Leinster vs Racing 92

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The Line up

Telephone:

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E-mail:

information@leinsterrugby.ie

www.leinsterrugby.ie

10

24

EXECUTIVE MANAGEMENT

President: Debbie Carty

Chief Executive: Shane Nolan

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,

Paul Cahill & Daniel Kelly

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

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www.leinsterrugby.ie | 3

EPCR

WELCOME

MESSAGE

Dominic McKay

EPCR Chairman

A warm welcome

to this Round

4 match in

the 2022/23

Heineken

Champions Cup

and a Happy

New Year to

all as we reach

the business

end of the

tournament’s

pool stage.

Following the historic introduction

of the leading South African clubs,

it comes as no surprise that the

Cell C Sharks, Vodacom Bulls and

DHL Stormers have already made

a major impact and all remain in

contention to book coveted places

in the knockout stage.

With the top eight clubs in each pool

guaranteed qualification, there’s an

important incentive in that the four

highest-ranked clubs in each pool will

earn home matches in the Round of 16.

In addition, the clubs which finish ninth

and 10th in each pool will qualify for the

Round of 16 of the EPCR Challenge Cup.

So, after what promises to be more

world-class action this month, we’ll have

a clearer idea of the pathway to the

eagerly-anticipated Finals weekend

at Dublin’s Aviva Stadium next May

for which nearly 70,000 tickets have

already been sold.

We are delighted to be joined on the

journey to Dublin by our long-standing

title partner, Heineken, by our official

partners, DHL, IHG and Tissot, by our

official supporters, Gilbert and Kappa,

and also by our official airline partner in

South Africa, Qatar Airways.

Our long-standing broadcast partners,

BT Sport, beIN SPORTS and France

Télévisions, continue to provide superb

coverage of the Heineken Champions

Cup in the UK, Ireland and France

respectively, while SuperSport in South

Africa, ITV and RTÉ in the UK and

Ireland, S4C in Wales and FloRugby

in the USA and Canada are already

making valuable contributions to the

growth of tournament.

We hope that you enjoy the match and

best wishes to you, the fans, as well as

to your club’s players and staff as we

anticipate the joy and the occasional

heartache that comes when qualification

for the Heineken Champions Cup

knockout stage is on the line!

Yours in rugby,

Dominic McKay

EPCR Chairman

Every great match

starts with 0.0

HEINEKEN WELCOME MESSAGE

Happy New

Year and a

very warm

welcome to

everyone

attending

Rounds 3

and 4 of the

2022/2023

Heineken

Champions Cup.

We witnessed

some

fantastic

rugby in the

opening two

rounds of

this season’s

tournament.

Last year’s beaten finalists

Leinster have made an incredibly

strong start to the tournament

with comprehensive wins over

both Racing 92 and Gloucester.

Munster Rugby bounced back

from their narrow defeat versus

a very strong Stade Toulousain,

with a hard-fought win over

Northampton Saints. Whilst

Ulster Rugby suffered back-toback

defeats versus Sale Sharks

and last year’s winners, Stade

Rochelais, there is still a huge

amount to play for.

We will of course be supporting Leinster,

Munster and Ulster Rugby and would

Maarten Schuurman

Managing Director, HEINEKEN Ireland.

dearly love to see an Irish side or two, in

this season’s final in the Aviva Stadium on

the 20th May. However, all teams face

tough opposition again in Rounds 3 and

4. Some truly exciting fixtures await with

Leinster Rugby travelling to Gloucester

before taking on Racing 92 in what is

sure to be a packed Aviva Stadium.

Munster Rugby will no doubt be looking

to complete a double over Northampton

Saints in Thomond Park before heading

to France to take on Stade Toulousain –

hopefully the fog isn’t as bad as it was

in Limerick back in December! Finally, I

have no doubt Ulster Rugby will be doing

all they can to get their 2022/ 2023

Heineken Champions Cup season back

on track as they head to Stade Rochelais

before completing their pool games in

what is sure to be a packed Kingspan

Stadium in Belfast, against Sale Sharks.

There is much to look forward to as we

move ever closer to what is going to be

a great occasion in Dublin on the 20th

May.

Enjoy the upcoming games with a cold,

refreshing Heineken® or Heineken®

0.0% and as always, please do so

responsibly.

I look forward to seeing you all when the

2022/2023 Heineken Champions Cup

returns in early April.

Maarten Schuurman

Managing Director, HEINEKEN Ireland.


Debbie Carty welcome

PRESIDENT, LEINSTER RUGBY 2022/23

On behalf of Leinster Rugby, I would like

to welcome you all to the Aviva Stadium

for this evening’s match against

Racing 92 in round four of this season’s

Heineken Champions Cup competition.

In particular, I wish to extend

a warm welcome to Dublin to

our Racing 92 visitors, to Jacky

Lorenzetti their President, to the

squad, their Head Coach Laurent

Travers and their management

team and hope you are enjoying

your visit here for the Champions

Cup.

Leinster have won their last twelve

matches in the BKT United Rugby

Championship and in particular their last

match in the URC against Ospreys was

hugely satisfying in the manner of their

win and the way they found a way to

grind down a very good Ospreys team

in Swansea. Our last home URC game

was at a sold out RDS Arena on New

Year’s Day, and what a brilliant sight

it was to see the players run out at the

Ballsbridge venue bursting at the seams!

After their win against Gloucester last

week, Leinster will be confident heading

into tonight’s match, as we also expect

Racing 92 to be confident after their

win over Harlequins in the third round.

We expect this afternoon to be a

challenging and physical match as we

strive to get back to the latter stages of

the competition.

Congratulations to Cian Healy on

winning his 100th Champions Cup cap,

and at the other end, to Liam Turner,

Michael Milne and Wexford man,

Brian Deeny, for winning their very

first European caps for Leinster. What

a special day for all four players, their

families and friends.

I have no doubt that Leo and his squad

are up for the challenge today of facing

an excellent Racing 92 side and we

look forward to the rest of the season

ahead.

On the domestic front, it’s going to be a

busy few weeks ahead as we go into the

youths, men’s and women’s finals.

I would like to thank SETU Carlow for

the use of their grounds and facilities

and would like to congratulate Wicklow,

Athy, Dundalk, Portarlington and

Mullingar on their cup wins on the 17th

January for the Bank of Ireland Girls’

Finals Day. These finals had previously

been cancelled due to frozen pitches so

a massive thank you to SETU Carlow for

being able to reschedule the day for us

and for allowing us the use of its brilliant

grounds. A fitting arena and setting to

have all the finals held on in one day.

On the interprovincial side, the Vodafone

Women’s Interprovincial Series is up

and running. Well done to Tania Rosser

the women’s head coach on getting

their first win against Connacht. A very

comprehensive 38-10 win in front of a

packed Energia Park crowd. Despite

losing to Munster last week, I know the

team are preparing well this week and

are full of confidence before their match

also today against Ulster.

A reminder to all, that the Seán O’Brien

Hall of Fame Awards and lunch will be

held in Bective Rangers next Saturday

28th January. It plans to be a great day

with a number of people nominated for

the award and I will certainly be there

on the day and once the celebrations

are over we can all head over to the

RDS for the Cardiff match. Please see

your Hon Sec to organise seats or a

table on the day.

I would like to welcome to the Aviva

Stadium this afternoon, Blackrock,

Midland Warriors, St. Brigid’s and

Westmanstown who will play at half

time in the Bank of Ireland Mini Games.

To the players from all four 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

8 | www.leinsterrugby.ie

Congratulations

to Cian Healy on

winning his 100th

Champions Cup

cap, and at the

other end, to Liam

Turner, Michael

Milne and Wexford

man, Brian Deeny,

for winning

their very first

European caps for

Leinster.


Leo Cullen

head Coach Welcome

Good afternoon and a

warm welcome to everyone

for today’s game against

Racing 92.

We have a lot of respect for

Laurent Travers’ team, especially

having met them in the nail-biting

final of 2018 when the game came

right down to the wire in Bilbao.

I’ve no doubt that today’s fixture

will test us on a number of fronts

once again.


A big thanks to everyone who made the

trip over to Gloucester last Saturday. It

really was a special feeling to be greeted

by such a large crowd when we arrived

at Kingsholm and it was brilliant to see

and hear so many of the Leinster faithful

around the ‘Shed’ as the game unfolded.

Congratulations to Michael Milne, Liam

Turner and Brian Deeny who all made

their Leinster debuts in the Champions

Cup (or European Cup as many of us

still say!).

The three lads have each had a very

different journey to get to this point in

their rugby careers, which is a great

reflection on all the people who have

helped to nurture them along their

respective paths.

A special congratulations also to

Cian Healy who made his hundredth

appearance in the competition

last weekend – a truly remarkable

achievement, and even more so when

you consider some of the setbacks that

Cian has had to face along the way.

It’s been a really busy period

for the group and I wanted to

say thank you to our fantastic

backroom team who continue

to work tirelessly behind the

scenes, ensuring the team is

in the best possible place

to perform on any given

weekend. We are lucky

to have so many talented

people working together to give the team

a platform for success.

A big well done to all Leinster players

selected in the Six Nations squad -

both Senior and Under 20s - that was

announced earlier in the week.

We would like to wish Andy Farrell,

Richie Murphy and their teams the very

best of luck for the challenges that lie

ahead over the next two months.

Thanks to all the team’s sponsors, in

particular to Bank of Ireland, for your

ongoing support. It’s great to see so

many of you on match days, both here

in Dublin and for some of our recent

trips on the road.

It’s taken a lot of hard work to

get us to this point of the season

and we’re keen to maintain our

challenge on every front.

Today, that means fighting with

everything we’ve got to try and

win the game and secure a top

seeding for the later rounds.

We need your support today

as much as ever, and we in

turn will try and play a brand of

rugby you can get behind.

Thanks for getting behind the team

and I hope you enjoy the game.

Leo

A big well

done to all

Leinster

players

selected

in the Six

Nations

squad - both

Senior and

Under 20s

- that was

announced

earlier in

the week.


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laura

lynch

BANK OF IRELAND

CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER

A very warm

welcome to the

aviva stadium from

Bank of Ireland as

we look forward to

this afternoon’s

fixture.

Bank of Ireland 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

afternoon.

We wish Leinster Rugby every success, and hope that you

enjoy the game.

Laura Lynch.

BANK OF IRELAND

CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER



o

Jamie

sborne

the big interview

BY DANIEL KELLY

It’s been

a week to

remember

for Jamie

Osborne,

both on

and off

the pitch.


On Saturday, he started his first

game for Leinster in the Heineken

Champions Cup, scoring a try

against Gloucester and being

named the Player of the Match.

What could top that?

Five days later, Andy Farrell called the

Kildare man into Ireland’s Six Nations

squad for the first time, as the only

uncapped player selected.

Overall, not a bad few days!

Speaking earlier this week, Osborne

was taking everything in his stride, when

remembering his standout performance

in Kingsholm last weekend, which earned

him rave reviews both in Ireland and

the UK.

“It was a good trip. We go over the day

before on European trips, and do the

Captains’ Run in the stadium. It was good

to get the feel of Kingsholm the day

before the match.”

The 21-year-old made his European

debut earlier this season away to Racing

92 in Le Havre, but he admitted this

was the first time he experienced the

‘textbook’ setup for an away European

match.

“I traveled to Marseille last year as the

24th man for the Champions Cup Final. It

was a very good experience to be there,

but with a very disappointing result.

“I made my European debut away

to Racing, and traveled over the day

before, but we had a few issues with the

travel arrangements, so it was nice to get

the Captains’ Run in, in Gloucester.”

So far, this season has seen Osborne

excel in both blue and green. Selected

on the Emerging Ireland squad to

travel to South Africa in September and

October, he also played on home soil

in the RDS for Ireland A against an All

Blacks XV in November.

“The Emerging Ireland tour was really

good”, he revealed. “We had an

opportunity to mix with players we have

played with at underage level, but had

senior coaches with us.

“It was a great way to see how they like

things done, what’s expected and to get


Any time I go

back there, I

always get a

great welcome.

I’m proud to be

from there.

introduced to the setup. Thankfully the

three games went well.”

In November, he got a front-row seat

to how the Ireland team prepared for

a Test Match when he was with Ireland

A. It’s an experience he will relive in the

coming weeks over the five matches in

the Six Nations.

“We were brought into camp in

November of the South Africa week. We

were playing the All Blacks team, and it

was insightful to see how the Test team

is managed throughout the week, while

we were preparing for the game in the

RDS.”

Speaking before he got the callup.

Osborne was remaining coy on his

hopes, but did admit he would love to

be capped, whenever the opportunity

arose.

“Everyone would dream of that call. I

haven’t thought about it that much. I’ve

been playing a lot in the past few weeks,

so there is enough time to prepare

for those games, without focusing on

anything else.”

A product of Naas RFC, Osborne has

taken the road less traveled, to get to

where he is today. Despite that, he has

never forgotten his roots.

“It’s where I grew up and started playing

rugby there, and haven’t stopped. I

managed to play for the club in the AIL

last year. All the support I get from the

club is amazing.

“Any time I go back there, I always get

a great welcome. I’m proud to be from

there.”

While his time playing in the AIL is over,

he still keeps an eye on the club’s results,

with younger brother Andrew lighting it

up in Division 1B.

Such is the quality for the Osbornes,

Andrew trained with Leinster recently,

before suffering a finger injury. Leo


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Cullen also said Jamie’s younger brother

was looking like “a very good prospect”.

The family remain actively involved in the

club, with father Joe getting the Osborne

boys hooked on the game.

“He played club rugby with Bective, but

never played to the highest of levels. He

got us into it, but we also loved playing

gaelic football. Andrew played soccer

too.

“It was rugby and gaelic football until I

was 16. Rugby was always my number

one. It was great playing both sports.

“My school Naas CBS would have

been a big GAA school when I was

there. They are the current All-Ireland

champions. Rugby wouldn’t be too big

there.

“When Andrew was in Third Year, the

school made the Junior Cup Quarter-

Final, so it’s growing in the school.

Osborne’s path to Leinster saw him play

for Naas, before moving on to North

Midlands in the Shane Horgan Cup.

It was from there he caught the eye of

Leinster selectors, earning a place in the

Under-18 Club team.

When I played in the Shane Horgan

Cup, I only thought about getting to

the next stage. After Under-19s - you’re

looking at guys going into the Sub-

Academy, and thinking; ‘hopefully that’s

me next year’.

“Once you get through the Leinster

Under-20s, you believe you have a

chance of making it and giving yourself

a shot.

“Leinster have done a great job around

the province, to let any players show

what they are capable of. Hopefully

there will be more players coming

through that pathway in the next five to

ten years.”

Osborne lives in a house of nine - with

all his housemates also being work

colleagues. Despite that, he says the

arrangement works well.

“We have lads like Max [Deegan],

Marty [Moloney], Brian [Deeny] in the

house and some like Temi [Lasisi] and

Sam [Prendergast] in the Academy.

There’s plenty of us!

Leinster have done a

great job around the

province, to let any

players show what

they are capable of.


“We can switch off, and there is a great

balance in the house.

“It’s easier to switch off, because we

have our work done during the day. We

all fancy a bit of a rest. Marty has got a

dartboard for the house, so that’ll keep

us occupied for a while.”

With over 40,000 expected in the

Aviva Stadium, it’s going to be another

experience ticked off for Osborne, and

he cannot wait to get a full runout after

lasting less than a half against Munster

earlier in the season.

“I got a taste of it against Munster

earlier in the season. I went off in the first

half, but it was amazing. Playing in front

of a crowd like that gives you so much

energy.

“It’ll be my first experience of the Aviva

in Europe. The Champions Cup is the

biggest competition in the world, and to

get an Aviva experience for one of those

games will be special. I’m really looking

forward to it!”

It’s almost two years to the day since

the-then 19-year-old made his debut off

the bench in the last 30-minutes away to

Scarlets. Two years is a long time in any


Playing in

front of a

crowd like

that gives

you so much

energy.

sport, but Osborne is delighted with the

progress he has made.

“It’s going well so far! I’ve managed to

play quite a lot in those two years. It’s

more than I would have imagined two

years ago.

“I’ve been involved in some good wins,

and some tough losses. You learn more

from the losses. I went to South Africa

last year where we had two tough

defeats, but we were proud of the

performances.

“Everything has been going well, and

hopefully I can keep it up. In two years’

time there hopefully will be another

progression, from where I am now.”

With qualification already assured

for the Champions Cup Round of 16,

European focus after today’s game will

switch to the clash in the first week of

April.

With a Dublin Final already pencilled in

for 20 May in Aviva Stadium, Osborne

is well aware of the pressures of what

is a terrific opportunity for Leinster to

potentially play in a Final on home soil.

“We all know about the bigger picture,

but we know by preparing each week,

as if it’s the last game, the results

should take care of themselves to get to

those types of days. It’s still feeling like

preparing one week at a time though.”

After today’s game, preparations for

Osborne will switch from blue to green

and the excitement of a first Six Nations

Championship in a World Cup year.

The dartboard will have to wait.


14

Action

49 replay

SATURDAY 14TH JANUARY 2023

KO 13:00 | KINGSHOLM STADIUM

ATTENDANCE: 15,469

HEINEKEN CHAMPIONS CUP

SCAN THIS QR CODE FOR

THE FULL MATCH REPORT

SCAN THIS QR CODE FOR

THE MATCH HIGHLIGHTS

GLOUCESTER

Barton, May, Harris, Atkinson, Thorley,

Carreras, Meehan; Rapava-Ruskin,

McGuigan, Gotovtsev, Clarke, Alemanno,

Ackermann, Ludlow (capt), Morgan

REPLACEMENTS: Blake, Elrington, Knight,

Jordan, Clement, Varney, Twelvetrees,

Seabrook

TRIES: Penalty (2)

LEINSTER

Keenan, Larmour, Ringrose (Capt), Osborne,

O’Brien, R. Byrne, Gibson-Park; Porter,

Sheehan, Ala’alatoa, Molony, Ryan, Baird,

van der Flier, Doris

REPLACEMENTS: Kelleher, Milne, Healy,

Deeny, Conan, N. McCarthy, H. Byrne,

Turner

TRIES: Larmour, Ala’alatoa, Osborne, Doris,

Keenan, van der Flier, Kelleher

CONVERSIONS: R. Byrne (5), H. Byrne (2)

We always want to come away

from home and start fast. The

crowd can be a great asset for a

home team. We did that, but there

were times Gloucester came back

and got on top. We did well to finish

on top, with a few tries.

Jamie Osborne


Kingsholm is

a tough place to

come. It was nice

to get over for

the early scores.

Gloucester were a

constant threat

today. We’re

delighted to get

the win. It was

job done and we

bagged the five

points.

Leo Cullen


Bank of Ireland Leinster Rugby

Girls Cup and Plate Finals Day

The Bank of Ireland Leinster

Rugby Girls Cup and Plate finals

day took place at SETU Carlow

sports campus, on Saturday, 7

January with a host of silverware

up for grabs. The finals day saw

six finals played across the day,

both plate and cup finals in the

three age groups, U14, U16 and

the U18s.

LEINSTER U18 CUP FINAL

WICKLOW 36

SOUTH-EAST LIONS 17

Wicklow made amends for losing

last year’s final by powering

away in the second-half of the

Leinster U18 Cup final.

The South-East Lions, an amalgamation of

Wexford and Enniscorthy, recovered from

an early setback when Prudence Isaac

claimed a try in the ninth minute.

The Lions forwards took a firm grip on

the game, using their forwards Melissa

Quirke, Orla Wafer and Carla Cloney to

carry through tough conditions.

The problem is it took them too long

to make the wind work for them, only

getting alongside on the scoreboard from

full-back Robyn O’Connor’s try in the

23rd minute.

Wicklow were able to strike when Aoife

Nixon barged to the whitewash to hold

the lead at 10-5 on the half hour.

Two tries in three minutes by out-half

Molly O’Gorman and prop Quirke, the

first converted by O’Gorman, did give

Wexford hope.

They set their stall out to show discipline

in defending a 17-10 lead at the interval.

As it turned out, it wasn’t nearly enough

in the face of a super-focused Wicklow

outfit who looked to their bench for

impact.

In truth, it turned into the Abby Healy

show as the talented back pounced for

tries in the 40th and 51st minutes.

The second was a classy individual effort

from a chip, chase and gather before

knocking over the conversion.

The onslaught never relented as full-back

Clara Dunne and centre Healy punched

in two more, Healy converting both to

finish the afternoon with 21 points.

SCORERS: WICKLOW – A Healy 3 tries,

3 cons; P Isaac, A Nixon, C Dunne try

each

LIONS – M O’Gorman try, con; R

O’Connor, M Quirke try each

LEINSTER U18 PLATE FINAL

ATHY 48

PORTDARA 17

Awesome Athy completed a

tremendous afternoon for the club

in the Leinster U18 Plate final.

They started by using the heavy wind to

win the territorial battle and didn’t get

frustrated when the scores didn’t come in

the first quarter.

They consistently applied pressure

to scoop up tries by Julie Nolan, Lily

Cunningham and Amy Larn, Emma Henry

converting the third, for 17-0 on 23

minutes.

There was light at the end of the tunnel

for PortDara when the excellent Niamh

Murphy stole home in the 33rd minute.

Any notions of a comeback were quickly

put to rest when Abigail Keatley-

Kindregan burst through for the fourth

and scrum-half Nolan went the length of

the pitch, Henry converting, for 29-5 at

the interval.

The clinical nature of Athy’s play meant

they added further tries by Allie Henry,

Larn and Amy Wright, even into the

elements.

It was to PortDara’s credit that they had

enough spirit about them to produce

scores from Murphy and Orla McDonald,

the latter converted by Eleanor Scully.

SCORERS: ATHY – J Nolan, A Larn 2

tries each; A Henry, L Cunningham, A

Wright, A Keatley-Kindregan try each; E

Henry 4 cons

PORTDARA – N Murphy 2 tries; O

McDonald try; E Scully con


ATHY 33

GOREY 15

Athy secured their first-ever

Leinster Girls U16 Cup in fine

fashion against Gorey.

The Kildare side was never headed from

Anna Harrington’s try, converted by

Vivienne Harris in the sixth minute.

Gorey had been in great form all season

and struck back from a try by Siofra

Higgins.

However, Athy’s Ella Murphy stepped a

defender for a try, converted by Harris,

for 14-5 at the break.

Out-half Murphy was on the mark again

for her second try, Harris adding the

extras, to give the winners 21-5 breathing

room in the third quarter.

There was no subduing the brilliance of

Gorey’s Cadi Kehoe-Lloyd, who simply

sped away from the defence.


The game was suddenly back in the

melting pot when Gorey wing Ailbhe

Byrne burst over to make it 21-15 in the

46th minute.

At this point in proceedings, Laura Walsh

stepped forward to start and finish a

move out wide for Athy to regain control.

As if that wasn’t enough, the scrum-half

nipped in for her second to secure the

title.

SCORERS: ATHY – E Murphy, L Walsh

2 tries each; A Harrington try; V Harris

4 cons

GOREY – S Higgins, C Kehoe-Lloyd, A

Byrne try each


MULLINGAR 24

WEXFORD 22

A late try by Charlotte Butler-

Clyne gave Mullingar the edge

over Wexford in a back-and-forth

battle for the Leinster U16 Plate.

In fact, it was a story of hat-tricks as the

Mullingar centre and Wexford’s Viktorija

Kubiliute shared six of the eight during

the hour.

Mullingar moved in front from Butler-

Clyne’s first breakthrough, converted by

Emily Murtagh. Charlotte Young’s try,

converted by Clodagh Kiernan, doubled

the lead to 14 points in the 18th minute.

Wexford were not without possession

and hinted at their potential when Sarah

O’Mahony sniped for a try before

Butler-Clyne’s second made it 19-5 at the

halfway point.

The advantage of the strong wind at

their backs enabled Wexford to apply

pressure from which Kubiliute used the

pick and go in the 36th and 41st minutes

to narrow the difference.

The Wexford number eight was no one

trick pony breaking for her third try,

Naomi Pettitt converting, to put them in

front for the first time in the 51st minute.

It was at this point Mullingar showed

commendable spirit to defy the

conditions, driving upfield for the heroine

of the hour Butler-Clune to come up

trumps.

SCORERS: MULLINGAR – C Butler-

Clyne 3 tries; C Young try; E Murtagh, C

Kiernan con each.

WEXFORD – V Kubiliute 3 tries; S

O’Mahony try; N Pettitt con.


PORTLAOISE 34

GREYSTONES 20

Portlaoise pack-power was the

key to overcoming Greystones in

the Leinster U14 Cup final.

The front row of Jessica Delaney, Erin

Powell and Daisy Whitten had a strong

influence on the game, prop Delaney

providing the first try in the fifth minute.

Greystones were far from out of it, Anna

Holland showing prominently and centre

Darcy Hingerty pierced the cover to level

it up in the 14th minute.

Wing Molly-Jane Dempsey scooted

over on the left and out-half Lilly Brophy

crashed over at the posts for the second

and third tries to make it 15-5 at the

interval.

Hooker Powell was next on the score

sheet as a reward for stellar play by the

forwards.

‘Stones responded well, their outstanding

full-back Thea Sterritt hitting back with

two tries in three minutes to make it a onescore

game (20-15).

It was then scrum-half Molly Kelly took

over with a brace of tries, both converted

by Saffron Adams before Sterritt

completed a superb hat-trick in the last

minute.

SCORERS: PORTLAOISE – M Kelly 2

tries; J Delaney, MJ Dempsey, L Brophy, E

Powell try each; S Adams 2 cons.

GREYSTONES – T Sterritt 3 tries; D

Hingerty try.


DUNDALK 29

WICKLOW 19

Dundalk showed all the resolve

in the world, coming from behind

to claim the Leinster U14 Plate

against Wicklow.

It didn’t look too good for them when

Wicklow struck for tries by Maeve

Ledesma, converted by Flo Dunne, and

Alannah Delahunt to make it 12-0 by the

14th minute.

However, the Louth club were able to

steady the ship with a try in the last play

of the half when Helena Zucchini won a

turnover.

It turned defence into attack, good ruck

work enabling Maggie Kerin to ground

the ball at the posts and the out-half

converted for 12-7 at the break.

It was back-to-back tries from the restart

that catapulted them into the driving seat,

Anna Cosgrove pouncing for Kerin’s

extras to give Dundalk the lead for the

first time.

Straight away, the athletic Zucchini broke

the line and showed the speed to make

it home from long range for 19-12 in the

32nd minute of the 50-minute match.

Left-wing Lana Cunningham put the

finishing touch to good work by the

forwards to stretch the lead to 12 points.

The competitive nature of the Wicklow

girls shone through, led by Aoife Jo

McCormack, staying positive to register

a second try by Ledesma to make for a

thrilling climax.

Ultimately, a neat move to the front of

a lineout allowed Cosgrove to ghost

through in the final play of the game.

SCORERS: DUNDALK – A Cosgrove 2

tries; M Kerin try, 2 cons; L Cunningham,

H Zucchini try each.

WICKLOW – M Ledesma 2 tries; A

Delahunt try; F Dunne 2 cons.


COMPARISON

Played

191

(99 home, 92 away)

Wins

132

(80 home, 52 away)

Losses

54

(18 home, 36 away)

Draws

5

(1 home, 4 away)

Average points

27

Biggest win

89 - 7

Heaviest defeat

10 - 51

head-to-head

record:

Played 4, Leinster won 4

LAST 3 MEETINGS:

10/12/2022

10 RACING 92 VS

LEINSTER RUGBY 42

12/05/2018

15 LEINSTER RUGBY VS

RACING 92 12

21/01/2011

11 RACING VS

LEINSTER RUGBY 36

Season so far:

TOTAL TRIES

22 5

METRES GAINED

1514 973

PASSES

493 241

TACKLES MADE

266 308

PENALTIES CONCEDED

28 43

TURNOVERS WON

28 43

Played

86

(45 home, 41 away)

Wins

47

(30 home, 17 away)

Losses

35

(15 home, 20 away)

Draws

4

(0 home, 4 away)

Average points

24

Biggest win

56 - 3

Heaviest defeat

10 - 42

leo

the lion’s

kids

corner

ANAGRAMS

Can you un-jumble

the names of these

academy players?

A LIME

CHIN ELM

NARROW

RED PET

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

Michael Milne, Andrew Porter

ZOOMED IN!

Ross Molony

a...

...maze...

...ing

can you make

your way

through the

maze to the

ball?


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AZTO

with

Josh van der Flier

A – Action: If you could be a superhero,

which would you be?

Superman

B – Boyhood: Who was your favourite

sporting idol growing up?

My dad and Dennis Bergkamp

C – Childhood: What is your favourite

childhood memory?

Playing sport in the back garden at home

with my dad and brother.

D – Dish: What’s your go-to pre-match

meal?

Pasta bake!

E – Education: What was your favourite

subject in school?

P.E. Without a doubt. After that I loved

woodwork/construction studies.

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

Secondhand Lions

G – Groove: Who is the best dancer in the

squad?

Josh Murphy used to be…we need to find

a new one.

H – Holiday: What’s your favourite holiday

destination?

South of France or Spain. I’m not not

fussy! If we were allowed to ski that

would be up there too!

I – Inside: Who is the worst to sit beside in

the dressing room?

A few smelly lads I won’t name!

J – Joker: Who is the funniest in the squad?

Rhys Ruddock

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

the day to play a match?

Not too late, not too early. 3-5 is a nice

time!

L – Languages: How many languages can

you speak?

Just English but learning some French and

did a bit of German in school.

M – Music: Your favourite artist and song

right now?

Boney M - Going Back West

N – Number: Do you have a lucky number?

Nope, I like 7 because I play there but no

lucky number!

O – Others: What’s your favourite sport

outside of rugby?

Some days I wish I was a professional

golfer. I’m a big golf fan.

P – Pal: Who is your best mate in the squad?

Very hard to pick one now. I lived with

Adam Byrne and Peter Dooley for six

years so I was very close to them when

they were here.


Q – Quirky: Who has the most

interesting fashion sense?

Seán Cronin was definitely up

there. He was a regular jeans

and runners man.

R – Red Carpet: Who is the most

famous contact in your phone?

Cooley Gaelic football star, Rob

Kearney!

S – Superstitions: Do you have

any matchday routines?

I have quite a structured warmup

that I do but I try not to get

too fussy about it. I have music I

listen to and a couple of rugby/

sporting videos that get my

focussed.

T – Trim: What’s the worst haircut

you’ve ever had?

I got a blade four all over for 15

years!

U: Under pressure: Who in the

squad would be the best in a bad

situation?

Luke McGrath. He’s very calm

and composed.

V – Verified: How often do you

use social media?

I use it a bit, for watching sports

highlights mostly! I am trying

to be more productive with my

down time so keeping it to a

minimum.

W – Worst fear: What are you

most scared of?

Nothing I’m too bad about.

Wouldn’t be a big fan of snakes

or rats.

X – X-ray: Have you ever broken

any bones?

Chipped my elbow when I was

very young but that’s about it.

Y – Youth: Where did you grow

up?

Wicklow town

Z – Zoo: What’s your favourite

animal?

Bear or lion


© 2022 adidas AG

North Midlands

Area Final return

to traditional slot

The North

Midlands

Area Finals

returned

to their

traditional

date of New

Year’s Eve

in 2022-23

season.

This year we all headed to the

Showgrounds, home of Athy

Rugby Club. The Hosie and Lalor

Cup Finals were supported by the

U18 Area Final.

Despite the rain and frost in the weeks

before Christmas the ground conditions

were perfect for good open rugby. There

was no sign of wind or rain, so everyone

was looking forward to the games.

An attendance of well over 1,000 came

from across the Area along with a long

list of Leinster dignitaries.

The U18 final opened proceedings

with hosts Athy and Naas. The opening

half was well contested, however Athy

playing a very physical game proved

stronger in the second half ultimately

winning 40-17. Karl O’Neill, Chair of

Leinster Rugby Committee, presented to

Cup and the medals to the winners.

Tom Satchwell received

Lalor Cup from Brian Lalor

The day also saw the presentation of

the Devin Toner Award, to John Delany

(Johnny). Johnny has nearly 50 years of

contribution to rugby at his home Club

Portlaoise, the North Midlands Area,

Leinster Youths Committee, the IRFU

Youths Committee not only as a coach,

committee member, selector but also as a

mentor of many well-known former youth

players who have gone on to play for

Leinster and Ireland.

Athy celebrate with the Cup


North Kildare win the Lalor Cup 2022

Among the audience at the presentation

were Des Kavanagh, past President of

Leinster Rugby and IRFU, John Walsh

past President of Leinster Rugby, Jim

Pepper (Dundalk RFC), Mick McCoy

and Hugh Woodhouse who worked with

Johnny over the last 30 years.

The Hosie Cup Final was played between

the holders Naas who had won five times

in the last ten years facing Athy who

last won in 1986. This Cup had been

presented to the Area by Bill Hosie, past

President of Athy Rugby Club and is the

premier Competition in the Area. Athy

are having a good season, currently 3rd

in Division 1B of the Leinster League, two

points behind the leaders.

A stiff challenge was an ideal

preparation for the upcoming phase two

of the League and the Provincial Towns

Cup. The Game was a battle between

a strong physical Athy side and a free

moving, but young, Naas side. While

very close early on Athy eventually

pulled away to win, bringing the Cup

home for the first time in 36 years.

The Lalor Cup Final saw North Kildare

face off against Portlaoise. The Cup was

presented to the North Midlands Area in

memory of Fintan Lalor by North Kildare

RFC in 1977.

Since North Kildare last won this Cup

in 2004, Portlaoise have contested five

Carl O’Neill and Athy Capt

finals winning in 2012. Both sides were

seeking success to give their players

and supporters a boost heading into the

second part of the season.

The game was closely contested from

the outset, however in the end a young

Portlaoise wilted, allowing North Kildare

to take home their first Area Cup in

18 years. The Cup was presented to

Captain Tom Satchwell by Brian Lalor,

representing the Lalor Family.

Congratulations to Athy President, David

Hendy, and his superbly committed team

of volunteers for a highly successful event.


leinster

squad 2022/23

season

Vakhtang Abdaladze #1263

Prop

DOB 6 Feb 1996

HEIGHT 1.85m (6’ 1”)

WEIGHT 121kg (19st 1 lb)

1

CAP

Michael Ala’alatoa #1301

12

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

DOB 8 April 1995

HEIGHT 1.91m (6’ 3”)


14

CAPS

Thomas Clarkson #1285

Prop

DOB 22 February 2000

HEIGHT 1.85m (6’ 1”)


Jack Conan #1223

33

CAPS

7

CAPS

No 8

DOB 29 July 1992

HEIGHT 1.93m (6’ 4”)

WEIGHT 110kg (17st 4 lbs)


Will Connors #1264

9

CAPS

Max Deegan #1256

2

CAPS

Brian Deeny #1306

Caelan Doris #1268

23

CAPS

Back Row

DOB 4 April 1996

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

DOB 2 April 1998

HEIGHT 1.94m (6’ 4”)


Cormac Foley #1299

Scrum-half

DOB 24 October 1999

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

63

CAPS

13

CAPS

Prop

DOB 14 November 1992

HEIGHT 1.85m (6’ 1”)


Jamison Gibson-Park #1247

Scrum-half


HEIGHT 1.76m (5’ 9”)


23

CAPS

Cian Healy #1142

121

CAPS

2

CAPS

Robbie Henshaw #1251

61

CAPS

9

CAPS

Jason Jenkins #1310

1

CAP

Dave Kearney #1158

19

CAPS

Prop

DOB 7 October 1987

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

DOB 19 June 1989

HEIGHT 1.81m (5’ 11”)


Hugo Keenan #1253

25

CAPS

Rónan Kelleher #1277

18

CAPS

Jordan Larmour #1258

30

CAPS

James Lowe #1262

15

CAPS

Full Back

DOB 18 June 1996

HEIGHT 1.85m (6’ 1”)


Hooker

DOB 24 January 1998

HEIGHT 1.85m (6’ 0”)


Wing

DOB 10 June 1997

HEIGHT 1.78m (5’ 10”)


Wing / Full Back

DOB 8 July 1992

HEIGHT 1.88m (6’ 2”)



Joe McCarthy #1303

1

CAP

Nick McCarthy #1241

Tadgh McElroy #1312

Luke McGrath #1206

19

CAPS

Second Row

DOB 26 March 2001

HEIGHT 1.98m (6’ 6”)


Scrum Half

DOB 25 March 1995

HEIGHT 1.8m (5’ 11”)


Hooker

DOB 16 June1997

HEIGHT 1.78m (5’ 10’)

WEIGHT 103kg (16st, 2lbs)

Scrum Half

DOB 3 February 1993

HEIGHT 1.75m (5’ 9”)


Michael Milne #1279

Martin Moloney #1300

Ross Molony #1233

Charlie Ngatai #1311

1

CAP

Prop

DOB 5 February 1999

HEIGHT 1.83m (6’ 0”)


Back Row

DOB 19 October 1999

HEIGHT 1.88m (6’ 2”)


Lock

DOB 11 May 1994

HEIGHT 2.00m (6’ 6”)


Centre / Full Back

DOB 17 August 1990

HEIGHT 1.87 m (6’ 2”)


Jimmy O’Brien #1272

3

CAPS

Tommy O’Brien #1283

Jamie Osborne #1294

Scott Penny #1271

Back Three


HEIGHT 1.84m (6’ 0”)


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”)


Andrew Porter #1246

48

CAPS

Garry Ringrose #1237

47

CAPS

Rhys Ruddock #1167

27

CAPS

Charlie Ryan

Prop

DOB 16 January 1996

HEIGHT 1.84m (6’ 1”)


Centre

DOB 26 January 1995

HEIGHT 1.87m (6’ 2”)


Back Row


HEIGHT 1.91m (6’ 3”)


Lock

DOB 3 February 1999

HEIGHT 2.01m (6’ 7”)



James Ryan #1259

48

CAPS

Johnny Sexton #1127

109

CAPS

14

CAPS

Dan Sheehan #1286

13

CAPS

James Tracy #1211

6

CAPS

Lock

DOB 24 July 1996

HEIGHT 2.00m (6’ 7”)


Out-half

DOB 11 July 1985

HEIGHT 1.88m (6’ 2”)


Hooker


HEIGHT 1.91m (6’ 3”)


Hooker

DOB 2 April 1991

HEIGHT 1.85m (6’ 1”)


Liam Turner #1287

Centre

DOB 14 July 1999

HEIGHT 1.73m (5’ 8”)


Josh van der Flier #1228

45

CAPS

Flanker

DOB 25 April 1993

HEIGHT 1.87m (6’ 2”)


for full squad profiles

please scan this qr code

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

A beat ahead

layahealthcare.ie

Midland Warriors RFC -

Growth, Support & Community.

A club with passion for rugby and

community. The Midland Warriors

are a rugby club from Moate, Co.

Westmeath and the surrounding

areas. The club have girls and

boys from U10’s right through to

our Men’s Senior team.

Growth

The teams have continued to grow over

the past number of years. This year they

saw double the amount of U17s and

U14s at training, the ladies youths grew

by 15 and the minis welcome new kids

regularly.

Warriors have a Men’s 1st team and a

Metro team which between the two, huge

bonds and friendships have formed. So

much so, that a “Warriors Better Halves”

group have come together to travel to

matches for support and organise walks

while the men train.

This shows that the club naturally brings

together groups of people from kids and

their parents, teens, both boys and girls,

right through to the senior team and their

other halves. During the off-season, social

tag rugby allows all of these to come

together once more for fun & fitness.

Supporting Charities

St. Stephen’s Day is a very special day

for the Midland Warriors as every year

they remember Tim Ross, son, nephew

and friend, who tragically lost his life in

September 2016 at age 11. The Midland

Warriors host a memorial match every

year and in December just gone by,

raised €1137 for The Olive Branch for

Children and St Vincent de Paul. The

minis, youths and mens teams all played

on the day.

Community

The Midland Warriors have formed a

community that welcomes every single

person that gets involved. They are a

growing club both on and off the field

and pride themselves in the growing

talent and camaraderie each year. Win

or lose, you will always see a smiling

face in The Gap House, Moate after a

match.

Sponsorship has grown and they would

like to thank all those involved. Bridge

Transition, Zenith, Steiner Chiropractic,

MMA Architects, Tus Nua, The Gap

House, Centra Moate, Nick Linnane &

Co, Riverpark Kennels & Cattery, J&L

Supplies, Don’s Bar, Lillymay’s Cafe, Tuar

Ard Coffee Shop, Tana Creative Studio,

Midlands Physio & Back Pain Clinic and

Niall G Lynch Financial Services.

Warriors have a committee that puts in so

much work behind the scenes and without

them they wouldn’t have the club we

have today. To each and every parent/

guardian that brings their children to and

from training and matches, they thank

them.

The players show up each week to not

just train but to socialise and enjoy rugby.

Supporters who come to games whether

there is sunshine, wind or rain, it makes all

the difference.

So as you can see, the Midland Warriors

have become a family, where senior

players contribute at training to help each

other play better, where minis have the

chance to play for fun but also follow in

their hero’s footsteps and where young

girls and boys boost their confidence

and skills.

“The whole point of rugby is that it is, first

and foremost, a state of mind, a spirit.”

—Jean-Pierre Rives


As the Vodafone Women’s Interpro Series finishes this weekend, Leinster

Rugby is focusing on some of the unsung heroes making the girls and the

women’s game tick across the 12 counties of Leinster.

These are their stories and

their work. These are, The

Women of Leinster Rugby.

Tania Rosser

The Head Coach

For some, the announcement

of Tania Rosser as the first

female head coach of the

Leinster Women is another

sign of changing times.

BY DES BERRY

For Tania, growing up in New

Zealand, rugby has always been

close to her heart and coaching

was a natural next step for the

former teacher.

“I just think I’m honoured and proud to be

coach of Leinster,” she says. To be honest,

it doesn’t really matter to me whether I

am the first female coach or not.

“I really hope it helps female coaches

have more opportunities. Even at the

provincial level, they might be able to

envision a route for themselves in the

game.

Is it a good time to be a woman coach

in Ireland?

“I believe that the time is right to work as

a coach in Ireland. Is that acceptable? I

see myself as a coach.

“I don’t consider myself to be a female

coach. Just like I saw myself as an

athlete, not as a woman playing sport.”

The ten-year veteran ex-player of Leinster

and three-tournament World Cup

starter for Ireland celebrated her 50th

international cap by being central to a

first-ever win over New Zealand in 2014.

One season later, Ireland made a clean

sweep of the Six Nations to gather in the

garland of Grand Slam champions.

Tania hasn’t changed her outlook: “I am

the same as I was as a player and as a

coach. I simply want the ideal candidate

for the position.

“If female coaches are good enough and

willing to stretch themselves, there are

opportunities for them.

“Getting out of your comfort zone may

be the most important thing. I’ll take a

chance on myself. There’s a chance that

not everyone will agree with me and I’m

alright with that.

“But, I am willing to put myself in an

uncomfortable position in order to learn.

That is a hard thing for some people to

do.”

She worked with the senior men’s team in

Clontarf for a while, getting the chance to

be on Andy Wood’s coaching staff and

leading the J1s at the Castle Avenue club

through 2019.

Since then, there has been time spent with

the Metro U18s and the Old Belvedere

Women.

“At Clontarf, I had the opportunity to

observe and learn from Andy and Aaron

Dundon, James Downey, and Simon

(Broughton), and Brett Igoe served as

my mentor as I pursued my World Rugby

High-Performance Coaching credential.

I’ve therefore been very lucky to be

surrounded by very good coaches.”


Then, there is the additional experience of

living with her partner Simon Broughton,

the Leinster Academy Manager.

“There is a lot of rugby in the house.

Sometimes it is hard to switch off. But, we

do, to make sure we are focussed on our

son Serge and his hockey for St Andrew’s

College and Monkstown Hockey Club.

“It makes life easier at home when you

understand what the other person is

going through,” adds Tania.

“It is good to thrash out ideas to see if

I am moving in the right direction and,

vice versa, Simon comes looking for my

thoughts and opinions.

“We mightn’t always agree on

everything. That is one of the joys of

coaching. We all have our own views.

“We have that appreciation for each

other in that we understand the demands

of the game on each other.”

Declan Kidney, Stuart Lancaster, Joe

Schmidt are just some of the coaches who

started out as teachers, perhaps because

coaching is teaching.

“I tend to try and learn from a lot of

different people. Learning is key,” stresses

Tania.

“I am quite lucky in that I came into

coaching from a teaching background.

Dealing with people is what I have been

trained to do around education.

“It is knowing how to get your message

across to different players because not

everyone learns or plays the same.

“I suppose, I’m at an advantage there,

knowing how people learn and how I

can adapt my coaching to reach the

different learners within my cohort.”

The many influences have been taken in

and Tania the coach is still a teacher at

heart, one who governs by collaboration

rather than domination.

“My biggest thing is to make sure

I recognise players as people first,

knowing they come from all walks of life,”

she says.

“Everyone has issues, the things that

are important to them. If players are

not happy, how can I expect them to

perform?

“I try to get to know them as people first.

That is really important to me.

“I base a lot of my work around

identifying as a family. I want players to

know that if they need me, I will be there

at the end of the phone.

“A lot of it is based around making sure

they are learning, having fun and, also,

being challenged. It is also important that

they have a say in what they want to do

as well.”

Tania is an advocate of long-term

planning over short-term gains, careful

in how exciting teenagers are gamemanaged

when it comes to making the

leap from Age Grade to senior rugby.

“I have been looking into that a lot,

talking to other coaches in other sports as

far away as America and New Zealand.

“The teams that have been successful in

nurturing young talent have been those

who have looked after them.

“Instead of throwing them into a full

senior training programme, you need to

build up their resilience for training and

playing.

“It is really important because they are

still at a very young training age and we

don’t want them to break down.

“It is just being aware of where they are,

how long they have been in the gym,

what kind of physicality have they been

exposed to.

“There has to be a holistic approach

towards the young ones. Don’t get me

wrong, some of them are fabulous and

they are ready to run.

“In the long run, we want to find out what

they will be like in three or four years.

We need to be careful. We want them

playing at the top level for years, not

breaking down early.

“There is so much work to be done in that

area around women in sport.”

In terms of the Interprovincial Series,

Tania has encouraged Leinster to play

what they see.

“We are very lucky at Leinster. We have

got great pathways from our five area

teams, Metro, Midlands, North Midlands,

North East and South East into the

Leinster U18s.

“We are in a good place when it comes

to Leinster and how the Women’s game

is developing. There is plenty of good

coaching out on the ground around the

province.

“I think we have some young, bright

talent coming through which is nice.

“My biggest thing is to allow them to take

risks, be open and free to have a crack,

the system/structure is only there to guide

them. I want them to show their flair.”


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+8 - - 0+8 - - - - - 0+25 2 10 0+24 2 10 0+1 - - 10 GEO 1

MICHAEL ALA'ALATOA 1301 25 SEP 21 11+1 1 5 8+1 - - 3 1 5 23+14 4 20 19+7 2 10 4+7 2 10 1 WS 12

RYAN BAIRD 1278 27 APR 19 8+1 2 10 6+1 2 10 2 - - 27+20 9 45 23+15 9 45 4+5 - - 2 IR 8

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

BEN BROWNLEE 1313 28 OCT 22 0+1 - - 0+1 - - - - - 0+1 - - 0+1 - - - - - - -

ED BYRNE 1222 9 FEB 14 4+4 1 5 4+2 - - 0+2 1 5 31+62 13 65 31+47 11 55 0+15 2 10 2 IR 6

HARRY BYRNE 1280 28 SEP 19 1+4 - 17 1+2 - 9 0+2 - 8 22+19 6 200 22+16 6 187 0+3 - 13 20 IR 2

ROSS BYRNE 1236 4 SEP 15 10+4 - 95 7+4 - 67 3 - 28 95+47 9 921 78+25 4 663 17+22 5 258 25 IR 14

TOM CLARKSON 1285 29 AUG 20 2+1 1 5 2+1 1 5 - - - 8+13 1 5 8+13 1 5 - - - 2 -

JACK CONAN 1223 20 FEB 14 5+4 - - 4+2 - - 1+2 - - 96+30 25 125 67+18 16 80 29+12 9 45 19 IR 33

WILL CONNORS 1264 9 FEB 18 1+3 - - 1+3 - - - - - 19+10 2 10 18+10 2 10 1 - - 16 IR 9

CHRIS COSGRAVE 1305 26 MAR 22 1+1 1 5 1+1 1 5 - - - 2+2 1 5 2+2 1 5 - - - 2 -

MAX DEEGAN 1256 3 DEC 16 5+1 - - 5 - - 0+1 - - 48+42 24 120 45+29 22 110 3+13 2 10 11 IR 2

BRIAN DEENY 1306 23 APR 22 2+3 1 5 2+2 1 5 0+1 - - 4+3 1 5 4+2 1 5 0+1 - - 3 -

CAELAN DORIS 1268 28 APR 18 7+1 2 10 4+1 - - 3 2 10 54+9 10 50 37+7 6 30 17+2 4 20 1 IR 23

CORMAC FOLEY 1299 24 APR 21 2+4 1 5 2+4 1 5 - - - 4+7 2 10 4+7 2 10 - - - 4 -

CIARAN FRAWLEY 1265 17 FEB 18 2+2 - 9 2+2 - 9 - - - 33+27 7 188 30+19 5 172 3+8 2 16 6 -

TADHG FURLONG 1220 1 NOV 13 1+1 - - 1+1 - - - - - 86+43 10 50 48+35 3 15 38+8 7 35 8 IR 63

JAMISON GIBSON-PARK 1247 2 SEP 16 4+1 - - 2 - - 2+1 - - 64+57 22 110 51+30 15 75 13+27 7 35 7 IR 23

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

CIAN HEALY 1142 5 MAY 07 4+5 - - 4+2 - - 0+3 - - 164+94 30 150 97+58 16 80 65+35 13 65 10 IR 121

ROBBIE HENSHAW 1251 8 OCT 16 4+1 1 5 4+1 1 5 - - - 70+3 17 85 33+2 8 40 37+1 9 45 3 IR 61

JASON JENKINS 1310 17 SEP 22 8+1 2 10 7+1 2 10 1 - - 8+1 2 10 7+1 2 10 1 - - 6 SA 1

DAVE KEARNEY 1158 16 MAY 09 5 2 10 5 2 10 - - - 155+23 54 270 129+16 47 235 25+6 7 35 1 IR 19

HUGO KEENAN 1253 5 NOV 16 6 2 10 3 1 5 3 1 5 47+3 11 55 31+3 6 30 16 5 25 1 IR 25

RONAN KELLEHER 1277 22 FEB 19 5+3 4 20 4+1 1 5 1+2 3 15 34+10 17 85 20+6 12 60 14+4 5 25 1 IR 18

JORDAN LARMOUR 1258 2 SEP 17 7+1 4 20 6 2 10 1+1 2 10 71+11 31 155 46+7 22 110 25+4 9 45 1 IR 30

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

JAMES LOWE 1262 2 DEC 17 4 3 15 2 1 5 2 2 10 67+2 50 250 41+1 29 145 26+1 21 105 2 IR 15

JOE MCCARTHY 1303 29 JAN 22 2+3 - - 2+2 - - 0+1 - - 10+6 1 5 10+2 1 5 0+4 - - 7 IR 1

NICK MCCARTHY 1241 19 DEC 15 1+8 - - 1+7 - - 0+1 - - 10+45 5 25 10+38 5 25 0+7 - - 15 -

TADGH MCELROY 1312 28 OCT 22 0+1 - - 0+1 - - - - - 0+1 - - 0+1 - - - - - - -


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

LUKE MCGRATH 1206 5 MAY 12 8+2 4 20 7+1 3 15 1+1 1 5 122+63 45 225 86+50 36 180 36+13 9 45 2 IR 19

JOHN MCKEE 1307 23 APR 22 1+7 2 10 1+7 2 10 - - - 3+8 2 10 3+8 2 10 - - - 3 -

MICHAEL MILNE 1279 28 SEP 19 1+5 1 5 1+4 1 5 0+1 - - 2+21 3 15 2+20 3 15 0+1 - - 4 -

MARTIN MOLONEY 1300 24 APR 21 0+3 - - 0+3 - - - - - 2+8 - - 2+8 - - - - - - -

ROSS MOLONY 1233 20 FEB 15 10+4 - - 8+3 - - 2+1 - - 92+61 5 25 80+45 4 20 12+16 1 5 30 -

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

CHARLIE NGATAI 1311 17 SEP 22 9+2 - - 7+2 - - 2 - - 9+2 - - 7+2 - - 2 - - - NZ 1

JAMIE OSBORNE 1294 30 JAN 21 7+2 1 5 6+1 - - 1+1 1 5 20+8 2 10 19+7 1 5 1+1 1 5 1 -

JIMMY O'BRIEN 1272 23 NOV 18 11 1 5 8 1 5 3 - - 54+10 17 89 42+9 11 59 12+1 6 30 2 IR 3

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 6+1 2 10 6+1 2 10 - - - 40+8 25 125 40+8 25 125 - - - 3 -

ANDREW PORTER 1246 2 SEP 16 7+4 3 15 4+4 2 10 3 1 5 48+54 17 85 33+35 12 60 15+19 5 25 5 IR 48

GARRY RINGROSE 1237 12 SEP 15 9+1 5 25 6+1 4 20 3 1 5 109+3 35 183 66+2 23 123 43+1 12 60 4 IR 47

RHYS RUDDOCK 1167 6 DEC 09 6 2 10 6 2 10 - - - 162+54 14 70 124+35 12 60 37+17 2 10 6 IR 27

ROB RUSSELL 1302 3 OCT 21 6+2 7 35 6+2 7 35 - - - 9+4 7 35 9+4 7 35 - - - 2 -

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

JAMES RYAN 1259 2 SEP 17 7+3 1 5 4+3 - - 3 1 5 59+9 4 20 31+4 1 5 28+5 3 15 4 IR 48

JOHNNY SEXTON 1127 27 JAN 06 3+2 1 32 3+1 1 30 0+1 - 2 159+30 27 1646 92+22 14 887 65+8 12 728 4 IR 109

DAN SHEEHAN 1286 23 OCT 20 9+2 9 45 7+1 8 40 2+1 1 5 18+22 25 125 15+14 21 105 3+8 4 20 2 IR 13

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

ALEX SOROKA 1296 28 FEB 21 0+2 - - 0+2 - - - - - 2+5 - - 2+5 - - - - - - -

CHARLIE TECTOR 1314 28 OCT 22 0+2 - - 0+2 - - - - - 0+2 - - 0+2 - - - - - - -

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 1 5 4+1 1 5 0+1 - - 8+4 1 5 8+3 1 5 0+1 - - 2 -

JOSH VAN DER FLIER 1228 11 OCT 14 8+1 6 30 5+1 2 10 3 4 20 98+25 24 120 57+19 10 50 41+6 14 70 1 IR 45

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 72.73% 7 1 - 3 1 - 4 - - 70 10 65 9 5 1 103 77.67%

ROSS BYRNE 86.54% 40 5 - 26 5 - 14 - - 294 95 1 221 66 1 73 29 - 492 79.07%

CIARAN FRAWLEY 100.00% 3 1 - 3 1 - - - - 57 13 - 54 13 - 3 - - 84 83.33%

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

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

JOHNNY SEXTON 68.42% 12 1 - 11 1 - 1 - - 277 308 11 140 172 7 130 132 4 733 79.81%


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Match Day Mascots

LAUREN

CAMPION

Age: 11

School: Loreto Junior College, St. Stephens Green

Class: 5th Class

Hobbies and interests: Rugby, Golf, Soccer

and Hockey

Favourite Players: Johnny Sexton & Garry Ringrose

JACK

BYRNE

Age: 8

School: Sandford National School

Class: 2nd Class

Hobbies and interests: Rugby, Gaelic Football

and Soccer

Favourite Player: Garry Ringrose


Squads

matchday

15

14

13

12

11

10

9

Hugo KEENAN

Jordan LARMOUR

Garry RINGROSE [C]

Jamie OSBORNE

Jimmy O’BRIEN

Ross BYRNE

Jamison GIBSON-PARK

FULL BACK

RIGHT WING

OUTSIDE CENTRE

INSIDE CENTRE

LEFT WING

FLY HALF

SCRUM HALF

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

Andrew PORTER

Rónan KELLEHER

Michael ALA’ALATOA

Joe McCARTHY

James RYAN

Caelan DORIS

Josh VAN DER FLIER

Jack CONAN

LOOSE HEAD PROP

HOOKER

TIGHT HEAD PROP

SECOND ROW

SECOND ROW

BLINDSIDE FLANKER

OPENSIDE FLANKER

NUMBER 8

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

Dan SHEEHAN

Michael MILNE

Cian HEALY

Ross MOLONY

Ryan BAIRD

Luke McGRATH

Harry BYRNE

Scott PENNY

REPLACEMENT

REPLACEMENT

REPLACEMENT

REPLACEMENT

REPLACEMENT

REPLACEMENT

REPLACEMENT

REPLACEMENT

officials

REFEREE: MATTHEW CARLEY (ENGLAND)

ASSISTANT REFEREE 1: CRAIG MAXWELL-KEYS (ENGLAND)

ASSISTANT REFEREE 2: GARETH HOLSGROVE (ENGLAND)

TMO: IAN TEMPEST (ENGLAND)

FULL BACK

Warrick GELANT 15

RIGHT WING

OUTSIDE CENTRE

INSIDE CENTRE

LEFT WING

FLY HALF

SCRUM HALF

Christian WADE

Olivier KLEMENCZAK

Gael FICKOU [C]

Louis DUPICHOT

Finn RUSSELL

Nolann LE GARREC

14

13

12

11

10

9

LOOSE HEAD PROP

HOOKER

TIGHT HEAD PROP

SECOND ROW

SECOND ROW

BLINDSIDE FLANKER

Eddy Ben AROUS

Janick TARRIT

Trevor NYAKANE

Baptiste CHOUZENOUX

Boris PALU

Wenceslas LAURET

1

2

3

4

5

6

OPENSIDE FLANKER

Mahamadou COULIBALY

7

NUMBER 8

Kitione KAMIKAMICA

8

REPLACEMENT

Péniami NARISIA

16

REPLACEMENT

Guram GOGICHASHVILI

17

REPLACEMENT

REPLACEMENT

REPLACEMENT

REPLACEMENT

REPLACEMENT

REPLACEMENT

Gia KHARAISHVILI

Anthime HEMERY

Maxime BAUDONNE

Antoine GIBERT

Francis SAILI

Max SPRING

18

19

20

21

22

23

COMMUNITY RUGBY UPDATE

THE WORK CONTINUES ON THE GROUND

THROUGHOUT THE 12 COUNTIES

There is a considerable amount of

work done on the ground around

the 12 counties, by Leinster

Rugby community rugby staff.

We currently have 17 Community

Rugby Officers (CRO’s) including

four Women Development

Officers (WDO’s), along with 49

Club Community Rugby Officers

(CCROs), who work around the

province with our clubs and

schools. Also working with

the local community groups,

through our county council

partners, to deliver tailored

rugby programmes and expand

the game of rugby around the

province.

Through these ongoing relationships

with County Councils, Leinster Rugby run

programmes throughout the season and

provide staff for community programmes,

such as tag rugby for rehabilitation and

recovery services, wheelchair rugby,

walking rugby for older members of

the community and working with young

offenders to support their rehabilitation

through rugby and the values attached

strongly to the game.

Along with these programmes, we work

closely with the County Councils, we

also run inclusion camps across the

province during the summer. Programmes

and camps are staffed with our CROs

(Community Rugby Officers) and CCROs

(Club Community Rugby Officers) who

have close ties and knowledge of the

community.

The purpose of our Leinster Rugby

Community Officers is to affect and

support high quality sustainable rugby

environments for all by encouraging,

promoting, growing and organising the

participation in, and playing of, rugby in

the 12 counties of Leinster.

In recent months, our community officers

have completed 19 more primary school

blitzes, 11 secondary school blitzes,

which are split into junior and senior

sections. Along with two Transition

Year coaching training courses, to help

develop more young coaches around the

province.

To help benefit our club and school

coaches, coaching courses are delivered

through our Community Officers and

our Coach Development Officers

(CDOs). In recent months, our officers

have completed 18 coaching courses,

this includes our senior coach awards,

children’s coach awards and youth

coach awards, along with four player

development sessions in our clubs. On

top of these, our community rugby officers

also help run our area side competitions,

such as the Sarah Robinson Cup (girls)

and Shane Horgan Cup (boys).

With girls’ rugby growing year on year,

our Women Development Officers

(WDOs) since October, have also

ran girls-only rugby events around the

province such as, 1st Year touch rugby

programmes and junior and senior X7s

blitzes.

If you would like our rugby officers to

deliver a programme to your school visit

the Leinster Rugby website, to contact

your local Community Rugby Officer and

Club Community Rugby Officers.


offical leinster

supporters club

We are delighted to be back in Aviva Stadium

today for our final Heineken Champions Cup pool

game against French side Racing 92. A win today

will hopefully guarantee us home advantage for

the remainder of the competition.

We welcome our visitors from

Paris and it’s been six weeks

since we last played against

each other at the start of the

competition. The visit to Le Havre

did not go without drama, a

hellish journey of 16 hours for the

team and some lucky supporters,

leaving most of the travelling

support disappointed and stuck

in Ireland due to the adverse

weather conditions.

Despite this upset, we convincingly

secured victory over our hosts at the

Stade Océane on 10 December - the

prize, a bonus point win over the hosts.

Prior to this season, we have played

against Racing 92 three times since 2009

in European competition winning each

time. We beat the newcomers 38-22 at

home in 2010, and followed it up in Paris

in early 2011 with a 36-11.

Our most famous battle came in May

2018 when we secured our fourth star in

Champions Cup Final in Bilbao, winning

15-12 in a very tight and competitive

game. We go into the game today on top

with maximum match points. Our visitors

sit eighth in Pool A and know that a win

away could keep them in contention for

the next round of the competition, both

sides have so much to play for.

Our aim today is to sing, be loud and

keep the stadium Blue. We want to

create a cauldron of noise, colour, and

atmosphere. For those of you who were

in Gloucester at Kingsholm last weekend,

you will have witnessed the very early

#SeaOfBlue, following the reversing

bus into the ground and welcoming the

players as they walked in.

The Sea of Blue, from the flags throughout

the stadium was fantastic, including in

the hallowed ground of the Shed where

a huge amount of Leinster Supporters

were made feel very welcome by the

hospitable Gloucester fans. What a day!

We work hard to ensure that we can help

as many fans as possible to travel and

last week proved that when we travel we

travel in large numbers. We thank all

the travelling fans for making the trip. It’s

really great to hear Leo make reference

to the Sea of Blue, and that the players

love seeing it, and getting a boost from

it. The infiltration of the Shed did not go

unnoticed by the media and certain TV

presenters, it was a fantastic trip securing

another bonus point win.

It’s great to see over 40,000 supporters

here today, we know that you will get

behind the team, and all of us need to

put in a big performance. Last May, in

Marseille was a tough game to come

away from with a loss, and we know

how much harder it becomes as the

competition progresses. Let’s not dwell

on history today, instead get behind

the team helping them to keep the top

spot on the Road to Dublin and get that

elusive fifth star. It’s becoming an even

busier season and we will need more

help over the coming weeks and months.

If you would like to volunteer in any way

please reach out, we need you!

As always we’re thankful for the support

we as a committee get from Leinster

Rugby, Bank of Ireland, and all the

corporate sponsors. As always we

encourage you to show your support

through our social media channels.

Be loud, be true, be blue

Yours in Rugby,

The OLSC Committee


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Age is just a number

in Old Wesley

Growing up as young rugby

players and fans in Leinster we all

dreamt of the days running out

on the hallowed turf of Energia

Park in Donnybrook but some

members of Old Wesley show that

those dreams never fade even

with age.

As rugby returned in 2021 a new

generation of players emerged in Old

Wesley - over 40’s tip rugby. Looking to

find a way to give more of the club to its

members or all ages and abilities, Old

Wesley have used it as a way for the

club to open up more to the parents and

grandparents of their younger players

and also some retired players to make

more use of the club, have a little fun and

get some exercise at the same time.

The beauty of tip rugby is its simple you

just need a ball, a pair of boots and a

few cones and that’s it! Everyone can

play and everyone is equal. Teams are

set weekly to insure an even split of age

and ability and across each game.

With over 60 players playing since

it started 18 months ago, it’s been

deemed a huge success at 8:30pm on

Wednesday nights when the lights shine

bright in Energia Park. It’s been running

non-stop bar a couple of week off at

Christmas since May in 2021 all the

way through winter with players from

their early 40s right up to the age of 69

togging out each week. It’s been a mix

of players who never played rugby, to

players who played at on various Wesley

teams over the past four decades and

even a couple of former Leinster players

putting their boots back on.

Speaking to Leinster Rugby, Rodger Laird

of Old Wesley said “It’s been a great

way to get out get some exercise but

also immense fun linking back up with

guys you would have played with years

ago, along with renewing old friendships

on and off the pitch. It can get very

competitive over the hour of play most

weeks which is great fun too”.

“It’s been amazing to see the

development of old skills coming back,

the pace of the games has increased over

the first few months as players grew in

confidence and muscle memory starts to

kick back in”

If you would like to get involved get the

boots back on or give it a try just get in

touch with Old Wesley via any of their

social media channels.


Portlaoise’s Delany wins

Devin Toner Award

Portlaoise’s

Johnny Delany

is the winner of

the Devin Toner

Perpetual Award.

The criteria for the Award

states it will be made to a

person in recognition of the

significant contribution this

individual has made to the

development of Rugby in the

North Midlands Area, with the

extensive engagement of many

individuals, over the last 40 years,

in the development of rugby

in the North Midlands, across

the many fields, Adult Men/

Women: Youths/Girls, Referees:

Mini Rugby along with their

participation, where appropriate,

in the many opportunities arising

through their involvement in the

area at Leinster Branch levels.

John (Johnny) Delany joined Portlaoise

Rugby Football Club shortly after its

foundation in 1966. He held many

positions within the club and played

for many years with Portlaoise Rugby

Club. Delany always willing to play on

whichever team he was selected on,

sometimes maybe playing in two side

over the weekend, and was always

available to assist where ever required,

whether it be marking a pitch or assisting

at the club’s social dances on a Friday

Night in the County hotel, John was also

renowned for his rendering of “Eskimo

Nell” at the regular after match sing

song’s which was part of rugby in days

gone by.

During his playing John became

instrumental in the setting up of the youth

structure in the Club during the 70’s and

80’s . He coached many youth teams

during his tenure.

John was nominated to represent the club

on the North Midland Youth Committee

where again he gave many years of

commitment to the youth’s structure in

the area, and assisted with the setting

up and maintaining the structure that we

now have.

John did not limit his volunteer

commitment to the North Midlands

Area. Having initially become a member

of the Leinster Youths Committee he

became a significant part of the group

who developed the Leinster Youths sides.

Johnny went on to be a selector for the

Leinster Youths. Among his players at the

time were Niall Ronan, Shane Horgan

and Niall “Bressie” Breslin.

During this this period John was elected

as President of Portlaoise where he

served from 1987 to 1989.

His expertise and commitment to the

development of the game saw him invited

to join the IRFU Youths Committee where

he played an active role in many tours

to UK, France and Italy. It should be

noted that the Italian/Irish connection

came into being through the auspices of

John. He also played a significant role in

organising a incoming trips by teams from

Spain and Portugal back in the 1990s.

A frequent traveller with the North

Midlands International Brigade attending

many Leinster and Ireland games across

Europe with Harry Nicholls, Tom Ashe

and our Youths Committee Registrar Hugh

Woodhouse who is with us today. John is

currently a Trustee with Portlaoise Rugby

Club and can often be seen at the club

attending games and functions.

Speaking about Delany’s win, Colm

Rigney said; Congrats Johnny! I for

one owe you a massive amount of

gratitude, without your support I wouldn’t

have played a fraction of the rugby I

did. You’re a brilliant rugby man and

a gentleman too. I’m sure there are

hundreds of kids you influenced with your

support and I will never forget it for sure.

Johnny drove me all over the province

as a kid to make sure I never missed out,

well done North Midlands Rugby and

congratulations again John.

Ciaran Reilly added; Congratulations

John, you contributed so such to youth

rugby in Leinster Rugby and Irish Youth

Rugby over the past 40 years. A great

Portlaoise RFC clubman and espouses

all that makes youth rugby so strong in

Leinster.


GETTING

We check social media

for the latest views

and thoughts across

SOCIAL

the 12 counties

WHERE

ARE

THEY

NOW?

STEVE BY DES BERRY

JAMESON

THEN: Steve

played more than

20 times for

Leinster from

1995-1997.

NOW: He works as

Facilities and

Events Manager

with Leinster,

living with his

wife Emer in Dun

Laoghaire and

has two children

Lauren (27) and

Dylan John (21).


Where: Donnybrook.

When: July 17th, 1997.

There were two dressing

rooms at the Old Wesley end of

Donnybrook. The spillover from

numbers meant Steve Jameson,

Shane Byrne and Shane Horgan

had to change together alone

after another gruelling pre-season

session.

“Jamo, are you going to buy me a pint?”

asked Shane Byrne.

“No problem, what’s the occasion?”

answered Steve.

“It’s my birthday tomorrow.”

Out of the blue, the usually quiet Shane

Horgan piped up: “It’s my birthday

tomorrow too.”

“What? Guys, you won’t believe this,

it’s my birthday as well tomorrow,”

added Steve in acknowledgement of an

astonishing coincidence.

Steve and Shane Byrne went for a pint

and Shane Horgan went his own way,

perhaps an indication of the emerging

line drawn between the old and the new,

the amateur and the professional.

It was Leinster’s struggle to come to

terms with the all-in demands of the

professional era that delayed the coming

of age of a European superpower.

******

Steve played for Monkstown for three

years, losing some friends when he

decided to leave for St Mary’s in 1989

where the Cavan man felt right at home.

He played what was then a record 85

consecutive AIL matches. Paul Dean,

Declan Fanning, Kevin Potts were some of

the club icons that wore that blue shirt.

“I loved playing rugby and I lived for the

game for a long time,” he says.

“In those days, club rugby was king so

joining St Mary’s was a major step-up

for me to play with interprovincial and

international players and in doing so

testing my ability to play interprovincial

rugby” he says.

The introduction of the AIL brought club

rugby to a whole new level and with it

some brutal battles in Munster.

“Going down to the likes of Young

Munster back then was different.

Anything went. I enjoyed the

confrontation and the challenge,” he

says.

Sometimes it got out of hand.

“I recall an occasion whilst captain of St

Mary’s when a teammate approached

me, carrying an ear injury. He asked me

how it looked. The injury resulted in him

having to have surgery that evening. Let’s

just say he was lucky to keep his ear.”

Steve gave as good as he took. But, there

was a line he wasn’t willing to cross.

“When you are in the trenches during

some of the tougher games and you look

your teammates in the eye, you certainly

know who you can trust at the end of the

80 minutes,” he says.

In one particular game, he was on the

receiving end of a stamp to the head,

going off to get bandaged up. Coming

back on, five minutes later, he was at the

bottom of another ruck and his head was

stood on again.

“You really get a feeling for a man’s

character from being in a dark place

on a rugby field and, dare I say it, there

were more dark places in those days than

there are now.

“Don’t get me wrong, I was no angel. I

used the slipper a lot and threw and took

my share of punches. It was part of the

game. You didn’t complain about those

things.”

To this day, Steve jokingly says that

when he visits Limerick he rarely

gets down O’Connell Street without

acknowledgement from a stranger about

who he was and what he did.

Down there, it is known as respect: “To

this day, I am almost always taken back

whenever I meet a rugby person, who I

played against when the conversation

starts off with some memory of me

standing on them or punching them.

“It gets me to thinking, ‘I couldn’t have

been that bad, could I?.’”

In 1990, Steve declared for Connacht

on the basis of his mother coming from

Tubbercurry in Sligo, when he wasn’t

winning the attention of Leinster’s

decision-makers.


“I do have some really great memories

from playing with Connacht with the

highlight playing against Australia when

they were on tour.

“However I never really felt settled there,

despite the presence of Noel McCarthy,

Tom Clancy, Eric Elwood, Noel Mannion,

Mick Fitzgibbon, Simon Geogeghan, etc

- great players.

“I suppose the difference was that when

I played against Leinster, I was playing

against my pals, guys like Kevin Potts,

Brian Keane, Declan Fanning, Michael

Corcoran, Vinny

Cunningham, clubmates of mine in St

Mary’s.

“At Connacht, I was used to driving

to training in Athlone on a pitch with

floodlights like four candles in the corner

of the field. The facilities then are not like

they are today.

“You got a bowl of soup and a sandwich

and you drove back to Dublin, got up

and went to work the next morning and to

training with your club the next night.

“You’ve got to love the game to do that,”

he says.

After serving Connacht, Ciaran Callen

and Jim Glennon made contact to attract

Steve and Victor Costello back to Leinster

in 1995, making their debuts against

South African tourists Griqualand West

that summer.

His impact was rewarded with Leinster

Player of the Year for the 1996/97

season.

“I was tremendously proud to play

for Leinster and some of my happiest

rugby memories stem from Leinster

performances, none more so than the

time we beat Leicester Tigers in the

European Cup at Donnybrook in 1997.

“It happened just at the crossover into

professionalism. I had just got my first

contract for Leinster.

“In those days, Leicester had letters rather

than numbers on their backs. Bob Dwyer

was their coach. Martin Johnson was my

opposite number.

“They came with a star-studded side,

Richard Cockerell, Graham Rowntree

and Darren Garforth in the front row.

Dean Richards was at number eight and

out-half Joel Stransky had just dropped

the goal to win the 1995 World Cup.

“I remember walking around before the

game on a pitch that looked like a billiard

table on a beautiful September evening,

feeling, ‘wow, how good is this?’

“The place was heaving, packed to the

rafters. Anyway, we rose to the occasion

and beat Leicester that evening.

“I remember Victor and I decided to skip

the formalities and retired to the back bar

in Long’s Pub, where Arthur Mayne now

stands, something we didn’t fully shake

from the amateur era.

A few hours later, one of the lads arrived

at the door and sat down.

“Jamo, did you know you got £1,250 for

that game tonight?”

“What?”


“Yeah, £1,250 for playing in the

European Cup and a win bonus on top

of it.”

“That was the moment I fully realised

I was a professional rugby player - I

would have paid £1,000 to play for

Leinster in the game. That is a fact.”

In 1997, Mike Ruddock blew into

Leinster like a hurricane, determined

to make ruthless professionals out of

hard-playing, hard-partying amateurs. It

took time.

“Mike realised straight away we hadn’t

made the step from amateur to fully

professional because we were lacking

fitness,” says Steve.

“In pre-season, we trained Monday,

Tuesday, Thursday, Friday with ‘optional

scrummaging’ on Wednesday which, in

reality, we had to go to and a timed 5k

run on Saturday morning.

“We were much fitter, much stronger

than we had been in previous years.”

Two months later, Steve’s “over-zealous”

use of the boot late on caused a penalty

which Milan converted for a 23-22

victory in the European Cup at the Pata

Stadium in Calvisano.

“Mike didn’t say anything to me

personally, but he was livid,” says Steve.

“We still had a couple of pints in the

clubhouse after the game. On the bus,

he said: ‘everyone, in the foyer, in your

running gear at 6 o’clock in the morning.

Have a good night! So, we had a few

more drinks.”

By 6 o’clock the next morning, he had

sourced a cabbage patch and we were

ordered to run for 45 minutes.

“Victor (Costello) was struggling at

the back of the pack on this horrible

paddock and Mike was shouting,

‘Victor! Up the front! Up the front!”

The appropriate athletic response was

not forthcoming.

“Victor, that is a £500 fine!”

“Who do I make the cheque out to?”

replied Victor.

The sacrifices made to be on the pitch

meant sacrifices off it too. Some still sting

to this day.

In 1999, a persistent shoulder injury and

the grind of playing senior rugby for

over 15 years, captaining St Mary’s for

three seasons, Steve decided it was time

to hang up his boots.

“I must say that after being involved

at such a level for so long retiring from

the game does come as a shock to the

system. You have no training during the

week, no match at the weekend. It does

take a while to adapt to life after rugby.”

In the meantime, Steve built and sold a

business, lived abroad with his family

for ten years between Beijing, China

and Singapore before returning home to

take on the role of Facilities and Events

Manager with Leinster Rugby.

“It’s really great to be back in Ireland

and I really enjoy working for Leinster

rugby and with some exceptional

individuals, some I overlapped with

during my time playing.

“For example - Leo Cullen, we shared a

place on the squad together when Leo

was at the beginning of his remarkable

rugby career.

“Dave Fagan was our strength and

conditioning coach when I was playing

and now holds the same position with

the Leinster Academy which is fantastic.

“I really admire what Leinster have done.

It is such a well-oiled machine. I see how

hard they train and how professional it is

from top-to-bottom,” he shares.

“In our day, the rewards were there

in the friends you made and the

camaraderie generated.”

And that is good enough for the man

from Ballyjamesduff.


ENTER THE CODE BELOW

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Today’s match referee is no

stranger to Leinster - Matthew

Carley (England). Matthew is

a member of the RFU Referees

Panel and refereed his first

professional game in 2013. He

has been an active official in the

Six Nations since 2017. His first

European match was in 2015

between Munster and Benetton.

This was quickly followed by

World Rugby appointing him

for his first international fixture,

between Russia and USA.

Referees

Corner

BY DAN WALLACE

A warm welcome to today’s issue of Referee’s

Corner. It is always an exciting day when

European Rugby arrives at the Aviva. I hope

everyone is looking forward to today’s game.

His first Tier One match was in 2017,

between Scotland and New Zealand.

Matthew also officiated the opening

round of the 2021 Six Nations

Championship fixture between Italy and

France. His first Six Nations game as

referee was in the same fixture in 2019.

He was also a reserve/assistant referee

at the 2019 Rugby World Cup. He was

the man in the middle when Toulon

visited us in 2021.

Mathew will be assisted by Craig

Maxwell-Keys (England), Gareth

Holsgrove (England) and TMO: Ian

Tempest (England).

We have a couple of Leinster Rugby

Referees out officiating today. Andrew

Cole and Paul Haycock are in Bordeaux

assisting Frank Murphy in the Bordeaux

v Gloucester game. We wish them well

also.

Finbar Murphy

RIP.

We were extremely saddened

to hear of the passing of our

refereeing colleague Finbar

Murphy on 26th December.

Finbar refereed with distinction

for the ARLB in the 1990’s &

2000’s out of the Midlands Area

and Longford RFC. He was also

a distinguished GAA referee.

To Finbar’s wife, Geraldine, his

daughter, sons and extended

family, we at the Leinster Rugby

Referees offer our sincerest

condolences. Ar dheis Dé go

raibh a anam.

North

Midlands

Refereeing

Update

The North Midlands area has

now expanded to include

Blessington RFC, so it is now

nine clubs and we are always

looking for more referees in the

area. The refereeing team in the

North Midlands referred three

finals on December 31st including

the U18 Area final along with

the Lalor and Hosie Cups. We

provided teams of five for all


finals. Otherwise it has been a

very busy season on the pitch

with most youth games and all

adult requests covered which is a

great achievement. We also have

one new trainee due to do his

trial shortly. We wish him well.

Speaking of trials and new referees

Leinster Rugby Referees held a New

Referees Course in the Riverside Park

Hotel, Enniscorthy on Saturday 14,

January 2023. The course was open

to those aged 18 – 59, who would like

to take up refereeing as a hobby and

become members of Leinster Rugby

Referees. We had a superb turnout and

will provide a report on same in due

course. Thanks to Sean Gallagher of the

IRFU for running the show.

Katie Byrne

As the Vodafone Women’s

Interpro Series is

underway, Leinster Rugby

is focusing on some of the

unsung heroes making

the girls and the women’s

game tick across the 12

counties of Leinster. There

is a great interview with

our referee Katie Byrne on

our and the Leinster Rugby

website, it is well worth a

read. One of my favorite

quotes from the interview

is…

“I hated when people cheated. I

hated when players cut corners.

The rules are put in place to push

for fairness. I just hated when

players didn’t follow them.

“It is also part of my make-up

to have very good attention to

detail. That helps on the pitch,

in terms of spotting things. It is

the same in my job in marketing,

spotting mistakes.

“It translates into reffing. You are

watching the finer details of the

game all the time on the pitch,

things other people might not

notice.”

Keep up the great work Katie!!!

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.


ank of ireland

MATCHDAY minis

Blackrock College RFC

Players: Mark Kelly, Charlie Pattison, Jamie Cox, Oisin Healy,

John Paul O’Grady, Calum Duffy, Seb Kelly, Andy Dredge,

Ollie D’Alton, Richard Gough, Harry Keenan, AJ Williams,

Josh Murphy, Peter Twomey, Jack O’ Halloran, Conall O

Suilleabhain, Ethan Farrell, Conor Emerson and Luca Barrett

Coaches: Andrew Kelly and Brian Cox

Midland Warriors RFC

Players: PJ Geoghegan, Mila Falkova, Paudie Molloy, Michael

Finan, Ben O’Grady, Tadgh Smyth, Cillian Walsh, Evan

Costello, Ollie Browne, Eoghan Minnock, Cian Browne, Sean

Burke, Conor Fox, Ben Claffey, Jamie Rosney, Cormac Murray,

Oisin Daly, Jack Daly, Ethan McArdle, Ciara Nally, Andy

Molloy, Thomas Lynam and Devon Martin

Coaches: Thomas O’Shaughnessy and Roger Quinn

St Brigid’s RFC

Players: Caolan Duff, Charlie Berkery, Conor McKiernan,

David Kosmala, Denis Cremin, Eoin White, Evan Gill, Harry

O’Shaughnessy, Luca Byrne, Luke Grennan, Minglang Li,

Oscar Johnsson Byrne, Sean Donohoe, Luke Haslam, Philip

Hayes, Lochlann Hurley, Con Twomey, Evan Stack.

Coaches: John White, James Cremin, Mike McKiernan and

Dan Twomey

Westmanstown RFC

Players: Ciaran Boland, Conor Brady, James Iredale, Sean

Keegan, Daniel Connolly, Liaden Kelly, Ruairi Dowling, Adam

Dziworski, Logan Moss, Finn Hooper, Braiden Smyth, Lachlan

Finlay, Conor Dooley, Rian McMahon, Adan Tabakovic, Ted

McHugh, Matthieu Higgins Portet, Cormac Finnerty, Conor

Nolan, Harry Atkinson, Ethan Smith, Conor Shirley, Sean

Collopy, Christopher Carolan, Cillian Linnane, Daniel Small,

Noa Larsen and Damien Suriakas

Coaches: Seamus Small, Enda Linnane, Brian Dooley,

Stephane Portet and Brian Brady


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Four teams remain in the

Vinnie Murray Senior Cup

BY DES BERRY

There were no surprises in the

Bank of Ireland Leinster Schools

Vinnie Murray Senior Cup

Quarter-Finals, played out over

two double-headers at Energia

Park on Tuesday and Wednesday.

CUS 53

The King’s Hospital 0

Holders Catholic University School

will boldly bid to go back-to-back

in the Vinnie Murray on Tuesday’s

evidence of the second quarterfinal.

Captain Lucas Maguire shot from the

back of a maul for the perfect start and,

straight away, their defence turned away

a series of drives at the line.

KH could not escape their 22 as CUS

pummelled away, finally moving left for

wing Sean Turner to double the lead to

ten in the 17th minute.

They were methodical in probing the

fringes for lock Dualta Larkin to claim

the third try and number eight Dylan

McNeice the fourth, both converted by

Niall Cox, for 24-0 at the interval.

Even KH out-half Luke Fogarty’s flashes

of brilliance were not enough to

prevent Rian Treacy from grabbing an

interception to stretch the lead.

Replacement Oran Redmond had the

power to make the right corner, while

Treacy’s pace and strong-arm fend were

the centre’s avenue to the left corner in

the 61st minute.

The breakaway speed of Treacy was

good enough for a hat-trick and Turner

picked up his second as KH tired towards

the end.

SCORERS:

CUS – R Treacy 3 tries; S Turner 2 tries; L

Maguire, D Larkin, D McNeice, O Redmond

try each; N Cox 4 cons.

CUS - Jack Grant; Sean Turner, Rian Treacy,

Sean Byrne, Senan Campbell; Niall Cox,

Charlie O’Byrne; Aidan Walsh, Lucas

Maguire (Capt), Conal Lohan-Kilrane, Dualta

Larkin, Cathal Lynch, Hugh Quigley, Ruben

Maguire, Dylan McNeice.

Replacements - Leo Beary, Evan Judge,

Ollie Manks, Eoghan O’Reilly, Jude Barrett;

Josh Gordon, Eamon McNicholas, Oran

Redmond.

KING’S HOSPITAL - John O’Meara; Luca

McNally, Edward Nuzum, Cian Behal-Valle,

Faizal Omotayo; Luke Fogarty (Capt), Euan

Batt; Roger Doyle, Cian Smith, Sam Davis,

Michael Ohoka, Maksym Oshodi, Henry

Seebach, Tomás Ó Súilleabháin, James

Sugrue.

Replacements - Keith Johnson, Charlie Ingle,

Aaron Wilson, Marcus Adedapo, Shaun

Kessington-Momoh, Elliott Pratt, Stephen

Crowe, Chinedu Okwara.

St Andrew’s College 43

St Columba’s College 0

Wing Harry MacChesney picked

up a brace of tries as St Andrew’s

cruised into the semi-finals on

Wednesday.

The Booterstown school moved quickly

into rhythm in a sweet move, initiated

by Adam Tobin, concluding with

MacChesney’s knife-through-butter finish,

converted by Joe Ballance in the second

minute.

From there, St Columba’s fared well

enough as Tomas Casado, Benedict

Huessen and Caleb Owen carried hard

into the teeth of a sharp defence.

All the while, they were not able to

threaten points, St Andrew’s Kiran Byrne

piercing the first line of defence to create

the second try for Francis Manzocchi,

Ballance’s conversion doubling in the

19th minute.

Then, there were two quickfire strikes

by Charlie Byrne and MacChesney to

stretch the advantage to 26 points at the

interval.

St Columba’s enjoyed their best period

of play in the third quarter, peppering

the line with runners without making the

breakthrough.

As is so often the case, St Andrew’s

bounded upfield for Kiran Byrne to

finish out wide, added on a penalty try

and another from replacement Adam

O’Toole.

SCORERS:

ST ANDREW’S – H MacChesney 2 tries; F

Manzocchi, C Byrne, K Byrne, A O’Toole try

each; Pen try; J Ballance 3 cons.


ST ANDREW’S – Kiran Byrne; Harry

MacChesney, Conn Doherty, Joe Ballance

(Capt), Jake Dolly; Francis Manzocchi,

Charlie Byrne; Jude McCrea, Partick

McIlduff, Charles Beck, Thomas Ryan, James

O’Donoghue, Josh Perrem (Capt), Rocco Hill,

Adam Tobin.

Replacements - Jack Bourke, Hugh Brownlee,

Ryan Browne, Adam O’Toole, Karl Deegan,

Arthur Forrest, Max Kickham, Simon O’Kelly.

ST COLUMBA’S – Kieran Ovenden; Camilo

Nordmann, Marco Trolese, Aubrey Gardner,

Thomas Dwyer; Tomas Casado, Nikolai

Foster; Solomon Babajide (Capt), Ben

Patterson, Benedict Huessen, Aaron Murray,

Ned Chambre, Cameron McKinley, Noah

Kutner, Caleb Owen.

Replacements - Hugo Laurenceau, Pavlo

Shavlov, Gabriel Murphy, Gavin O’Dowd,

Monty Walsh, Carl Krenshi, Rory O’Dowd,

George Priestley

St Fintan’s High

School 63

St Mary’s, Drogheda 0

St Fintan’s got the first of the

quarter-finals underway with a

dominant display on Tuesday.

The Sutton school was able to dominate

territory partly due to their game

management and partly due to St Mary’s

insistence on taking risks from deep.

The back three of Finn McDonald, Joshua

Hansen and Conor Toomey all breached

the cover in a reflection of St Fintan’s

eagerness to spread the ball.

St Mary’s matched that ambition to

play, just not the execution, inviting more

pressure for hooker Conor McGloughlin

to beat two defenders for the fourth try.

Scrum-half Oscar McCormack landed

his second conversion to go beside an

earlier penalty for 27-0 at the break.

The outlook didn’t get any brighter for St

Mary’s when Hansen scooted over for his

second, converted by McCormack.

The Drogheda school’s captain Luke

Carley and centre Charlie Toolan kept

looking for the ball, only to be met with a

brick wall defence.

Rory O’Connor-O’Hehir, replacement

Cian Macari-Kelly, Luke Ingle and

McDonald all troubled the scoresheet

before Twomey completed the set of ten

tries.

SCORERS:

ST FINTAN’S – F McDonald, C Twomey J

Hansen, 2 tries each; R O’Connor-O’Hehir,

C Macari-Kelly, C McGloughlin, L Ingle try

each; O McCormack pen, 4 cons; H Dummer

con.

ST FINTAN’S – Finn McDonald; Conor

Toomey, Shane Patterson, Conor Cribbin

(Capt), Joshua Hansen; Cillian Cleary, Oscar

McCormack; Ponamu Palazzetti, Conor

McGloughlin, Robert Harvey, Marcel Haas,

Brandyn Drumgoole, Tadhg O’Connor-

O’Hehir, Simon Cantwell, Rory O’Connor-

O’Hehir.

Replacements - Cian Macari Kelly, Donagh

Walsh, Scott Ecock, Luke Ingle, Simon

Cunningham, Hugh Dummer, Haitz Aiartza,

Daniel Butler.

ST MARY’S – Rory Kelly; Tom Stanley, Rian

Kindlon, Charlie Toolan, Senan Gough;

Luke Carley (Capt), Adam Dooley; Darragh

Martin, Sean Flaherty Jamie Manning, Conor

Moroney, Darragh Kessie, Obinna Nkpa,

Lincoln de Year, Hugh Sowray.

Replacements – Evan Darcy, Christopher

Thornton, Daniel O’Neill, Max Lennon,

Christopher Quinlan, Lorcan Smyth.

Temple Carrig Grammar

School 22

Wilson’s Hospital 19

Two late tries by the outstanding

Callum Mulligan were not enough

to salvage a place in the semifinal

for Wilson’s Hospital on

Wednesday.

It was nip and tick for most of the first-half,

Temple moving ahead from an early

penalty by Jack Ward.

Then, Wilson’s began to find their feet,

centre Mulligan causing havoc and

hooker Matthew Bruton almost getting

through a thicket of defenders..

The grinding work of the TC forwards

paid dividends when flanker Nathan

Griffiths grounded from close range for

8-0 at the break.

It looked even better the next time Temple

came calling for left wing Rhys Gamble

to cross and for Ward to convert.

Undeterred, Wilson’s came storming

back through a bullocking burst from

Mulligan, Ciaran McKenna picking and

placing for the try, converted by Tom

Wheeler in the 41st minute.

But, the long arms of centre Matthew

Stewart were good for a block and

gather to accelerate to the posts for

Ward to convert.

The energy of Sam Mills was infectious

and Mulligan rumbled over from the side

of a ruck to close the gap.

Another burst from Mills created a sliver

of a gap which Mulligan took on his way

to a tremendous individual try, converted

by Wheeler.

SCORERS:

TEMPLE CARRIG – N Griffiths, R Gamble, M

Stewart try each; J Ward pen, 2 cons.

WILSON’S HOSPITAL – C Mulligan 2 tries;

C McKenna try; T Wheeler 2 cons.

TEMPLE CARRIG - Jack Ward; Sam Farrar,

Rhys Morgan, Matthew Stewart, Rhys

Gamble; Darragh Shanahan, Killian Hingerty;

James Noonan, Max Sproul, Cathal Kirby,

Dylan Potts, Nathan Ross, Nathan Griffiths,

Lukas Zdunek, Adam Williams.

Replacements - Daragh Keogh, Andrew

Kieran, Kallum McCormack, Frank O’Shea,

Daniel Stewart, Daniel Mooney, Ryan

McCormack, Jack Caffrey.

WILSON’S - Stephen Cahill; Scott O’Boyle,

Michael Cruise, Callum Mulligan, Jude

Auld; Tom Wheeler, Ciaran McKenna; Joel

Gillanders, Matthew Bruton, Ciaran Byrne,

Finn Davitt, Dan Farrell, Max Ripley, Sam

Mills, Matthew Conlon (Capt).

Replacements – George Flower, Yaw

Appiah, Ross Ashmore, Kevin Donnelly, John

Zumerchik, Joshua Salley, Malcolm O’Boyle,

Eoghan Murray.


FOUNDED: 1892 GROUND: PARIS LA DEFENSE ARENA CAPACITY: 30,000

last time out

Racing 92 30

Harlequins 29

SUNDAY 15 JANUARY 2023 | HEINEKEN CHAMPIONS CUP | ROUND 3 POOL A PARIS LA DEFENSE ARENA | REF: ANDREW BRACE

Le Garrec proves the hero as

Racing defeat Harlequins

Harlequins recovered from

18 points down to lead

Racing 92 in the Heineken

Champions Cup last Sunday,

but a last-gasp Nolann Le

Garrec penalty snatched a

30-29 victory for the TOP

14 side in Paris.

RACING 92: 15. Warrick Gelant; 14. Donovan Taofifenua, 13. Francis Saili, 12.

Gael Fickou (capt), 11. Juan Imhoff; 10. Finn Russell, 9. Nolann Le Garrec; 1. Guram

Gogichashvili, 2. Camille Chat, 3. Cedate Gomes Sa, 4. Cameron Woki, 5. Boris Palu,

6. Ibrahim Diallo, 7. Baptiste Chouzenoux, 8. Maxime Baudonne.

Replacements: 16. Peniami Narisia, 17. Eddy Ben Arous, 18. Trevor Nyakane, 19.

Anthime Hemery, 20. Kitione Kamikamica, 21. Antoine Gibert, 22. Olivier Klemenczak,

23. Max Spring.

HARLEQUINS: 15. Nick David; 14. Cadan Murley, 13. Joe Marchant, 12. Andre

Esterhuizen, 11. Aaron Morris; 10. Marcus Smith, 9. Danny Care; 1. Joe Marler, 2.

Jack Walker, 3. Wilco Louw, 4. Stephan Lewies, 5. Irne Herbst, 6. Luke Wallace, 7. Will

Evans, 8. Alex Dombrandt (capt).

Replacements: 16. George Head, 17. Jordan Els, 18. Simon Kerrod, 19. George

Hammond, 20. Tom Lawday, 21. Lewis Gjaltema, 22. Oscar Beard 23. Will Edwards.

A penalty try completed Quins’

remarkable turnaround with five

minutes to go, with prior scores

Cadan Murley (2) and Danny Care

helping them on their way.

But Racing, who crossed through Gael

Fickou, Kitione Kamikamica and Francis

Saili, hit back seconds later through Le

Garric’s effort despite having 12 men on

the pitch amid three late yellow cards,

one of which went to fly-half Finn Russell

after he had tallied 12 points from the

tee.

Racing struck first after a series of

offloads eventually released full-back

Warrick Gelant on the right, who

unselfishly laid the ball back inside for

centre Fickou to finish.

In contrasting conditions to their Round

2 encounter at a sodden Twickenham

Stoop, both sides were looking for the

offload on the dry, artificial turf at Paris

La Defense Arena, though try-line action

was at premium over the 20 minutes

following Racing’s score.

Fly-half Marcus Smith put Quins on the

board with a penalty on 24 minutes, but

he couldn’t repeat the feat from halfway


moments later after the Racing front row

was dismantled in a scrum.

Quins then looked to have notched their

first try of the game on half an hour

as wing Aaron Morris bundled over

out wide, but a late TMO intervention

chalked the score off amid no clear

grounding.

In a cruel blow for the visitors, Racing

then marched down the other end to

cross for a second time, replacement

back-row forward Kamikamica hitting a

brilliant line to dive over unchallenged.

The hosts took a 14-3 lead into the

second half, and that was increased

20 seconds after the restart as they

exploited a dog leg in the Quins defence

with some fast hands and put centre Saili

over.

Moments after the TMO ruled out

another score, Quins finally dotted down

for the first time on 45 minutes, scrum-half

Care darting round the corner after a

maul was halted just short.

The breathless start to the second half

continued as Racing almost found an

instant response through Juan Imhoff, but

the wing grounded just beyond the Quins

dead-ball line as he raced onto a kick in

behind.

Quins then cut the gap to four points

as Smith threw a brilliant dummy and

scythed through the Racing defence

before teeing up wing Murley, who

finished clinically.

There was a setback moments later,

though, as Morris was sin-binned for

taking Racing counterpart Donovan

Taofifenua out in the air, with a Russell

penalty then extending the home team’s

lead on 55 minutes.

Quins were down to 13 men on 58

minutes as a breathless passage of

play ended with No.8 Alex Dombrandt

infringing metres from his own line, but

they defended heroically to keep Racing

out during their two-man disadvantage.

With 14 men on the pitch, Quins then

produced some scintillating running

rugby to release Murley for his second of

the afternoon, but Smith couldn’t convert

to leave his side trailing 24-22.

Another Russell penalty increased

Racing’s lead to five points, but after

Dombrandt returned, Quins piled on the

pressure.

Taofifenua and replacement prop Eddy

Ben Arous were both sin-binned for

Racing, with Russell then also seeing

yellow as his deliberate knock-on handed

Quins a penalty try.

With three minutes to play against

12 men, Quins led 29-27, but an

infringement seconds after the restart

handed Le Garrec the chance to put

Racing back in front, which he duly took

before his side held on for a dramatic

win.

Both teams’ knockout stage hopes go

down to the final round of pool stage

games next weekend as Racing visit

Leinster Rugby and Harlequins host Cell

C Sharks, both on Saturday.


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Head Coach

Laurent Travers

Travers joined Racing 92 in 2013 after

spells as Head Coach at Montauban and

Castres. Along with Laurent Labit, the duo

led Racing to the Top 14 title in 2016 and

Heineken Champions Cup Finals in 2016

and 2018. Travers took over sole duties

in 2019 and led the team to another

Champions Cup Final the following

season.

Captain

Gaël Fickou

Fickou joined Racing ahead of the 2021-

22 season after spells with Toulouse

and Parisian rivals Stade Francais. The

28-year-old made his international debut

for France as a teenager in 2014, and

he remains a crucial part of Les Bleus as

they continue preparations for this year’s

Rugby World Cup.

racing 92 squad

BIYI ALO

Tight Head Prop

MAXIME BAUDONNE

Back row

EDDY BEN AROUS

Loose Head Prop

ENZO BENMEGAL

Wing

ALEX BONNARD

Hooker

ANTON BRESLER

Lock

NILS CHALIES

Outside half

CAMILLE CHAT

Hooker

HENRY CHAVANCY

Centre

BAPTISTE CHOUZENOUX

Back row

LOUEN COUGOULIC

Scrum half

MAHAMADOU COULIBALY

Flanker

ABEL DA CUNHA

Loose Head Prop

IBRAHIM DIALLO

Back row

ANTOINE DOMERCQ

Outside half/Scrum half

LOUIS DUPICHOT

Full back/Wing

ARTHUR ESPEUT

Centre

GAEL FICKOU

Centre

WARRICK GELANT

Full back

ANTOINE GIBERT

Outside half/Scrum half

GURAM GOGICHASHVILI

Loose Head Prop

CEDATE GOMES SA

Tight Head Prop

ANTHIME HEMERY

No 8

JUAN IMHOFF

Wing

TEDDY IRIBAREN

Scrum half

KITIONE KAMIKAMICA

Flanker

GIA KHARAISHVILI

Tight Head Prop

OLIVIER KLEMENCZAK

Centre

HASSANE KOLINGAR

Loose Head Prop

WENCESLAS LAURET

Back row

NOLANN LE GARREC

Scrum half

BERNARD LE ROUX

Back row

PAUL LERAITRE

Full back

JONATHAN MAÏAU

Hooker

KILIEMO MANUOPUAVA

Tight Head Prop

MARTIN MELIANDE

Outside half

THOMAS MOUKORO

Lock

PÉNIAMI NARISIA

Flanker

TREVOR NYAKANE

Loose Head Prop

ROMAN OUPIN

Wing

ALI OZ

Tight Head Prop

BORIS PALU

Back row/Lock

VEIKOSO POLONIATI

Lock

FINN RUSSELL

Outside half

JASSEM SAGHRI

Back row

FRANCIS SAILI

Centre

SPIKE SALMAN

Tight Head Prop

FABIEN SANCONNIE

Flanker

PHILIPPE SAVELLI

Centre

NAËL SOUID

Back row

MAX SPRING

Full back

LOGAN TABET

Centre

INIA TABUAVOU

Centre

DONOVAN TAOFIFENUA

Full back

JANICK TARRIT

Hooker

ASAELI TUIVUAKA

Full back/Wing

ASTON VAIOTU

Lock

BEN VOLAVOLA

Outside half/Full back

CHRISTIAN WADE

Wing

CAMERON WOKI

Flanker

NOA ZINZEN

Flanker


12 counties

Club in Focus

BY DES BERRY

Portarlington RFC

Portarlington was chosen as

Leinster Junior Club of the

Year for 2021/2022.

And with good reason.

Whenever so many others were

inside sheltering from the monster

Covid became, members of the

club used it as an opportunity to

sink their teeth into some of the

issues that needed resolution.

It is that get-up-and-go attitude that is

a hallmark of a small club with a big,

beating heart.

“If you are not going forward then you

are going backwards and so we are

constantly looking to improve things,

both on and off the pitch,” says Barry

Lambkin, the Director of Rugby.

“We recently installed new LED training

lights and a huge digital scoreboard and

upgraded the showers, while plans are in

place to increase the car parking space

and develop a new outdoor facility for

both training and match catering.

“We recently opened a walking track

which circles our playing pitches and is lit

by motion-activated LED lights. The track

is used by parents during training.

“It is also available for members of the

public to use as part of our campaign

to make Portarlington RFC the centre

of healthy activity for everyone in our

community.

“We have recently built a new gym at

the club which is used by senior and

youths’ teams and all members can

access in their own time.”

It is not just about what Portarlington has

to offer. It is also about what the club has

plans to do.

“We have received planning permission

to extend the dressing rooms and install

match lights to go with the dugouts we

have built on two of the three pitches,”

he adds.

The Laois club is all about the

development of facilities and of people,

reaching out to the community.

The mantra is ‘if your child plays in the

club, this is your family’s club, not just

your child’s club.’


“We encourage families to make use

of the club’s facilities for kids’ birthday

parties or adult celebrations, all aimed at

making people feel that it is a place for

their families to socialise,” adds Barry.

“This develops a feeling of ownership of

the club and makes it easier for them to

step forward as volunteers.”

Putting families at the club’s centre

prompted a recent club trip to the

Leinster-versus-Munster game at the Aviva

Stadium.

Eight coach loads of families from

Portarlington made their way up to

Dublin to cheer on Leo Cullen’s Boys

in Blue and also their U12s boys who

were participating in the half-time minis

exhibition matches.

With 400 people on the trip, it was the

club’s biggest-ever family trip and they

hope to build on it in the future.

Of course, none of the success on the

pitch could be possible without the

army of volunteers who work in the

background.

“Our Chairman David Hainsworth,

Secretary Jackie McNulty and Treasurer

Aidan Egan ensure that the club is

managed in a professional manner,”

says Barry.

“Paul Mannion looks after long-term

planning, Kevin Hyland, Conan Uphill

and Alan Hainsworth ensure that the

clubhouse and grounds are constantly

being developed and maintained to

meet the needs of everyone at the

club.”

Minis blitzes, post-match catering,

teenage discos and social and

fundraising events all require huge

numbers of volunteers.

“Parents and members are always

willing to do their bit to ensure that these

occasions are a huge success,” he shares.


Try Leinster’s Next Big Dish

from Mao At Home today

“Apart from the minis teams for girls,

we have mixed teams for u5s and u7s

and boys teams from u8s to u12s and

numbers are growing consistently thanks

to the hard work of our CCRO Páidí

Mahon.

“Minis in Portarlington is all about

inclusion and fun and so we run some

‘themed’ training sessions including our

Movember Fundraiser which involves

kids wearing fake moustaches at training

and our Santa Hat Day.

“We currently have over 200 minis

at the club. One of the nicest parts of

Minis Rugby in Port is after training on

Wednesdays when parents serve free hot

chocolate to the kids in the clubhouse to

warm them up.

“This gives the kids and parents and

great opportunity to chat and strike up

friendships off the field.”

It says so much about the people in the

club that it also provides a lot of support

to the Leinster Branch in another area.

“We contribute a disproportionately

high number of referees into the Leinster

system for a small club,” he says.

Niall Behan, Clive Wardrop, John

Dunne, Fiona McConn and Keith

Shanahan have committed to playing

their part in supporting the game by

taking up the whistle.

The club has gone out of its way to build

relationships with the local football and

gaelic games clubs to make sure there

is an attitude of cooperation rather than

competition for the time and talent of the

players.

Another sign of Portarlington’s

co-operative outlook is present in

the development of the girls youths

and women’s rugby through an

amalgamation with Cill Dara to form

PortDara, providing success as a club

and producing Leinster and Ireland

players.

“Portarlington is somewhere anyone

in the community can take part in an

inclusive, positive sporting environment,

regardless of ability or economic

circumstances,” says Barry.

“Until there were teams for girls of every

age, it wasn’t entirely inclusive for some

girls. Even when we got to that point.

There wasn’t anywhere for kids in the

club with additional needs.”

Improving the facilities and the

atmosphere of inclusion has clearly

rubbed off on the clubs players too.

Last season, Portarlington’s senior men’s

first team, led by coach Ross Doyle,

managed to win Division 3 of the Leinster

League with an unbeaten campaign,

while the second team also claimed

silverware winning Metro Division 10.

Last summer, Barry and his wife Andrea,

a special needs assistant, invited support

from the locals in starting up Port Eagles

– an inclusion tag rugby team for adults

and kids from our community.

“Led by head coach Mark Murphy

and his team of coaches the group has

around 16 participants at the moment,”

Barry says.

“We also have a Social Inclusion Group

for adults and kids called Bravehearts,

which offers weekly general activities, fun

sessions at the clubhouse for members

of our community. Bravehearts is run

by Therese Doody and many of our

Bravehearts also play with the Eagles.

“We can now finally say there is a team

for everyone in the community.”


KNOWING WHAT ADVICE TO TAKE

IS ESSENTIAL IN THIS GAME.

OFFICIAL LEGAL ADVISOR

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

beauchamps.ie

Leinster players feature strongly

in Under-20 Six Nations squad

16 Leinster Rugby players have

been included in the 32-man

squad selected by Richie Murphy

for the upcoming Under-20 Six

Nations.

Leinster’s Gus McCarthy (pictured)

has been named as captain ahead of

Ireland’s opening fixture against Wales in

Colwyn Bay on Friday, 3 February (Kickoff

7pm, live on Virgin Media).

Leinster duo Diarmuid Mangan and

Conor O’Tighearnaigh (pictured),

as well as Ulster back row James

McNabney, were part of last season’s

Grand Slam-winning squad, while a

further four players are named in the

2023 Championship squad having

featured during the U20 Summer Series

in Italy last June, including Leinster’s Sam

Prendergast and George Hadden.

The Ireland squad have been building

towards the Six Nations through a series

of camps at the IRFU High Performance

Centre, while Challenge Matches against

Italy, Munster Development and Leinster

Development over the Christmas period

have aided preparations.

Ireland kick off the Six Nations away in

Wales, before hosting France in Round 2

at Musgrave Park on Friday, 10 February

(Kick-off 8pm, live on RTÉ 2).

Murphy’s side will then go head-to-head

with Italy on Friday, 24 February in

Treviso (Kick-off 7.15pm, RTÉ 2), before

concluding the Championship away to

Scotland on Friday, 10 March (Kick-off

7.15pm, RTÉ 2) and at home to England

in Cork on Sunday, 19 March (Kick-off

5pm, Virgin Media).

Ireland U20s Squad:

Forwards

Backs

George Morris (Lansdowne/Leinster) Jack Oliver (Garryowen/Munster)

George Hadden (Clontarf/Leinster) Oscar Cawley (Naas/Leinster)

Gus McCarthy (UCD/Leinster)(captain) Fintan Gunne (Terenure/Leinster)

Conall Henchy (DUFC/Munster) Sam Prendergast (Lansdowne/Leinster)

Danny Sheahan (UCC/Munster) Matthew Lynch (DUFC/Leinster)

Ronan Foxe (Old Belvedere/Leinster) Harry West (Buccaneers/Connacht)

Fiachna Barrett (Corinthians/Connacht) Sam Berman (DUFC/Leinster)

Paddy McCarthy (DUFC/Leinster) Hugh Gavin (Galwegians/Connacht)

Conor O’Tighearnaigh (DUFC/Leinster) Hugh Cooney (Clontarf/Leinster)

Charlie Irvine (Queen’s University/Ulster) John Devine (Corinthians/Connacht)

Evan O’Connell (UL Bohemians/Munster) Ike Anagu (La Rochelle/IQ Rugby)

Joe Hopes (Queen’s University/Ulster) James Nicholson (UCD/Leinster)

Jacob Sheahan (UCC/Munster)

Rory Telfer (Queen’s University/Ulster)

Diarmuid Mangan (UCD/Leinster) Henry McErlean (Terenure/Leinster)

Ruadhán Quinn (Old Crescent/Munster) Noah Sheridan (Clontarf/Leinster)

James McNabney (Ballymena/Ulster)

Brian Gleeson (Garryowen/Munster)

Ireland U20 Fixtures:

Friday, 3 February: Wales v Ireland, Colwyn Bay, 7pm (Virgin Media)

Friday, 10 February: Ireland v France, Musgrave Park, 8pm (RTÉ)

Friday, 24 February: Italy v Ireland, Stadio Comunale di Monigo, 7.15pm (RTÉ)

Friday, 10 March: Scotland v Ireland, Scotstoun Stadium, 7.15pm (RTÉ)

Sunday, 19 March: Ireland v England, Musgrave Park, 5pm (Virgin Media).



M

Rory

cGuire

THE ACADEMY

INTERVIEW

BY PAUL CAHILL

Every players path

into the Leinster Rugby

Academy is unique and has

different twists and turns

along the way. Not many

started their journey in

the game at 14 after living

abroad for eight years.


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But, Rory McGuire isn’t fazed

by much. He doesn’t get carried

away with the highs, and he

doesn’t let the setbacks drag him

down either.

A pretty good mindset for an aspiring

athlete.

When Rory was just six years of age,

his father, Hugh, relocated to Chicago

for work. So, the whole McGuire family

packed up and moved to a small town

north of the windy city.

Along with mum, Sue, brother Donnacha

and sisters Aoife and Grace, they began

their adventure in the USA.

While he couldn’t start his rugby

journey in Chicago, there were plenty

of other sports that would help in his

development.

“I played all of the classic American

sports,” says the Leinster Rugby Academy

prop.

“I played American football, ice-hockey

during the winter, basketball and

volleyball in the spring. Those were the

main sports in my school.”

Without knowing it, McGuire was putting

in good groundwork for becoming a

rugby player.

“There are lots of skills you can pick up

from other sports that are transferable.

The physicality of American football, the

hand eye co-ordination you learn from

basketball and volleyball.

“Although, I wasn’t very good at

volleyball,” he quicky adds.

Despite being on the other side of the

Atlantic Ocean, rugby was still a big

presence in the McGuire house.

“My dad played club rugby when

he was younger and he has always

been big into it. So we watched

a lot of rugby when we were in

America.

“We’d get up early to watch

the big games. I remember

when Ireland played Wales

in the 2011 World Cup, it

was a 3am kick off and our

house was packed with Irish

people. That was great.

“We always had a rugby ball in our

house but there were no clubs near us so

we never had a chance to play.

“We would always come home for the

whole summer so we always went to a

few games while we were back. In 2015

we were in Ireland and we flew over to

two Rugby World Cup quarter-finals.

“Dad and I went over to Cardiff for the

weekend and we caught the Ireland

v Argentina game and the New

Zealand v France game so that was

amazing.”

In the summer of 2016, the

McGuire family were ready to

return to Ireland.

Rory, who was now 14 years

old, was enrolled in Blackrock

College. He knew he wanted

to play rugby from day one, and

despite being a bit green behind the

ears, there’s no doubt the coaches

were excited by the large frame of the

now ex-American footballer.


“I was quite big when I went into second

year. I was probably 6’ 2” and pretty

heavy for my age.

“When I started playing rugby I knew

how to tackle and how to carry and I

knew most of the rules from watching so

many games, but I just learned as I went.

I made a lot of mistakes in my first year

but I really enjoyed it.”

Having become used to the speed of a

Blackrock College training session and

having learned from his mistakes, it wasn’t

long until McGuire was impressing.

“I was with the ‘A’ team for the second

half of the year. The following year I

started in the second row for the Junior

Cup team. When I was in fourth year,

I was moved to the front row. So it all

progressed along quite quickly.”

It didn’t take too long for representative

honours to come Rory’s way.

In transition year, which was just his third

year playing the game, he was selected

on the Irish Schools and Clubs side.

“I was a year younger than the others

but there were a few injuries so I got my

chance. Joe McCarthy was on the team

who was in 6th year at the time.

“We played two games against England

Counties. One game was in Ashbourne

and the other was in Donnybrook. They

were a lot bigger than I was but it was a

great experience.

“That was my last representative rugby

because Covid meant that there was no

U-18s or U-19s teams. My next selection

was for the Irish U-20s.”

The Covid delay meant that there was no

Bank of Ireland Leinster Rugby Schools

Senior Cup in 2021. Even with this blow,

McGuire still took the positives.

“I only got to play one game of rugby

in 6th year. We were able to train right

through the year and that really stood

to me.”

That following year was to be particularly

memorable for the young prop.

The first task at hand was to get noticed

by the Irish U-20s coaches despite not

getting to play any competitive rugby for

quite some time.

“After we finished school, I went straight

into the Ken Wall Centre of Excellence

for an Irish U-20s camp which was on all

summer.

“We trained through July and then had a

trial game in August against the Leinster

U-19s. We had three more challenge

games. At the end of that cycle we all

went back into our clubs.

“I went to UCD. I was usually subbing

for the seniors on a Saturday and then

playing with the U-20s on the Sunday.

“Halfway through that season, the Irish

U-20 camps kicked off again and that

was an intense few months but it was

incredible.”

After all of that hard work, McGuire was

selected for the U-20s Six Nations squad

who would go on to claim a Grand Slam.

“Winning that at home was a special

day. It was a full house in Cork, live on

TV and I had a lot of my family there. We

have a big family and they’re great. They

come to so many of my games.


Winning that

at home was

a special day.

It was a full

house in Cork,

live on TV and I

had a lot of my

family there.

“When I think back to it, you don’t really

take in what a big deal it all is. When

you’re on the pitch you’re just focused.

But, the experience at the end was

amazing.

“Even throughout the tournament, just

living with the lads in hotels. You’re just

with your mates for months on end. I’ll

never forget it.”

While that tournament brought memories

that will last a lifetime, it was only a

stepping stone to the ultimate goal;

becoming a professional rugby player.

Luckily for McGuire, that next step didn’t

take long in coming.

“After the Six Nations we were given a

week off. We all had meetings with our

provinces after that. I came in to meet

Dave Fagan and Simon Broughton and

they offered my an Academy contract,

so I quickly said yes.

“I didn’t know if I would get one

because there was a lot of competition

last year.”

Being told that you are getting a Leinster

Rugby Academy contract is the dream

for so many young rugby players, and

everyone reacts differently.

Some are overwhelmed. Some can’t wait

to get out and tell everyone they know.

But, Rory McGuire once again showed

how level headed he really is.

“I don’t think I rang anybody. I think I just

went home,” he says with a laugh.

“My mum and dad were at home when I

got there, so I told them when I got in. I’m

not a big man for celebrating. My parents

told the extended family so they all knew

but I was just happy with myself.”

A number of the Leinster based members

of the 2022 Ireland U-20s Grand Slam

winning team make up the current year

one Academy players.

But, Rory has a lot in common with two

players in particular as he has rarely

stepped on a rugby pitch without Ben

Brownlee and James Culhane.

“I was in school with Ben and James and

we all got offered the Academy contract

around the same time.

“I’ve been on the same team as Ben

and James since we were 14 so we’ve

done it all together which is cool. We’ve

basically played on the same teams

every single year.”

Since entering the Leinster Rugby

Academy, Rory has picked up a few

niggly injuries which have prevented him

from getting much game time.

Now that he is back fit, he isn’t worried

about any time lost.

“There’s always a few small setbacks but

there’s no point in getting annoyed about

it. That never helps.”

Wise words from the 20-year-old.

So after a whirlwind 2022, what are the

plans for 2023?

“The aim is to get a good stretch of

games with UCD in the Energia All-

Ireland League. We’re mid-table at the

moment so I hope to help them up the

table a bit. We’re not that far off it at all.

“I will be moving up to UCD to train in

the senior setup next week and I’m really

looking forward to that.

“So if I can get plenty of games under my

belt and some training with Leinster up in

UCD, I’ll be quite happy.”

With a cool head on his shoulders, you

can be sure he’ll take each step as it

comes.


Leinster

Rugby

Academy

Year

Three:


Marcus Hanan (3) #1295

DOB 3 July 2000

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 (11) #1307


FROM Belfast

HEIGHT 1.85m ( 6’ 0”)


POSITION Hooker

SCHOOL Campbell College

CLUB Terenure College RFC


Seán O’Brien (3) #1297

DOB 31 July 2000

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 (10) #1291


FROM Long Island, USA

HEIGHT 1.86m (6’ 1”)


POSITION Full-back

SCHOOL St Gerard’s School

CLUB DUFC


Andrew Smith (2) #1292

DOB 21 July 2000

FROM Dublin

HEIGHT 1.8 m (5’ 11”)


POSITION Back Three

SCHOOL St Michael’s College

CLUB Clontarf FC


Leinster

Rugby

Academy

Year

Two:

Alex Soroka (7) #1296


FROM Cork

HEIGHT 1.95m (6’ 5”)


POSITION Back Row

SCHOOL Belvedere College

CLUB Clontarf FC


Jack Boyle

DOB 10 March 2002

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 (4) #1305

DOB 24 July 2001

FROM Dublin

HEIGHT 1.85m (6’ 0”)


POSITION Back Three


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

DOB 23 April 2001

FROM Bray

HEIGHT 1.76m (5’ 8”)


POSITION Scrum-half

SCHOOL Presentation College, Bray

CLUB Clontarf FC


Leinster

Rugby

Academy

Year

One:

Rob Russell (13) #1302

DOB 13 January 1999

FROM Dublin

HEIGHT 1.83m (6’ 0”)


POSITION Back Three


CLUB DUFC


Ben Brownlee (1) #1313


FROM Dublin

HEIGHT 1.87m (6’ 2”)


POSITION Centre


CLUB UCD RFC


James Culhane

DOB 22 October 2002

FROM Enniskerry, Co Wicklow

HEIGHT 1.94m (6’ 4”)


POSITION Back Row


CLUB UCD RFC


Aitzol Arenzana-King

DOB 15 June 2002

FROM Gormanston, Co Meath

HEIGHT 1.91m (6’ 3”)


POSITION Back Three

SCHOOL Gormanston College/CUS

CLUB Clontarf FC/Balbriggan RFC


Diarmuid Mangan

DOB 6 March 2003

FROM Kildare

HEIGHT 1.93 m (6’ 4”)


POSITION Back Row

SCHOOL Newbridge College

CLUB UCD RFC


Rory McGuire

DOB 26 August 2002

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 (2) #1314

DOB 28 March 2002

FROM Wexford

HEIGHT 1.89 m (6’ 2”)


POSITION Out-half

SCHOOL Kilkenny College

CLUB Lansdowne FC



fixtures and

results 2022/23

Date

17/09

23/09

30/09

08/10

14/10

22/10

28/10

26/11

03/12

10/12

16/12

26/12

01/01

07/01

14/01

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

W

42-10 URC BENETTON RDS Arena O’BRIEN LARMOUR RINGROSE HENSHAW KEARNEY FRAWLEY

3C

W

13-20 URC ULSTER Kingspan

Stadium

W

54-34

URC

CELL C

SHARKS

O’BRIEN LARMOUR RINGROSE HENSHAW KEARNEY

RDS Arena O’BRIEN LARMOUR

HENSHAW

1T

NGATAI

RUSSELL

1T

R. BYRNE

2C 2P

SEXTON

1T, 7C

W

0-10 URC CONNACHT Sportsground O’BRIEN TURNER RINGROSE NGATAI RUSSELL R. BYRNE

1C

W

27-13 URC MUNSTER Aviva

Stadium

W

5-35 URC SCARLETS Parc y

Scarlets

FRAWLEY O’BRIEN RINGROSE HENSHAW OSBORNE

COSGRAVE

1T

RUSSELL

1T

W

40-5 URC GLASGOW RDS Arena OSBORNE RUSSELL

3T

TURNER NGATAI KEARNEY

TURNER

W

38-29 URC ULSTER RDS Arena KEENAN O’BRIEN RINGROSE

2T

W

10-42 HCC RACING 92 Stade

Océane

KEENAN

O’BRIEN

RINGROSE

1T

NGATAI

OSBORNE

NGATAI

KEARNEY

1T

W

57-0 HCC GLOUCESTER RDS Arena KEENAN O’BRIEN RINGROSE NGATAI LOWE

2T

W

19-20 URC MUNSTER Thomond

Park

W

41-12 URC CONNACHT RDS Arena O’BRIEN LARMOUR

(2T)

W

19-24 URC OSPREYS Swansea.

com Stadium

LOWE

1T

LOWE

KEENAN O’BRIEN RINGROSE OSBORNE LOWE

KEENAN

(1T)

W

14-49 HCC GLOUCESTER Kingsholm KEENAN

(1T)

21/01 15:15 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

Aviva

Stadium

RDS Arena

RDS Arena

DAM Health

Stadium

RDS Arena

Emirates

Airline Park

Loftus

Versfeld

TURNER

(1T)

NGATAI

LARMOUR OSBORNE NGATAI

LARMOUR

(1T)

RINGROSE

OSBORNE

(1T)

RUSSELL

(1T)

O’BRIEN

(1T)

O’BRIEN

SEXTON

2C, 1P

R. BYRNE

3C

R. BYRNE

4C

R BYRNE

5C, 1P

R BYRNE

4C

R BYRNE

5C

R BYRNE

2P, 2C

SEXTON

(2C)

H. BYRNE

(1P, 1C)

R. BYRNE

(5C)

MCGRATH

1T

MCGRATH

1T

MCGRATH

MCGRATH

FOLEY

1T

MCGRATH

1T

E BYRNE

PORTER

PORTER

PORTER

1T

KELLEHER

SHEEHAN

4T

SHEEHAN

1T

SHEEHAN

E. BYRNE SHEEHAN

HEALY

SHEEHAN

1T

MCGRATH E. BYRNE MCKEE

MCGRATH E. BYRNE KELLEHER

GIBSON-PARK

GIBSON-PARK

MCGRATH

1T

N MCCARTHY

HEALY

PORTER

1T

PORTER

PORTER

KELLEHER

1T

SHEEHAN

1T

KELLEHER

2T

SHEEHAN

1T

GIBSON-PARK MILNE KELLEHER

FOLEY

HEALY

SHEEHAN

(1T)

GIBSON-PARK PORTER SHEEHAN


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

ALAALATOA

MOLONY

JENKINS

1T

RUDDOCK

T2

ALAALATOA MOLONY JENKINS BAIRD

ALAALATOA MOLONY JENKINS

ALAALATOA

MOLONY

JENKINS

2T

BAIRD

1T

PENNY DEEGAN MCKEE MILNE ABDALADZE DEENY SOROKA MCCARTHY FRAWLEY CONNORS

VAN DER FLIER

1T

DORIS KELLEHER E. BYRNE HEALY MCCARTHY CONNORS FOLEY

R. BYRNE

3C

NGATAI

VAN DER FLIER CONAN MCKEE E. BYRNE ABDALADZE RYAN CONNORS MCCARTHY SEXTON NGATAI

BAIRD CONNORS RUDDOCK

MCKEE

1T

HEALY ABDALADZE RYAN MOLONEY FOLEY BYRNE

FURLONG MOLONY RYAN DORIS VAN DER FLIER CONAN MCKEE PORTER ALAALATOA MCCARTHY MOLONEY MCCARTHY

ALA’ALATOA JENKINS RYAN DEEGAN

CLARKSON

1T

PENNY

1T

FRAWLEY

1P

DORRIS MCKEE PORTER CLARKSON MOLONY CONAN MCCARTHY R. BYRNE

RINGROSE

2T

HENSHAW

MOLONY JENKINS RUDDOCK PENNY DEEGAN MCELROY MILNE ABDALADZE DEENY MOLONEY MCCARTHY TECTOR BROWNLEE

CLARKSON MOLONY MCCARTHY RUDDOCK PENNY DEEGAN

MCKEE

1T

ALA’ALATOA RYAN JENKINS BAIRD VAN DER FLIER CONAN SHEEHAN

ALA’ALATOA RYAN JENKINS BAIRD

ALA’ALATOA

MOLONY

RYAN

1T

DORIS

1T

HEALY BAIRD J MCCARTHY RUDDOCK

ALA’ALATOA

DEENY

(1T)

RYAN

BAIRD

(1T)

VAN DER FLIER

2T

VAN DE FLIER

1T

PENNY

1T

VAN DER FLIER

(1T)

DORIS

KELLEHER

MILNE

1T

PORTER

1T

E BYRNE

1T

ABDALADZE JENKINS BAIRD FOLEY

H. BYRNE

1C

RUSSELL

1T

COSGRAVE

FURLONG MOLONY DORIS MCCARTHY TECTOR TURNER

HEALY MOLONY CONAN MCGRATH

CONAN SHEEHAN E. BYRNE HEALY J MCCARTHY DEEGAN GIBSON-PARK

H BYRNE

2C

SEXTON

1C

OSBORNE

LARMOUR

1T

DEEGAN MCKEE MILNE ABDALADZE MOLONY CONAN MCGRATH H BYRNE TURNER

DORIS MCKEE PORTER ABDALADZE SOROKA PENNY FOLEY

ALA’ALATOA MOLONY DEENY RUDDOCK PENNY CONAN MCKEE MILNE ABDALADZE RYAN VAN DER FLIER MCCARTHY

ALA’ALATOA

(1T)

MOLONY RYAN BAIRD

VAN DER FLIER

(1T)

DORIS

(1T)

KELLEHER

(1T)

MILNE HEALY DEENY CONAN MCCARTHY

H. BYRNE

(1C)

R. BYRNE

(2C)

H. BYRNE

(2C)

OSBORNE

RUSSELL

TURNER


Parting Shot

14 January 2023

Cian Healy speaks to BT Sport’s

Jill Douglas after being presented

with his EPCR 100th cap, following

the Heineken Champions Cup

win against Gloucester Rugby last

weekend.

TISSOT SUPERSPORT CHRONO.

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