DRAGO 

CENTRE 

DEWALDT DUVENAGE 

SCRUM-HALF 

ALESSANDRO GARBISI 

SCRUM-HALF 

SAM HIDALGO-CLYNE 

SCRUM-HALF 

LEONARDO MARIN 

FLY-HALF 

IGNACIO MENDY 

FULLBACK 

TOMMASO MENONCELLO 

WING 

EDOARDO PADOVANI 

FULLBACK 

ONISI RATAVE 

WING 

ILIESA RATUVA TAVUYARA 

WING 

JOAQUIN RIERA 

CENTRE 

RHYNO SMITH 

FULLBACK 

MARCUS WATSON 

WING 

MARCO ZANON 

CENTRE 


Club in 

Focus 

BY DES BERRY 

clane RFC 

There are 

problems 

that can 

keep you up 

at night 

for all 

the right 

reasons. 

Craig Ferguson 

In a crowded market, there 

has to be one or more points of 

difference that keep the curious 

coming through the front door. 

In that regard, Clane Rugby Club has 

devised a three-year strategic plan to 

embrace the ever-changing challenges 

that come along with growing numbers. 

The four pillars of the plan, formed in 

2020, are developing 21st-century 

facilities, enhancing diversity and 

inclusion, increasing female participation 

and developing player pathways. 

First, the simple provision of enough grass 

to play on is what all clubs crave, enough 

space for everyone to get stuck in. 

For this purpose, Clane targeted a third 

pitch alongside increasing the lighting, 

the tarmacking of the driveway and car 

park and improving clubhouse facilities. 

To this point, the security of a loan has 

enabled Clane to complete the pitch and 

install the lighting, while the other works 

are in the pipeline. 

Second, the ‘Everyone Plays’ ethos of the 

club is particularly central to providing 

rugby for players of mixed abilities at the 

youth and senior levels. 

“We are committed to the simple idea of 

having a game for everyone,” says club 

President Craig Ferguson. 

“There are clubs in the area which have 

mixed ability teams at the teenage levels. 

There is no senior adult club in close 

proximity.” 

This is seen as a niche in the marketplace 

that has not yet been accounted for and 

Clane want to be first to that starting line 

in the area. 

“By the end of the year, Clane, led by 

Sinead Lawlor, want to put out the adult 

team these other clubs can send their 

players to. It will be small numbers to start 

with the intention to grow.” 


There is a commitment to making a social 

area available to parents and guardians 

of players so that they will have a reason 

to stay rather than drop and drive away. 

“Clane is a small club with membership 

standing at around 250. We want 

people to feel a part of it. We want 

players and families to meet and mingle. 

There is the tendency for parents to drop 

kids to the club and leave them there for 

an hour or however long the sessions 

take. 

“We want to have a place to stay, chat, 

have a coffee and become a social 

group in their own right. To aid this, we 

are moving the coffee, socialising area 

downstairs to give those parents a reason 

to stay and get to know each other.” 

Third, there is a drive to facilitate female 

teams for all age groups from U-10 to 

U-18, increase U-12 participation by 100 

per cent, add at least two female coaches 

and field a senior ladies team 

“Our Club Community Rugby Officer 

(CCRO) Mary Healy does a fantastic 

job, going into the local schools and 

attracting young girls down to the club to 

give it a go. 

“We are really focusing on that, giving 

young girls in the area the choice of 

playing something new with the hope 

they come and stay. 

“Having said that, you must remember 

we are a small club with a membership of 

250. We need all the players and all the 

help we can muster. 

“Already, Molly Fitzpatrick, a former 

youths player in the club, has stepped up 

to be our first female coach.” 

The strategy around growing a senior 

team has begun with a Clane ‘Tag Team’, 

which attracts 40 women. 


Molly Fitzpatrick 

“We hope to expand on that, increase 

the numbers and encourage the transition 

into the full contact game in tandem with 

the numbers coming through from the age 

grades.” 

Fourth, the wheels of player development 

are already rolling as evidenced by the 

representation of Clane’s young players 

on the regional and schools levels. 

“We have players, boys and girls, 

coming through the age groups, 

representing the North Midlands, namely 

Faye O’Toole, Sean Tighe, Nathan Yap, 

Ollie Reilly, Killian O’Sullivan, Jack Kelly, 

Garrett Davitt and Jamie Mc Cormack,” 

issues Craig. 

“We have had players going onto 

Newbridge College. John Walsh, Ruari 

Munnelly, Tadhg Kelly, Shane Davitt, 

Daragh Cosgrove and Josh Montgomery 

were all part of the Leinster Schools 

Junior Cup winning squad as recently as 

2021.” 

There are solid numbers at the U-17, 

U-18 and U-20 levels where Clane have 

amalgamated with North Kildare (U- 

17/18) and Newbridge (U-20). 

There is a drive within the club to make 

Clane competitive at whatever level it is 


involved without compromising on the 

values that have been steadily developed 

over the last 38 years. 

At the adult level, Clane competes in 

Division 5 of the Leinster League, a squad 

managed by club legend Peter Jackson 

and boasting loyal servants like Jimmy 

McMahon and Oisin Short. 

This summer, a social media campaign 

to recruit players led to the welcome of 

Conor Tully, Ryan Kettle, Colin Malone, 

Paul Leonard. 

“We are never going to be a Division 1A 

All-Ireland League club. We know that!” 

states Craig. 

“We want to be a place for players to 

come, play for fun and feel a part of 

something inclusive, no matter where you 

come from or who you are.” 

This is more than a place to play for 

Craig, playing and coaching in Clane for 

years. It is a personal matter. 

There is a family legacy at stake. His 

father David was one of the founding 

members in 1984, a natural attachment 

his son cannot shake. 

“It is the camaraderie that keeps me 

coming back. I have friends from my 

playing days and coaching days. Those 

are great bonds to hold onto.” 

And he wants to see new bonds made. 


Sam 

Prenderg 

THE ACADEMY 

INTERVIEW 

BY PAUL CAHILL 

July 2022 is a month 

that the Prendergast 

family will never 

forget. Eldest son, 

Cian, who plays with 

Connacht Rugby, was 

called up to the Irish 

squad for their tour 

of New Zealand. 

Before that, mum Ciara, dad Mark 

and sister Lara, travelled to Italy 

to watch the middle child, Sam 

playing for the Ireland u-20 side 

in Italy. 

While this all sounds great on paper, it 

got even better on the pitch. 

Sam kicked a last minute penalty to beat 

England and Cian played a central role 

in both games against the Mãori All 

Blacks. 

However, Sam is quick to point out which 

Prendergast had the best summer and it 

was neither of the two boys. 

“My dad!” says the Leinster Academy 

out half. 

“He saw the first three Irish U-20 games 

of the Six Nation Summer Series in Italy, 


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efore going straight to New Zealand to 

see the final two tests as well as seeing 

Cian play in the second Mãori game. 

“He had a great summer. He loved it so 

much.” 

While it has been a rugby whirlwind 

recently for the Prendergasts, like most 

rugby players, Sam began in his local 

club. For the Prendergast boys, that was 

Cill Dara RFC. 

After getting a solid grounding in the 

game down at Beech Park, Sam soon 

followed his older brother to Newbridge 

College. 

But, it wasn’t a success story from the very 

start for Sam. 

“I took it seriously from first to third year, 

but I wasn’t that great. I was a sub on the 

junior cup team. 

“Then in Transition Year, I really tried to 

kick on. We had a new coach with the 

Senior Cup Team in Johne Murphy and 

he started me at number 10, and that’s 

when I really focused on rugby.” 

Three years younger that Cian, Sam 

looked up to his older brother, and once 

Cian started excelling at rugby, Sam was 

determined to emulate him. 

“When Cian was about 18 years old, 

he started playing with Leinster in the 

underage interprovincial series. 

“I was watching on and I was really 

falling in love with the game around 

then. So when I saw that, I was trying to 

improve my own game. I pushed on from 

there.” 

As part of a strong Newbridge College 

side under Johne Murphy, Sam reached 

the 2020 Bank of Ireland Leinster Rugby 

Schools Senior Cup Final after a 25-22 

semi-final win over St Michael’s College. 

But, as the pandemic struck, and the final 

couldn’t take place, they were forced 

to share the title with Clongowes Wood 

College. 

Sam Prendergast was then named 

in the Leinster Rugby U-18 squad. 

Disappointment struck again as the 

competition never went ahead as 

Covid-19 lingered. 

Instead of sulking, Sam focused on 

continuing to improve at home with his 

brother during lockdown. 

“It was a huge help having a rugby 

playing brother during that period. 

“We were constantly working on different 

stuff in the garden and doing gym work 

together. We helped push each other 

on.” 

That hard work paid off as Sam was 

named as captain of the Leinster Rugby 

U-19 side the following year as well 

as earning a spot in the Leinster Sub- 

Academy. 

It’s clear that Cian has been a big 

influence on Sam’s career to date, 

and the young out half is quick to 

acknowledge those who have helped him 

get to where he is. 


It’s really 

cool to be 

able to train 

with those 

players 

and try and 

learn from 

them as much 

as I can. 

“Johne Murphy and my brother Cian 

have been the two biggest influences on 

my rugby career so far. 

“I’ve always been able to talk to my 

brother about rugby things. When I was 

with the Leinster U-19s and going into the 

Sub-Academy, it was easy to talk to him 

about it, because he had been through 

that kind of experience himself. 

“I would say he’s one of the main reasons 

I’ve done quite well in rugby so far.” 

Earlier this year, Sam wore the green of 

Ireland for the very first time, as he was 

called up to play for the Irish U-19 side 

over Easter. 

And then in the summer, he was selected 

for the Irish U-20s for the Six Nation 

Summer Series in Italy. At the same time, 

older brother Cian was selected for the 

Ireland squad that would travel to New 

Zealand, after his fine performances in 

the back row for Connacht last season. 

A very young Irish U-20 side lost their 

opening two games of the series to 

France and South Africa. 

Up next was a tough game against 

England. 

Going into the dying minutes, England 

led 36-34. The referee blew for an 

infringement against England near the 

half way line. Despite missing a penalty 

earlier, Sam Prendergast stepped up to 

take the pressure kick. 

His penalty sailed through the uprights 

to secure a brilliant 37-36 victory. While 

most of his family were cheering on in 

the stands, his older brother was awake 

at 6am in Auckland cheering on his 

younger brother. 

A special moment for the Prendergast 

family, and one Sam will never forget. 

“I wasn’t involved in the U-20 Six Nations 

last year, so that was my first ever win 

with the Irish U-20s. I had been in a few 

of the camps but I wasn’t involved during 

the tournament. 

“So, it was great to be involved over the 

summer and it was unreal at the final 

whistle against England. It was such a 

good feeling. 


“We were two and a half weeks in Italy at 

that stage and we were getting closer as a 

group. It meant a lot to get that win.” 

While Cian made big sacrifices to watch 

his brother play, Sam would do the same 

just one week later. 

“We had a game against Scotland the 

same day Ireland played the second test 

against the Mãori All Blacks. The first half 

of the game was on in the background in 

the hotel while we were prepping for our 

game. I was trying get ready and keep an 

eye on Cian’s game! 

“When we arrived at the stadium and 

went out to walk the pitch before the 

Scotland game, there was only 15 minutes 

left in the Ireland and Mãori game and I 

was watching it on my phone as I walked 

around. 

“It was nerve wrecking towards the end, 

but I got to see that they held on for the 

win, which was brilliant.” 

Not long after returning from Italy, Sam 

Prendergast began his new journey in 

UCD as a year one member of the Leinster 

Rugby Academy. It’s another step he has 

taken in his stride. 

“It’s been really enjoyable. I didn’t get 

much time off after being with the Irish 

U-20s but that turned out to be a blessing 

because I got to take part in pre-season 

with the senior team. 

“That was a great experience and you 

learn so much every day when you train 

with them. 

“All of the senior players make it clear that 

they are happy to help any of the younger 

players. If some of the other out-halves 

saw I wasn’t sure about a call, they are all 

very quick to get you back on track.” 

At just 19 years of age, Prendergast is 

certainly in a privileged position getting to 

train with players he looked up to for so 

long, such as Johnny Sexton. In fact, Sam 

Prendergast was born just 34 days before 

Sexton won the Schools Senior Cup with 

St Mary’s. 

Now the two are chewing the fat on the 

training pitch. 

“I’ve chatted with him a few times and he’s 

been really helpful. It’s just class to see 

how he works. 

“Obviously, he’s the best at what he 

does. It’s really cool to be able to train 

with those players and try and learn from 

them as much as I can.” 

Having only joined the group in the 

summer, Prendergast was hoping to soak 

up as much information as he could from 

the senior players over pre-season. 

But, with a couple of injuries, and 

international players not yet available, 

the out-half was told he would be on the 

bench for the pre-season game away to 

Harlequins. 

“No, I certainly wasn’t expecting to get 

minutes in that game, but then the way 

things unfolded, I got a chance. 

“Ross Byrne picked up a knock during the 

game, which thankfully wasn’t too bad, 

but I ended up getting 45 minutes, which 

was an amazing experience. 

“There was about 8,500 at the Stoop 

that evening. It was the biggest crowd I’d 

ever played in front. It was class.” 

And, who was the first person to 

congratulate him after the game? His 

dad, Mark, of course. 

So what are the aims for the 2022/23 

season? 

“I’m still eligible for the Irish U-20s. If I’m 

selected, we will have a lot of camps 

throughout the season leading up to the 

Six Nations. 

“So my main focus right now is to get 

selected for those camps, and hopefully, 

repeat what the lads did last year. 

“I’d also like to get more games with 

Lansdowne. I only played four or five 

times for the club last year. Hopefully 

I do get the opportunity to play more 

All-Ireland League games and have a 

successful year with them too.” 

It’s clear Sam Prendergast just wants to 

play rugby. 

After a strong summer and a good 

support network and his family in the 

stands at nearly every game, he has 

everything in his armoury to succeed.


Rugby 

Academy 

Year 

Three: 


Marcus Hanan (3) #1295 


FROM Clane, Co Kildare 

HEIGHT 1.85m (6’ 0”) 


POSITION Loosehead prop 

SCHOOL Salesian College, Celbridge 

CLUB Clane RFC 

HONOURS Ireland U-20 (2 caps) 

John McKee (3) #1307 


FROM Belfast 

HEIGHT 1.85m ( 6’ 0”) 


POSITION Hooker 

SCHOOL Campbell College 

CLUB Terenure College RFC 


Seán O’Brien (3) #1297 


FROM Pittsburgh, PA, USA 

HEIGHT 1.91m ( 6 ’ 3”) 

WEIGHT 106kg ( 16st 10lbs) 

POSITION Back Row 

SCHOOL Blackrock College 

CLUB UCD RFC 


Max O’Reilly (9) #1291 


FROM Long Island, USA 

HEIGHT 1.86m (6’ 1”) 


POSITION Full-back 

SCHOOL St Gerard’s School 

CLUB DUFC 


Andrew Smith (2) #1292 


FROM Dublin 

HEIGHT 1.8 m (5’ 11”) 


POSITION Back Three 

SCHOOL St Michael’s College 

CLUB Clontarf FC 




Academy 

Year 

Two: 

Alex Soroka (5) #1296 


FROM Cork 

HEIGHT 1.95m (6’ 5”) 



SCHOOL Belvedere College 



Jack Boyle 


FROM Dublin 

HEIGHT 1.86m (6’ 1”) 


POSITION Loosehead prop 


CLUB UCD RFC 


Lee Barron (2) #1308 


FROM Dublin 

HEIGHT 1.93m (6’ 3”) 


POSITION Hooker 


CLUB DUFC 


Chris Cosgrave (2) #1305 


FROM Dublin 

HEIGHT 1.85m (6’ 0”) 




CLUB UCD RFC 


Temi Lasisi (1) #1304 

DOB 9 May 2001 

FROM Enniscorthy, Co Wexford 

HEIGHT 1.83m (6’ 0 “) 


POSITION Tighthead prop 

SCHOOL CBS Enniscorthy 

CLUB Lansdowne FC/Enniscorthy RFC 


(3) = Leinster Rugby Senior caps

Ben Murphy (1) #1309 


FROM Bray 

HEIGHT 1.76m (5’ 8”) 


POSITION Scrum-half 

SCHOOL Presentation College, Bray 





Academy 

Year 

One: 

Rob Russell (5) #1302 


FROM Dublin 

HEIGHT 1.83m (6’ 0”) 




CLUB DUFC 


Ben Brownlee 


FROM Dublin 

HEIGHT 1.87m (6’ 2”) 


POSITION Centre 


CLUB UCD RFC 


James Culhane 

Stats correct as of September 16, 2022 


FROM Enniskerry, Co Wicklow 

HEIGHT 1.94m (6’ 4”) 




CLUB UCD RFC 


Aitzol Arenzana-King 


FROM Gormanston, Co Meath 

HEIGHT 1.91m (6’ 3”) 



SCHOOL Gormanston College/CUS 

CLUB Clontarf FC/Balbriggan RFC 


Diarmuid Mangan 


FROM Kildare 

HEIGHT 1.93 m (6’ 4”) 



SCHOOL Newbridge College 

CLUB UCD RFC 


Rory McGuire 


FROM Dublin 

HEIGHT 1.93m (6’ 4”) 


POSITION Tightead prop 


CLUB UCD RFC 


Sam Prendergast 


FROM Kildare 

HEIGHT 1.94m (6’ 4”) 


POSITION Out-half 

SCHOOL Newbridge College 

CLUB Lansdowne FC 


Charlie Tector 


FROM Wexford 

HEIGHT 1.89 m (6’ 2”) 


POSITION Out-half 

SCHOOL Kilkenny College 

CLUB Lansdowne FC 



fixtures and 

results 2021/22 

Date 

17/09 

KO/ 

Result 

Opposiotion Venue 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 1 2 

W 

29-33 URC ZEBRE Stadio Sergio 

Lanfranchi 

O’REILLY RUSSELL OSBORNE NGATAI 

KEARNEY 

1T 

R. BYRNE 

C4 

MCGRATH 

1T 

E BYRNE 

KELLEHER 

23/09 19:35 URC BENETTON RDS Arena 

30/09 19:35 URC ULSTER 

08/10 17:05 URC CELL C 

SHARKS 

Kingspan 

Stadium 

RDS Arena 

14/10 19:35 URC CONNACHT Sportsground 

22/10 17:15 URC MUNSTER 

28/10 19:35 URC SCARLETS 

Aviva 

Stadium 

Parc y 

Scarlets 

26/11 15:15 URC GLASGOW RDS Arena 

03/12 19:35 URC ULSTER RDS Arena 

09/10/11 

Dec 

16/17/18 

Dec 

TBC HCC RACING 92 TBC 

TBC HCC GLOUCESTER 

RUGBY 

26/12 19:35 URC MUNSTER 

RDS Arena 

Thomond 

Park 

01/01 19:35 URC CONNACHT RDS Arena 

07/01 19:35 URC OSPREYS 

13/14/15 

Jan 

20/21/22 

Jan 

TBC 

HCC GLOUCESTER 

RUGBY 

TBC HCC RACING 92 

28/01 17:00 URC CARDIFF 

RUGBY 

18/02 19:35 URC DRAGONS 

RFC 

04/03 17:05 URC EDINBURGH 

24/03 19:35 URC DHL 

STORMERS 

15/04 14:00 URC EMIRATES 

LIONS 

22/04 16:05 URC VODACOM 

BULLS 

Swansea. 

com Stadium 

Kingsholm 

Aviva 

Stadium 

RDS Arena 

RDS Arena 

DAM Health 

Stadium 

RDS Arena 

Emirates 

Airline Park 

Loftus 

Versfeld 


3 4 5 6 7 8 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 

ALAALATOA 

MOLONY 

JENKINS 

1T 

RUDDOCK 

T2 

PENNY DEEGAN MCKEE MILNE ABDALADZE DEENY SOROKA MCCARTHY FRAWLEY CONNORS 


matchday 

Squads 

officials 

Jimmy O’Brien 

Jordan Larmour 

Garry Ringrose [C] 

Robbie Henshaw 

Dave Kearney 

Ciarán Frawley 

Luke McGrath 

15 

14 

13 

12 

11 

10 

9 

FULL BACK 

RIGHT WING 

OUTSIDE CENTRE 

INSIDE CENTRE 

LEFT WING 

FLY HALF 

SCRUM HALF 

Ignacio Mendy 

Mattia Bellini 

Joaquin Riera 

Marco Zanon 

Onisi Ratave 

Giacomo Da Re 

Sam Hidalgo-Clyne 

REFEREE: 

JACO PEYPER 

(SARU, 11TH COMPETITION GAME) 

ASSISTANT REFEREE: 

PAUL HAYCOCK (IRFU) 

ASSISTANT REFEREE: 

ANDREW FOGARTY (IRFU) 

TMO: 

IAN DAVIES (WRU) 

Andrew Porter 

Dan Sheehan 

Michael Ala’alatoa 

Jason Jenkins 

James Ryan 

Ryan Baird 

Josh van der Flier 

Caelan Doris 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

LOOSE HEAD PROP 

HOOKER 

TIGHT HEAD PROP 

SECOND ROW 

SECOND ROW 

BLINDSIDE FLANKER 

OPENSIDE FLANKER 

NUMBER 8 

Ivan Nemer 

Giacomo Nicotera 

Simone Ferrari 

Niccolo Cannone 

Scott Scrafton 

Giovanni Pettinelli 

Michele Lamaro [C] 

Toa Halafihi 

Rónan Kelleher 

Ed Byrne 

Cian Healy 

Ross Molony 

Will Connors 

Cormac Foley 

Ross Byrne 

Charlie Ngatai 

16 

17 

18 

19 

20 

21 

22 

23 

REPLACEMENT 

REPLACEMENT 

REPLACEMENT 

REPLACEMENT 

REPLACEMENT 

REPLACEMENT 

REPLACEMENT 

REPLACEMENT 

Gianmarco Lucchesi 

Federico Zani 

Filippo Alongi 

Carl Wegner 

Henry Stowers 

Manfredi Albanese 

Tommaso Menoncello 

Iliesa Tavuyara

*Restrictions apply. 

*

Parting Shot 

17 September 2022 

Photo by Harry Murphy/Sportsfile 

Leinster debutants Jason Jenkins and Charlie Ngatai after 

their side’s victory in the United Rugby Championship 

match between Zebre Parma and Leinster at Stadio Sergio 

Lanfranchi in Parma, Italy.

Leinster Rugby vs Benetton Rugby

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