Leinster Rugby vs DHL Stormers
Leinster | Official Matchday Programme of Leinster Rugby | Issue 11 Leinster Rugby vs DHL Stormers | BKT United Rugby Championship Friday 24th March, 2023 | KO 7.35pm | RDS Arena
Leinster | Official Matchday Programme of Leinster Rugby | Issue 11
Leinster Rugby vs DHL Stormers | BKT United Rugby Championship
Friday 24th March, 2023 | KO 7.35pm | RDS Arena
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VSLEINSTER<br />
ISSUE 11 | LEINSTER RUGBY OFFICIAL MATCHDAY PROGRAMME<br />
VS<br />
<strong>DHL</strong><br />
<strong>Stormers</strong><br />
FRI 24 th MARCH<br />
RDS ARENA<br />
KO 7.35PM
Our People, Our Home<br />
TWELVE COUNTIES. ONE SHIRT.<br />
Aaron Craig<br />
From a lad wearing <strong>Leinster</strong> blue to the RDS, to<br />
designing this season’s shirt. Aaron Craig’s journey has<br />
been amazing. The adidas Designer talks us through<br />
his design and what it means to create the shirt for his<br />
boyhood club.<br />
How did you begin working with adidas?<br />
When I was at the National College of Art and Design Dublin, I learned<br />
of adidas’ intern program. A lifelong fan of the brand, I knew it was an<br />
amazing opportunity. Luckily, I got to join adidas as an intern in 2016<br />
and I’ve been in Herzogenaurach (adidas HQ) ever since. I’m now a<br />
licensed apparel designer for some of the biggest teams in the world.<br />
What drew you to this project?<br />
<strong>Leinster</strong> asked if there were any Irish designers at adidas HQ they<br />
could collaborate with. For a lad who comes from <strong>Leinster</strong> that grew<br />
up supporting the team, this was a massive bucket list moment. My<br />
grandfather even worked the entrance gates the RDS and Donnybrook<br />
for years.<br />
What was your inspiration for the design?<br />
The inspiration came quite naturally. Each county of <strong>Leinster</strong> was to be<br />
represented equally with their heraldic crests – instantly recognisable<br />
symbols. I wanted to recount my own <strong>Leinster</strong> memories too. That<br />
meant introducing the darker blue sleeves and the collegiate gold<br />
detailing. To me, it’s a design that could be worn by players from any<br />
generation, from O’Driscoll to Sexton.<br />
How do you keep designs fresh year on year?<br />
We work closely with clubs to find authentic and fresh stories. At<br />
adidas, we also want to be at the forefront of performance technologies<br />
and sustainability. So every year we work to combine the two.<br />
Which design excited you the most?<br />
On a professional level, I designed the Spanish national team kits for<br />
the World Cup this season. The biggest sporting event there is. But,<br />
on a personal level, being part of the first adidas Celtic jersey in 2020<br />
and now seeing the framed <strong>Leinster</strong> kits in my parents’ home in Dublin<br />
might just be level with the World Cup.<br />
How does it feel to see your designs worn by thousands of fans?<br />
Seeing your jersey enjoyed by fans is definitely one of the most<br />
rewarding aspects of our jobs. Seeing people of all ages around Dublin<br />
on game day. Outside the pubs and cafés around the RDS. It’s a real<br />
pinch yourself moment for sure.
Newstead Building A,<br />
UCD,<br />
Belfield,<br />
Dublin 4<br />
#LEIVSTO<br />
The Line up<br />
Telephone:<br />
012693224<br />
Fax:<br />
012693142<br />
E-mail:<br />
information@leinsterrugby.ie<br />
www.leinsterrugby.ie<br />
10<br />
34<br />
EXECUTIVE MANAGEMENT<br />
President: Debbie Carty<br />
Chief Executive: Shane Nolan<br />
Honorary Secretary: Stuart Bayley<br />
Honorary Treasurer: Michael McGrail<br />
RUGBY MANAGEMENT<br />
Head Coach: Leo Cullen<br />
Senior Coach: Stuart Lancaster<br />
Head of <strong>Rugby</strong> Operations:<br />
Guy Easterby<br />
Assistant Coach: Robin McBryde<br />
Backs Coach: Andrew Goodman<br />
Kicking Coach: Emmet Farrell<br />
Contact Skills Coach: Seán O’Brien<br />
14<br />
PROGRAMME CREDITS<br />
Editorial Team: Marcus Ó Buachalla<br />
& Daniel Kelly<br />
Advertising: Gary Nolan<br />
Design: Julian Tredinnick,<br />
Ignition Sports Media<br />
Photography: Sportsfile<br />
Chief Steward: Sword Security<br />
Ambulance: St. John’s Ambulance<br />
Medilink<br />
Event Control & Safety Services:<br />
Eamonn O’Boyle & Associates<br />
62<br />
86<br />
STAY<br />
CONNECTED<br />
& KEEP<br />
UP-TO-DATE<br />
www.leinsterrugby.ie | 3
Debbie Carty welcome<br />
PRESIDENT, LEINSTER RUGBY 2022/23<br />
On behalf of <strong>Leinster</strong> <strong>Rugby</strong>, I<br />
would like to welcome you all to<br />
the RDS Arena for this evening’s<br />
match against <strong>DHL</strong> <strong>Stormers</strong> in<br />
Round 16 of this season’s BKT URC.<br />
In particular, I wish to extend a<br />
warm welcome to Dublin to our<br />
South African visitors, to their<br />
Chairperson, to the squad, their<br />
Head Coach John Dobson and<br />
their management team and<br />
hope you are enjoying your visit<br />
here for the URC competition.<br />
<strong>Leinster</strong> have won their last fifteen<br />
matches in the URC and are now into the<br />
Round of 16 in the Heineken Champions<br />
Cup, I would like to congratulate the<br />
<strong>Leinster</strong> squad on their wins to date.<br />
<strong>Leinster</strong> are leading in the URC, and<br />
will be confident heading into tonight’s<br />
match. We also expect the <strong>DHL</strong><br />
<strong>Stormers</strong> to be very confident as they<br />
themselves are playing very well in the<br />
URC winning a majority of their games<br />
in the URC. We expect tonight to be a<br />
challenging and physical match as we<br />
strive to take back the League title.<br />
It’s an extremely busy time for <strong>Rugby</strong>,<br />
having just played and won the Six<br />
Nations last week, but we will be<br />
missing a few key players, but I have no<br />
doubt that with the depth in the <strong>Leinster</strong><br />
squad, we will handle the challenge of<br />
meeting the <strong>Stormers</strong> tonight.<br />
I would like congratulate Andy Farrell,<br />
his coaching staff and of course the<br />
players on their outstanding results by<br />
winning the Six Nations with a Triple<br />
Crown and Grand Slam win in the Final<br />
match in the Aviva against England on<br />
St. Patrick’s weekend.<br />
On that note can I congratulate <strong>Leinster</strong><br />
Players Garry Ringrose and Josh van<br />
der Flier on receiving their 50th Caps<br />
after the Ireland v England game last<br />
week. I’d also like to congratulate<br />
Johnny Sexton on breaking the record<br />
for most points scored during the Six<br />
Nations.<br />
Irish rugby is in a great place at the<br />
moment, and it was brilliant to see our<br />
U20 team also win the Grand Slam last<br />
weekend. Their win in Cork meant it was<br />
back-to-back Grand Slams for Richie<br />
Murphy’s team.<br />
On the domestic front, a number of<br />
the <strong>Leinster</strong> Leagues, Metro Leagues<br />
and Schools matches will be played<br />
this weekend, with a number of the<br />
competitions coming down to the last<br />
match. It will be an exciting weekend in<br />
the domestic game.<br />
On the Schools front, a huge well done<br />
to Declan Fassbender, Martin Fenlon<br />
and the rest of their coaching squad<br />
on a phenomenal win with Gonzaga<br />
beating Blackrock College in the SCT.<br />
In the Bank of Ireland Provincial Towns<br />
Cup, we are down to the last four teams<br />
for the Semi Finals, with those games<br />
set for being played on9 April. A<br />
very competitive local derby between<br />
Carlow and Tullow is the pick of the ties,<br />
as Cill Dara play last year’s winners<br />
Kilkenny. I would advise you all to get<br />
down to your local club for what will be<br />
some cracking games of <strong>Rugby</strong>.<br />
I would like to welcome to the RDS this<br />
evening the mini rugby teams who will<br />
play at half time in the Bank of Ireland<br />
Mini Games. To the players from Birr,<br />
Longford, Naas and Newbridge rugby<br />
clubs, your coaches and parents, I<br />
know you will all enjoy the occasion. I<br />
would ask all supporters to show your<br />
appreciation and cheer on these young<br />
stars of the future.<br />
To our title sponsor Bank of Ireland,<br />
great patrons of both our professional<br />
and domestic games, who along with<br />
all our premium partners and suppliers,<br />
who do so much to support <strong>Leinster</strong><br />
<strong>Rugby</strong>, I offer my sincere thanks.<br />
Finally, to you the fans, our Season<br />
Ticket Holders, members of the Official<br />
<strong>Leinster</strong> Supporters Club and Friends of<br />
<strong>Leinster</strong>, I thank you for the contribution<br />
you make on match days. I am sure this<br />
evening will be no different as you get<br />
the roar going and the flags waving to<br />
cheer on “the Boys in Blue” to another<br />
victory. Let us hope for an energetic,<br />
exciting and injury free match tonight.<br />
Debbie Carty<br />
<strong>Leinster</strong> <strong>Rugby</strong> President 2022/23<br />
4 | www.leinsterrugby.ie
I have no<br />
doubt that<br />
with the<br />
depth in the<br />
<strong>Leinster</strong><br />
squad, we<br />
will handle<br />
the challenge<br />
of meeting<br />
the <strong>Stormers</strong><br />
tonight.<br />
www.leinsterrugby.ie | 5
Leo Cullen<br />
head Coach Welcome<br />
Good evening and a warm RDS<br />
Arena welcome, for the first<br />
time ever, to John Dobson and<br />
his URC Championship-winning<br />
<strong>DHL</strong> <strong>Stormers</strong>.<br />
Our South African visitors played<br />
some wonderful rugby on their<br />
way to winning last season’s<br />
tournament and we know only<br />
too well that tonight represents<br />
one of our sternest tests so far this<br />
season.<br />
What a weekend of action for Irish rugby<br />
that was. A huge congratulations to Andy<br />
Farrell, Johnny Sexton and all the squad<br />
on becoming only the fourth Irish team in<br />
6 | www.leinsterrugby.ie<br />
history to win the Grand Slam (and the<br />
first to clinch the big prize in Dublin).<br />
Congratulations also to Richie Murphy,<br />
captain Gus McCarthy, and the rest of<br />
the Ireland U-20s on winning their own<br />
Grand Slam.<br />
I was lucky enough to be at the Aviva<br />
with my wife last Saturday, so I got a real<br />
supporter’s sense of what an amazing,<br />
special occasion it was. The Irish team got<br />
an incredible reception from the crowd<br />
right from the off.<br />
It really makes you appreciate how lucky<br />
we are to play in front of such enthusiastic<br />
fans. Hopefully we’ll get some more of<br />
that atmosphere tonight!<br />
Congratulations to Andrew Porter,<br />
Josh van der Flier, James Ryan and<br />
Garry Ringrose, all of whom reached<br />
the 50-cap mark for Ireland during<br />
the tournament. Congratulations also<br />
to Johnny on becoming the highest<br />
points scorer in Six Nations history –<br />
another brilliant achievement in a truly<br />
outstanding career.<br />
Amidst the joy of last weekend, there<br />
was also a poignant moment as the<br />
faces of four great rugby men who<br />
recently passed away appeared<br />
on screen.<br />
Our deepest condolences go<br />
out to the families of Caleb<br />
Powell, Niall Brophy, Tom<br />
Tierney and Brian O’Brien, who<br />
are all sadly missed. I was fortunate to<br />
meet all four over the years and that is<br />
one of the beauties of this game – we get<br />
to know so many great characters. May<br />
they all rest in peace.<br />
A big thanks to everyone who made<br />
the trip over to Edinburgh for our most<br />
recent outing in the BKT United <strong>Rugby</strong><br />
Championship. It gave us a real lift to see<br />
so many <strong>Leinster</strong> flags and shirts in the<br />
crowd, and I was proud of the way our<br />
guys responded to bring home a really<br />
hard-earned bonus point win.<br />
Thanks as ever to our sponsors,<br />
particularly Bank of Ireland. We’re<br />
always delighted to see our<br />
corporate partners enjoying the<br />
match day experience and the<br />
bigger the occasion, the better.<br />
We hope you get to enjoy this<br />
season’s run-in and all that<br />
goes with it.<br />
Finally, a heart-felt thanks to<br />
all our supporters, friends and<br />
families who have our back<br />
through thick and thin. Your<br />
support makes days like this so<br />
special and we love making<br />
you proud.<br />
We’ve worked hard this season<br />
to give ourselves a good platform<br />
and now it’s all about delivering.<br />
Enjoy the game.<br />
Leo
It really<br />
makes you<br />
appreciate<br />
how lucky we<br />
are to play in<br />
front of such<br />
enthusiastic<br />
fans.<br />
Hopefully<br />
we’ll get<br />
some more<br />
of that<br />
atmosphere<br />
tonight!<br />
www.leinsterrugby.ie | 7
laura<br />
lynch<br />
BANK OF IRELAND<br />
CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER<br />
A very warm<br />
welcome to the<br />
rds arena from<br />
Bank of Ireland as<br />
we look forward<br />
to this evening’s<br />
fixture.<br />
Bank of Ireland are proud partners to <strong>Leinster</strong><br />
<strong>Rugby</strong>. Like us, they are rooted in local communities<br />
across the 12 counties of <strong>Leinster</strong>.<br />
We are delighted to support Leo Cullen and his coaching<br />
team in building <strong>Leinster</strong> <strong>Rugby</strong> through clubs and schools,<br />
developing home grown talent and always ensuring that<br />
<strong>Leinster</strong> #NeverStopCompeting.<br />
Much of that amazing talent will be on display on the pitch this<br />
evening.<br />
We wish <strong>Leinster</strong> <strong>Rugby</strong> every success, and hope that you<br />
enjoy the game.<br />
Laura Lynch.<br />
BANK OF IRELAND<br />
CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER<br />
www.leinsterrugby.ie | 9
Did you<br />
know?<br />
• <strong>Leinster</strong> <strong>Rugby</strong> have<br />
won all nineteen matches<br />
they have played in all<br />
tournaments this season,<br />
fifteen with maximum points.<br />
• The <strong>Leinster</strong>men’s only<br />
defeat at the RDS Arena<br />
since November 2021 was<br />
by a solitary point in last<br />
season’s BKT United <strong>Rugby</strong><br />
Championship semi final<br />
against Vodacom Bulls.<br />
• <strong>Leinster</strong> have won the<br />
only game they have played<br />
this season against a South<br />
African opponent beating<br />
Cell C Sharks at the RDS in<br />
October to end a three-game<br />
losing streak against SA<br />
franchises.<br />
• <strong>DHL</strong> <strong>Stormers</strong> have won<br />
their last three Vodacom<br />
United <strong>Rugby</strong> Championship<br />
encounters since their 5-35<br />
reversal to Ulster in Belfast<br />
at the end of January.<br />
• <strong>Stormers</strong> have faced Irish<br />
opponents on seven previous<br />
occasions, winning the four<br />
played in South African and<br />
losing the three played in<br />
the Northern Hemisphere.<br />
• The two sides have met just<br />
once before, in Cape Town<br />
last April, with the home<br />
side winning 20-13.<br />
COMPARISON<br />
Overall URC head-to-head record:<br />
Played 1, <strong>Stormers</strong> won 1.<br />
Last 3 URC results:<br />
28 Jan - Cardiff <strong>Rugby</strong> (H) W 38-14 4 Feb - Sharks (A) W 46-19<br />
18 Feb - Dragons (H) W 43-14 18 Feb - Bulls (A) W 23-19<br />
4 Mar - Edinburgh (A) W 47-27 4 Mar - Sharks (H) W 29-23<br />
URC 2022/23<br />
1ST - W15 D0 L0 - 71PTS<br />
2ND - W11 D1 L3 - 59PTS<br />
WWWWWW (28pts)<br />
URC form<br />
WLLWWW (20pts)<br />
Top try scorer<br />
8 - Dan Sheehan, Rob Russell 5 - Junior Pokomela, Joseph Dweba<br />
Top points scorer<br />
67 - Ross Byrne 143 - Manie Libbok<br />
Date Venue L S <strong>Leinster</strong> scorers <strong>Stormers</strong> scorers<br />
Sat 30 Apr 22<br />
<strong>DHL</strong> Stadium (Green<br />
Point)<br />
13 20 Ciaran Frawley(2P) Harry Byrne(C) Ed<br />
Byrne(T)<br />
Manie Libbok(P) Warrick Gelant(T) Penalty<br />
Try(T) Seabelo Senatla(T)<br />
www.leinsterrugby.ie | 13
14 | www.leinsterrugby.ie<br />
K
dave<br />
earney<br />
the big interview<br />
BY DANIEL KELLY<br />
A year is a long,<br />
long time for a<br />
sportsman. You<br />
just need to ask<br />
Dave Kearney.<br />
www.leinsterrugby.ie | 15
Last season was an injury<br />
interrupted campaign for the<br />
Louth native. He only played in<br />
four matches, scoring one try.<br />
Not since the 2009-10 season had<br />
Kearney featured so rarely for<br />
<strong>Leinster</strong>.<br />
His 2021-22 season finished in March,<br />
but with eight BKT URC appearances to<br />
his name this season, he is delighted to<br />
be back on the pitch more regularly, and<br />
back scoring tries too!<br />
“It’s been great”, Kearney said earlier<br />
this week, when asked about getting over<br />
the injury demons that plagued him last<br />
season.<br />
“You’re always a happier player when<br />
you are injury free, and when you’re<br />
enjoying playing. Every season can be<br />
different though - a lot of the time it can<br />
be pure luck.<br />
“It’s been great to be on the pitch so<br />
much. I’ve had one or two niggles but<br />
I’ve been enjoying the last couple of<br />
months.”<br />
With 181 <strong>Leinster</strong> caps to his name so<br />
far, Kearney is one of the veterans in<br />
the squad. It’s a role he feels has more<br />
responsibility during the international<br />
windows, when many of his teammates<br />
are away with Ireland.<br />
“My role does change this time of year.<br />
You have to take more of a leadership<br />
role.<br />
“It’s a different time of year for sure<br />
though, with so many of the guys in<br />
Ireland camp. It’s a great time to be<br />
involved with <strong>Leinster</strong>.<br />
“There are a lot of lads getting<br />
opportunities and young lads putting up<br />
their hands. You have the same group for<br />
seven or eight weeks. Plenty of them have<br />
done really well. It’s great to see the next<br />
generation of players coming through.<br />
“Off pitch, I don’t speak a lot during<br />
meetings, but this time of the year I’d<br />
speak more. In games, I’d still talk a lot,<br />
but it’s a time to help coach some of the<br />
younger players who are getting more<br />
game time.<br />
“Players in the back three are constantly<br />
learning, and this time of year can help<br />
me help develop those players too.<br />
“I’d like to make sure they fit in as<br />
seamlessly as possible, so when their big<br />
day comes, they are in the best place<br />
possible.”<br />
Such is Kearney’s role in the squad,<br />
he presented Aitzol King and fellow<br />
Louthman Tadgh McElroy with their<br />
<strong>Leinster</strong> caps, after making their debuts<br />
this season.<br />
“It’s a very cool thing to do. We didn’t do<br />
it back in my day, when I was starting off.<br />
It’s something that Leo has brought in.<br />
“It’s a cool thing to do, and something<br />
these players will always remember.<br />
Coming in after a win, and getting your<br />
first cap is a very special moment. It’s<br />
16 | www.leinsterrugby.ie
The more tries<br />
and more caps I get,<br />
I then think about<br />
milestones, but it’d<br />
be lovely to get<br />
those two markers<br />
before the end of<br />
the season.<br />
important that we mark it, because it is a<br />
special time for each player.”<br />
Kearney is very close to hitting two<br />
significant achievements in the URC.<br />
Tonight will be his 149th League<br />
appearance for <strong>Leinster</strong>, and he is two<br />
tries short of crossing the whitewash 50<br />
times in the League, Only seven players<br />
have more URC tries to their name than<br />
the 33-year-old.<br />
“At the start of my career, I never thought<br />
about scoring 50 League tries for <strong>Leinster</strong>.<br />
The more tries and more caps I get, I<br />
then think about milestones, but it’d<br />
be lovely to get those two markers<br />
before the end of the season.”<br />
Both on and off the field,<br />
<strong>Leinster</strong> <strong>Rugby</strong> has come a<br />
long way since Kearney made<br />
his debut in 2009 against<br />
Dragons. He feels the club is<br />
only going one way, with the<br />
production line still bearing<br />
fruit.<br />
“It’s been an incredible journey. It’s hard<br />
to think back to how things were back<br />
then, but we’ve come a really long way.<br />
“If you look back at the special wins,<br />
the trophies won, and the world-class<br />
players and coaches that have been<br />
here - it shows how far we’ve come. It’s<br />
only getting better too. We’re improving<br />
year on year.<br />
“If you look at our underage systems<br />
- I watched the Schools Senior Cup<br />
Final last week, and the standard<br />
was incredible.<br />
“We saw the Under-20s getting<br />
the Grand Slam too! <strong>Leinster</strong><br />
is in a really good place going<br />
forward. It’ll continue to grow.<br />
“When I was in the Academy,<br />
things were different. The players<br />
coming through now are so<br />
professional. It’s a great place to be,<br />
with everything that’s available to them<br />
both on and off the field.”<br />
www.leinsterrugby.ie | 17
My favorite<br />
games are the<br />
home European<br />
ties in the<br />
RDS. The fans<br />
are always<br />
behind us.<br />
While things are looking good for the<br />
future, the immediate focus turns to the<br />
reigning URC champions, who currently<br />
lie second in the table.<br />
The <strong>DHL</strong> <strong>Stormers</strong> were seven-point<br />
winners in the reverse fixture last<br />
season in Cape Town, and Kearney is<br />
expecting a proper test tonight.<br />
“The South African teams are so<br />
physical, no matter what the team is,<br />
whether home or away. The <strong>Stormers</strong><br />
are playing really well this season. I<br />
think it’ll be a great game.<br />
“It’ll be a brilliant test for us. We’ll have<br />
a young squad, and it’ll be a proper<br />
test, which can only be a good thing<br />
for us.<br />
“The pace the <strong>Stormers</strong> play is<br />
incredibly quick too, so we need to be<br />
aware of their threats throughout the<br />
backline.<br />
Tonight’s match is the final regular home<br />
game of the season in the RDS, and<br />
when asked about his relationship with<br />
<strong>Leinster</strong>’s fans, Kearney could not give<br />
enough praise to the Sea of Blue.<br />
“It’s what <strong>Leinster</strong> is! Every home game<br />
and away game we get phenomenal<br />
support. Whether it’s the RDS, the Aviva,<br />
or away from home - they’re always<br />
there.<br />
“My favorite games are the home<br />
European ties in the RDS. The fans are<br />
always behind us. I’ve had plenty of<br />
special moments on that field. After we<br />
had a great season, the first home game<br />
of the following season always has that<br />
special buzz.<br />
www.leinsterrugby.ie | 19
It sounds like a cliche,<br />
but they’re an extra man<br />
for us. They are always<br />
behind us when we need<br />
a lift. It’s a privilege to<br />
play for them.<br />
“We love when the fans bring the noise.<br />
We’re in a privileged position to have<br />
such a loyal and brilliant fanbase.<br />
They’re among the best in Europe.<br />
“It sounds like a cliche, but they’re<br />
an extra man for us. They are always<br />
behind us when we need a lift. It’s a<br />
privilege to play for them.”<br />
Kearney was an interested spectator in<br />
recent weeks throughout the Guinness<br />
Six Nations. It brought back fond<br />
memories of the 2014 championship,<br />
when he played every minute en route<br />
to the Six Nations title.<br />
Two of his <strong>Leinster</strong> teammates Johnny<br />
Sexton and Cian Healy were also part<br />
of that team, and he is in awe at the<br />
work the duo put in in recent weeks.<br />
“It’s phenomenal. When you look at<br />
players like Johnny and Cian - it’s<br />
how they have stayed at that level for<br />
long, but they are playing Six Nations,<br />
summer tours, URC and Heineken<br />
Champions Cup games every season.<br />
“They are a driving force for both<br />
Ireland and <strong>Leinster</strong>. They are incredibly<br />
20 | www.leinsterrugby.ie
important to both teams. Irish rugby is<br />
in a brilliant place at the minute.”<br />
If <strong>Leinster</strong> avoid defeat this<br />
evening, top spot in the URC is<br />
guaranteed before the final<br />
two rounds, guaranteeing<br />
home advantage in<br />
the Play-Offs. They are<br />
games Kearney is eager<br />
to be involved in.<br />
“You want to play in every<br />
game! All the big games<br />
are the ones you are working<br />
through the year to play in.<br />
They are the best days to be<br />
involved in. It’d be nice to hit the<br />
50 and 150 mark in the league,<br />
but I’d love to get my hands on a<br />
trophy or two before the season is<br />
over”<br />
With three tries to his name this<br />
season, Kearney will hope he gets<br />
the opportunity to score those two<br />
more. With 55 tries to his name in<br />
all competitions, you wouldn’t put it<br />
past him.<br />
www.leinsterrugby.ie | 21
27<br />
47<br />
Action<br />
replay<br />
SATURDAY, 4TH MARCH 2023<br />
DAM HEALTH STADIUM<br />
ATTENDANCE: 7,240<br />
REFEREE: CRAIG EVANS (WRU)<br />
BKT UNITED RUGBY CHAMPIONSHIP<br />
EDINBURGH RUGBY<br />
Boffelli, Hoyland, Bennett, Lang, Goosen,<br />
Savala, Vellacott; Venter, McInally, Atalifo,<br />
Sykes, Skinner, Crosbie, Watson, Mata<br />
REPLACEMENTS: Cherry, Jack, Millar-Mills,<br />
Hodgson, Haining, Shiel, Van Der Walt,<br />
Dean<br />
TRIES: Boffelli (2), Venter, Skinner<br />
CONVERSIONS: Boffellii, Savala<br />
PENALTIES: Boffelli<br />
LEINSTER RUGBY<br />
Frawley, Larmour, Turner, Osborne,<br />
Kearney, H Byrne, McGrath; Milne, McKee,<br />
Ala’alatoa, Molony, Jenkins, Ruddock (capt),<br />
Penny, Deegan<br />
REPLACEMENTS: Barron, Boyle, Clarkson,<br />
Deeny, Connors, N. McCarthy, Tector,<br />
Russell<br />
TRIES: Deegan, Milne (2), Penny (2),<br />
Kearney, Ala’alatoa<br />
CONVERSIONS: H Byrne (6)<br />
22 | www.leinsterrugby.ie
Edinburgh started really hard.<br />
We talked during the week about<br />
what was on the line for Edinburgh<br />
and I think our guys knew what<br />
was coming but we still couldn’t<br />
quite deal with it. They brought<br />
physicality but I thought we<br />
weathered the storm pretty well<br />
and then we were able to score<br />
some really good tries<br />
Leo Cullen<br />
www.leinsterrugby.ie | 23
Ahead of tonight’s game, there will be<br />
a moment’s appreciation in memory of<br />
Caleb Powell and Niall Brophy.<br />
Powell was a former Lansdowne<br />
FC, <strong>Leinster</strong> <strong>Rugby</strong> and IRFU<br />
President.<br />
The Tipperary native was the IRFU’s<br />
122nd president in 2010/11 and was a<br />
former president of Lansdowne FC in the<br />
1993/94 season and also President of<br />
the <strong>Leinster</strong> <strong>Rugby</strong> Branch in 1997/98.<br />
As a player Caleb pulled on the Nenagh<br />
Ormond and UL Bohemians jerseys and<br />
was capped by Munster <strong>Rugby</strong> before<br />
representing Dublin University FC and<br />
Lansdowne FC in Dublin, with whom he<br />
won the <strong>Leinster</strong> Senior Cup as captain<br />
in 1965.<br />
Following his playing days, Caleb<br />
coached the King’s Hospital School,<br />
where he had attended as a pupil<br />
and would later work, Lansdowne, the<br />
<strong>Leinster</strong> Schools and the Ireland Schools<br />
sides.<br />
Caleb also sat on many <strong>Leinster</strong> <strong>Rugby</strong><br />
Branch and IRFU committees and was<br />
held in high esteem, in particular, for his<br />
contributions to the schools game. He<br />
was the schools’ representative on the<br />
<strong>Leinster</strong> Branch for over 20 years, from<br />
1980 to 2006.<br />
Our thoughts are with Gill, with Bob,<br />
Lynn and Dave, and all of his family and<br />
friends and those that knew him best in<br />
Templederry and in Lucan.<br />
Brophy was a <strong>Leinster</strong> <strong>Rugby</strong>,<br />
Ireland and British & Irish Lions<br />
winger.<br />
He also played for UCD RFC, Blackrock<br />
College RFC, London Irish RFC and<br />
represented the Barbarians in an<br />
illustrious career.<br />
24 | www.leinsterrugby.ie
The Dublin-born winger was also a<br />
noted athlete winning national underage<br />
schools and collegiate titles over 100<br />
and 220 yards, but it’s with the oval<br />
ball in hand that he excelled captaining<br />
Blackrock to the 1954 <strong>Leinster</strong> <strong>Rugby</strong><br />
Schools Senior Cup against Tony<br />
O’Reilly’s Belvedere College.<br />
Brophy won the first of his 20 Irish caps<br />
in 1957 against France, scoring on his<br />
debut, and was selected on two British<br />
& Irish Lions tours although injury denied<br />
him any Test appearances on the first tour<br />
in 1959 to Australia and New Zealand.<br />
He was not to be denied on the<br />
subsequent tour to South Africa, winning<br />
two Test caps in 1962.<br />
Following his playing career, he was<br />
president of the <strong>Leinster</strong> <strong>Rugby</strong> Branch<br />
(1981-1982), Blackrock College RFC<br />
(1985-1986) and was also the IRFU<br />
president (1997-1998).<br />
His contribution to rugby was<br />
acknowledged far and wide as he was<br />
inducted into the <strong>Rugby</strong> Writers of Ireland<br />
Hall of Fame in 2003, the <strong>Leinster</strong> <strong>Rugby</strong><br />
Hall of Fame in 2011 and he was named<br />
in UCD’s ‘Team of the Century’.<br />
His legacy in his club, Blackrock College<br />
RFC, is also secure as their refurbished<br />
and state of the art gym was opened in<br />
2018 and was renamed the Niall Brophy<br />
Gym in honour of one of their favourite<br />
sons.<br />
His wife Mary Rachel and children<br />
David, Cara, Harry, Marie-Elena,<br />
Niamh and Rachel are all very much in<br />
our thoughts as are his wide network of<br />
family and friends.<br />
May both Caleb and Niall rest in<br />
peace.<br />
www.leinsterrugby.ie | 25
leo<br />
the lion’s<br />
kids<br />
corner<br />
ANAGRAMS<br />
Can you un-jumble<br />
the names of these<br />
players?<br />
MAJOR<br />
RURAL NOD<br />
A MAJOR<br />
KINGPIN BOSS<br />
spot the difference!<br />
Can you find all six?<br />
zoomed in!<br />
WHo is this leinster player<br />
having an extreme close-up?<br />
how did you do?<br />
ANAGRAMS<br />
Jordan Larmour & Jamison Gibson-Park<br />
ZOOMED IN!<br />
Ciarán Frawley<br />
a...<br />
...maze...<br />
...ing<br />
can you make<br />
your way<br />
through the<br />
maze to the<br />
ball?<br />
28 | www.leinsterrugby.ie
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AZTO<br />
with<br />
Ciarán Frawley<br />
A – Action: If you could be a superhero, which<br />
would you be?<br />
Spider Man<br />
B – Boyhood: Who was your favourite<br />
sporting idol growing up?<br />
Edwin van der Sar<br />
C – Childhood: What is your favourite<br />
childhood memory?<br />
Playing “execution” on the green with all my<br />
mates during the summer.<br />
D – Dish: What’s your go-to pre-match meal?<br />
Stack of pancakes with berry compote.<br />
E – Education: What was your favourite<br />
subject in school?<br />
Maths or construction. Always felt the day<br />
would fly by!<br />
F – Film buff: What’s your favourite film?<br />
The Green Mile.<br />
G – Groove: Who is the best dancer in the<br />
squad?<br />
Peter Dooley was the best…we’ll see at<br />
Awards Ball who steps up in his place.<br />
H – Holiday: What’s your favourite holiday<br />
destination?<br />
France or Greece.<br />
I – Inside: Who is the worst to sit beside in the<br />
dressing room?<br />
Caelan Doris by a mile. Garlic chat and awful<br />
smell.<br />
J – Joker: Who is the funniest in the squad?<br />
Alex Soroka<br />
K – Kick-off: What’s your favourite time of<br />
the day to play a match?<br />
5pm. Not too late and not too early.<br />
L – Languages: How many languages can you<br />
speak?<br />
One.<br />
M – Music: Your favourite artist and song<br />
right now?<br />
Dave - Psycho<br />
N – Number: Do you have a lucky number?<br />
No<br />
30 | www.leinsterrugby.ie
O – Others: What’s your favourite<br />
sport outside of rugby?<br />
Golf<br />
P – Pal: Who is your best mate in<br />
the squad?<br />
Michael Milne. He’d only give out if<br />
I didn’t say him.<br />
Q – Quirky: Who has the most<br />
interesting fashion sense?<br />
Will Connors.<br />
R – Red Carpet: Who is the most<br />
famous contact in your phone?<br />
Peter Dooley. Still Peter Dooley. The<br />
man was made for the red carpet.<br />
S – Superstitions: Do you have any<br />
matchday routines?<br />
Not on match day but I try to get a<br />
good feed into me the night before<br />
a game.<br />
T – Trim: What’s the worst haircut<br />
you’ve ever had?<br />
Shaving my head. Looked like a<br />
tennis ball for a number of weeks.<br />
U: Under pressure: Who in the<br />
squad would be the best in a bad<br />
situation?<br />
Jordan Larmour. He’d somehow<br />
find a way out.<br />
V – Verified: How often do you use<br />
social media?<br />
Almost every day just to keep up<br />
with what’s happening around the<br />
world.<br />
W – Worst fear: What are you most<br />
scared of?<br />
Two foot putts in golf.<br />
X – X-ray: Have you ever broken<br />
any bones?<br />
No…thankfully! A few other<br />
injuries though unfortunately.<br />
Y – Youth: Where did you grow up?<br />
Skerries, Co. Dublin<br />
Z – Zoo: What’s your favourite<br />
animal?<br />
Dogs. No question. 100%<br />
www.leinsterrugby.ie | 31
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Gonzaga win Senior Cup<br />
for the first time!<br />
BY DES BERRY<br />
Gonzaga College 35<br />
Blackrock College 31<br />
Surely, there can<br />
be no better way<br />
to shed the tag<br />
of ‘nearly men’<br />
than to outplay<br />
the kingpins in a<br />
classic Bank of<br />
Ireland <strong>Leinster</strong><br />
Schools final<br />
at The RDS on St<br />
Patrick’s Day.<br />
Captain Paul Wilson walked<br />
forward to cradle Gonzaga’s first<br />
Senior Cup after a journey that<br />
started long before the players<br />
were born.<br />
From the moment Conor O’Shaughnessy<br />
fielded Hugo McLaughlin’s garryowen,<br />
Blackrock powered through a series of<br />
phases from their own 22, using the inside<br />
ball from out-half O’Shaughnessy to a<br />
barrage of runners.<br />
It exposed vulnerability on the fringes, the<br />
inevitable try coming from number eight<br />
Tom Brigg for Oliver Coffey to convert in<br />
the third minute.<br />
The sense of deja vu from last year<br />
was quickly dispelled when Stephen<br />
McMahon pierced the cover to have<br />
‘Rock on their heels, a penalty coming<br />
their way.<br />
It wasn’t a day to play the percentages.<br />
The ball was angled to touch where the<br />
maul was stalled.<br />
No matter, a flat ball to McLaughlin was<br />
all that was needed for the full-back to<br />
bounce a tackle, McMahon’s conversion<br />
tying it up.<br />
It was a million miles an hour as<br />
Blackrock tracked McLaughlin’s glorious<br />
lines, leaving room for hooker Luke<br />
McLaughlin to make a burst.<br />
Twice Gonzaga was given penalties for<br />
educated pressure. Twice, they came to<br />
nothing. Even so, they were taking the<br />
fight to the champions.<br />
Once the wheels of ‘Rock’s carrying<br />
game were put in motion, the undeniable<br />
power through contact made it easier to<br />
generate metres.<br />
34 | www.leinsterrugby.ie
A maul made in heaven surged to the<br />
line where Mikey Wall miraculously<br />
did enough to force a fumble from<br />
Mikey Yarr, soon followed by Charlie<br />
Molony being held up over the line by<br />
Wilson.<br />
This desperate defence couldn’t go on,<br />
Luke Kritzinger blowing through Finn<br />
O’Neill and captain Coffey taking a high<br />
hit before turning it into the lead points for<br />
10-7 in the 25th minute.<br />
Jody Browne’s refusal to go to ground<br />
bought time for Gonzaga to make their<br />
play, Tom Wyley’s footwork expiring a<br />
soft shoulder.<br />
The pressure produced a penalty and,<br />
quick as a flash, McMahon tapped and<br />
took the ball in between Brigg and Tom<br />
O’Riordan for the fly-half to also add the<br />
extras for the lead in the 27th minute.<br />
McMahon was at it again, seeing<br />
the space in behind, to trouble<br />
O’Shaughnessy with a glorious grubber.<br />
The chase from JP Breslin was Olympian,<br />
Luke McLaughlin popping the ball up for<br />
McMahon to have the presence of mind<br />
to veer inwards, making his conversion a<br />
formality for 21-10 at the break.<br />
Blackrock had first shot at making an<br />
impact, Tom Wyley coraling Kritzinger for<br />
the concession of a penalty which was<br />
used to put Gonzaga in a bind.<br />
Again, the momentum from phase play<br />
was just too much for a soaking defence,<br />
Tom O’Riordan grounding the ball for<br />
Coffey to convert.<br />
And then. A thing of beauty. A rehearsed<br />
move from a scrum, involving McMahon<br />
and McLaughlin, culminated in the<br />
final pass for Breslin to do the honours,<br />
McMahon striking the conversion in the<br />
43rd minute.<br />
Blackrock were on the ropes. They<br />
needed a reaction. They got it. Full-back<br />
Molony smuggled the restart and the<br />
big boys did their duty, tight-head Alex<br />
Mullan having the leg drive to claim the<br />
try, Coffey converting for 28-24 in the<br />
45th minute.<br />
The ball was flying around, every pass<br />
greeted with the anticipation of something<br />
wonderful or wicked happening, the<br />
frenzied crowd rising and reseating<br />
accordingly.<br />
The brutal carrying of the forwards, led<br />
by Brigg, opened the door for Coffey to<br />
put Mullan in for his second seven-pointer<br />
to grab the lead in the 55th minute.<br />
It was Gonzaga ‘s turn to chase. James<br />
O’Dwyer came into the game. Centres<br />
Aidan O’Flanagan and Browne cut lines.<br />
Eoghan Walsh stole the ball on the floor.<br />
Wilson was held up over the whitewash.<br />
They kept their nerve, however,<br />
McMahon marshalling an attack to put<br />
Patrick Masterson through a hole and<br />
O’Dwyer slipped the ball to Tom Wyley<br />
for a try, converted by McMahon, that<br />
will live long in the memory.<br />
Scorers: Gonzaga – S McMahon 2 tries,<br />
5 cons; T Wyley, H McLaughlin. JP Breslin<br />
try each.<br />
Blackrock – A Mullan 2 tries; T Brigg, T<br />
O’Riordan, try each; O Coffey pen, 4<br />
cons.<br />
Gonzaga College: Hugo McLaughlin; JP<br />
Breslin, Aidan O’Flanagan (Samuel Inglis<br />
68), Jody Browne, Mikey Wall (Patrick<br />
Masterson 58); Stephen McMahon,<br />
Tom Brophy (James O’Dwyer 57); Finn<br />
O’Neill (Patrick O’Brien 66), Luke<br />
McLaughlin, Adam McVerry (Jamie Shiel<br />
58), Jamie Kennedy, Tom Wyley, Charlie<br />
Kennedy (Morgan Tyrrell 57), Gavin<br />
O’Grady, Paul Wilson (Capt).<br />
Blackrock College: Charlie Molony;<br />
James O’Sullivan, Luke Kritzinger, Mark<br />
Walsh (Andrew Quinn 47), Eoghan<br />
Walsh; Conor O’Shaughnessy (Harry<br />
Whelan 68), Oliver Coffey (Capt), Tom<br />
O’Riordan, Mikey Yarr, Alex Mullan,<br />
Michael Colreavy, Tommy Butler, Conor<br />
Tonge (Conall Hodges 49), Jack Angulo<br />
Tom Brigg (Donnacha McGuire 65).<br />
Referee: P Reidy, <strong>Leinster</strong> Branch.<br />
www.leinsterrugby.ie | 35
leinster<br />
squad 2022/23<br />
season<br />
Vakhtang Abdaladze #1263<br />
Prop<br />
DOB 6 Feb 1996<br />
HEIGHT 1.85m (6’ 1”)<br />
WEIGHT 121kg (19st 1 lb)<br />
3<br />
CAPS<br />
Michael Ala’alatoa #1301<br />
12<br />
CAPS<br />
Prop<br />
DOB 28 August 1991<br />
HEIGHT 1.91m (6’ 3”)<br />
WEIGHT 126kg (19st 11lbs)<br />
Ryan Baird #1278<br />
Second Row<br />
DOB 26 July 1999<br />
HEIGHT 1.98m (6’ 6”)<br />
WEIGHT 113kg (17st 9lbs)<br />
11<br />
CAPS<br />
Ed Byrne #1222<br />
Prop<br />
DOB 9 September 1993<br />
HEIGHT 1.80m (5’ 11”)<br />
WEIGHT 115kg (18st)<br />
6<br />
CAP<br />
Harry Byrne #1280<br />
Outhalf<br />
DOB 22 April 1999<br />
HEIGHT 1.91m (6’ 3”)<br />
WEIGHT 95kg (14st 11lbs)<br />
2<br />
CAPS<br />
Ross Byrne #1236<br />
Out-half<br />
DOB 8 April 1995<br />
HEIGHT 1.91m (6’ 3”)<br />
WEIGHT 92kg (14st 5lbs)<br />
19<br />
CAPS<br />
Thomas Clarkson #1285<br />
Prop<br />
DOB 22 February 2000<br />
HEIGHT 1.85m (6’ 1”)<br />
WEIGHT 118kg (18st 7lbs)<br />
Jack Conan #1223<br />
38<br />
CAPS<br />
7<br />
CAPS<br />
No 8<br />
DOB 29 July 1992<br />
HEIGHT 1.93m (6’ 4”)<br />
WEIGHT 110kg (17st 4 lbs)<br />
36 | www.leinsterrugby.ie
Will Connors #1264<br />
9<br />
CAPS<br />
Max Deegan #1256<br />
2<br />
CAPS<br />
Brian Deeny #1306<br />
Caelan Doris #1268<br />
28<br />
CAPS<br />
Back Row<br />
DOB 4 April 1996<br />
HEIGHT 1.96 (6’ 5”)<br />
WEIGHT 99kg (15st 8lbs)<br />
No 8<br />
DOB 1 October 1996<br />
HEIGHT 1.93m (6’ 4”)<br />
WEIGHT 110kg (17st 4lbs)<br />
Second Row<br />
DOB 2 March 2000<br />
HEIGHT 1.99m (6’ 6”)<br />
WEIGHT 118kg (18st 8lbs)<br />
Back Row<br />
DOB 2 April 1998<br />
HEIGHT 1.94m (6’ 4”)<br />
WEIGHT 106kg (16st 10lbs)<br />
Cormac Foley #1299<br />
Scrum-half<br />
DOB 24 October 1999<br />
HEIGHT 1.81m (5’ 11 ”)<br />
WEIGHT 90kg (14 st 2 lbs)<br />
Ciarán Frawley #1265<br />
Out-half<br />
DOB 4 December 1997<br />
HEIGHT 1.92m (6’ 3”)<br />
WEIGHT 98kg (15st 5lbs)<br />
Tadhg Furlong #1220<br />
Prop<br />
DOB 14 November 1992<br />
HEIGHT 1.85m (6’ 1”)<br />
WEIGHT 125kg (19st 8lbs)<br />
65<br />
CAPS<br />
13<br />
CAPS<br />
Jamison Gibson-Park #1247<br />
Scrum-half<br />
DOB 23 February 1992<br />
HEIGHT 1.76m (5’ 9”)<br />
WEIGHT 80kg (12st 8lbs)<br />
25<br />
CAPS<br />
Cian Healy #1142<br />
123<br />
CAPS<br />
2<br />
CAPS<br />
Robbie Henshaw #1251<br />
63<br />
CAPS<br />
9<br />
CAPS<br />
Jason Jenkins #1310<br />
1<br />
CAP<br />
Dave Kearney #1158<br />
19<br />
CAPS<br />
Prop<br />
DOB 7 October 1987<br />
HEIGHT 1.85m (6’ 1”)<br />
WEIGHT 116kg (18st 4lbs)<br />
Centre / Full Back<br />
DOB 12 June 1993<br />
HEIGHT 1.91m (6’ 3”)<br />
WEIGHT 99kg (15st 8lbs)<br />
Lock<br />
DOB 2 December 1995<br />
HEIGHT 2.03 m (6’ 8”)<br />
WEIGHT 124kg (19st 5lbs)<br />
Wing / Full Back<br />
DOB 19 June 1989<br />
HEIGHT 1.81m (5’ 11”)<br />
WEIGHT 90kg (14st 2lbs)<br />
Hugo Keenan #1253<br />
30<br />
CAPS<br />
Rónan Kelleher #1277<br />
21<br />
CAPS<br />
Jordan Larmour #1258<br />
30<br />
CAPS<br />
James Lowe #1262<br />
20<br />
CAPS<br />
Full Back<br />
DOB 18 June 1996<br />
HEIGHT 1.85m (6’ 1”)<br />
WEIGHT 92kg (14st 4lbs)<br />
Hooker<br />
DOB 24 January 1998<br />
HEIGHT 1.85m (6’ 0”)<br />
WEIGHT 110kg (17st 5lbs)<br />
Wing<br />
DOB 10 June 1997<br />
HEIGHT 1.78m (5’ 10”)<br />
WEIGHT 88kg (13st 12lbs)<br />
Wing / Full Back<br />
DOB 8 July 1992<br />
HEIGHT 1.88m (6’ 2”)<br />
WEIGHT 105kg (16st 7lbs)<br />
www.leinsterrugby.ie | 37
Joe McCarthy #1303<br />
1<br />
CAP<br />
Nick McCarthy #1241<br />
Tadgh McElroy #1312<br />
Luke McGrath #1206<br />
19<br />
CAPS<br />
Second Row<br />
DOB 26 March 2001<br />
HEIGHT 1.98m (6’ 6”)<br />
WEIGHT 119kg (18st 8lbs)<br />
Scrum Half<br />
DOB 25 March 1995<br />
HEIGHT 1.8m (5’ 11”)<br />
WEIGHT 84kg (13st 3lbs)<br />
Hooker<br />
DOB 16 June1997<br />
HEIGHT 1.78m (5’ 10’)<br />
WEIGHT 103kg (16st, 2lbs)<br />
Scrum Half<br />
DOB 3 February 1993<br />
HEIGHT 1.75m (5’ 9”)<br />
WEIGHT 82kg (12st 12lbs)<br />
Michael Milne #1279<br />
Martin Moloney #1300<br />
Ross Molony #1233<br />
Charlie Ngatai #1311<br />
1<br />
CAP<br />
Prop<br />
DOB 5 February 1999<br />
HEIGHT 1.83m (6’ 0”)<br />
WEIGHT 115kg (18st 1lbs)<br />
Back Row<br />
DOB 19 October 1999<br />
HEIGHT 1.88m (6’ 2”)<br />
WEIGHT 104kg (16st 5lbs)<br />
Lock<br />
DOB 11 May 1994<br />
HEIGHT 2.00m (6’ 6”)<br />
WEIGHT 116kg (18st 4lbs)<br />
Centre / Full Back<br />
DOB 17 August 1990<br />
HEIGHT 1.87 m (6’ 2”)<br />
WEIGHT 102kg (16st 1lbs)<br />
Jimmy O’Brien #1272<br />
5<br />
CAPS<br />
Tommy O’Brien #1283<br />
Jamie Osborne #1294<br />
Scott Penny #1271<br />
Back Three<br />
DOB 27 November 1996<br />
HEIGHT 1.84m (6’ 0”)<br />
WEIGHT 89kg (14st 0lbs)<br />
Wing<br />
DOB 28 May 1998<br />
HEIGHT 1.83m (6’ 0”)<br />
WEIGHT 95kg (14st 3lbs)<br />
Centre<br />
DOB 16 November 2001<br />
HEIGHT 1.93m (6’ 4”)<br />
WEIGHT 97.5kg (15st 5lbs)<br />
Flanker<br />
DOB 22 September 1999<br />
HEIGHT 1.85m (6’ 1”)<br />
WEIGHT 104kg (16st 4lbs)<br />
Andrew Porter #1246<br />
53<br />
CAPS<br />
Garry Ringrose #1237<br />
50<br />
CAPS<br />
Rhys Ruddock #1167<br />
27<br />
CAPS<br />
Charlie Ryan<br />
Prop<br />
DOB 16 January 1996<br />
HEIGHT 1.84m (6’ 1”)<br />
WEIGHT 114kg (17st 13lbs)<br />
Centre<br />
DOB 26 January 1995<br />
HEIGHT 1.87m (6’ 2”)<br />
WEIGHT 96kg (15st 1lbs)<br />
Back Row<br />
DOB 13 November 1990<br />
HEIGHT 1.91m (6’ 3”)<br />
WEIGHT 113kg (17st 9lbs)<br />
Lock<br />
DOB 3 February 1999<br />
HEIGHT 2.01m (6’ 7”)<br />
WEIGHT 115kg (18st 1lbs)<br />
38 | www.leinsterrugby.ie
James Ryan #1259<br />
53<br />
CAPS<br />
Johnny Sexton #1127<br />
113<br />
CAPS<br />
14<br />
CAPS<br />
Dan Sheehan #1286<br />
17<br />
CAPS<br />
James Tracy #1211<br />
6<br />
CAPS<br />
Lock<br />
DOB 24 July 1996<br />
HEIGHT 2.00m (6’ 7”)<br />
WEIGHT 115kg (18st 1lbs)<br />
Out-half<br />
DOB 11 July 1985<br />
HEIGHT 1.88m (6’ 2”)<br />
WEIGHT 90kg (14st 2lbs)<br />
Hooker<br />
DOB 17 September 1998<br />
HEIGHT 1.91m (6’ 3”)<br />
WEIGHT 110kg (17st 5lbs)<br />
Hooker<br />
DOB 2 April 1991<br />
HEIGHT 1.85m (6’ 1”)<br />
WEIGHT 106kg (16st 9lbs)<br />
Liam Turner #1287<br />
Centre<br />
DOB 14 July 1999<br />
HEIGHT 1.73m (5’ 8”)<br />
WEIGHT 93kg (14st 9lbs)<br />
Josh van der Flier #1228<br />
50<br />
CAPS<br />
Flanker<br />
DOB 25 April 1993<br />
HEIGHT 1.87m (6’ 2”)<br />
WEIGHT 103kg (16st 3lbs)<br />
for full squad profiles<br />
please scan this qr code<br />
Coaching<br />
Staff 2022/23<br />
Stuart<br />
Lancaster<br />
Senior Coach<br />
season<br />
Leo Cullen<br />
Head<br />
Coach<br />
Emmet<br />
Farrell<br />
Kicking Coach and<br />
Lead Performance Analyst<br />
Robin<br />
McBryde<br />
Assistant Coach<br />
SEÁN<br />
O’BRIEN<br />
CONTACT SKILLS Coach<br />
ANDREW<br />
GOODMAN<br />
ASSISTANT COACH<br />
Guy<br />
Easterby<br />
Head of <strong>Rugby</strong> Operations<br />
www.leinsterrugby.ie | 39
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Bank of Ireland<br />
<strong>Leinster</strong> <strong>Rugby</strong> Summer<br />
Camps launch for 2023!<br />
The 2023 Bank<br />
of Ireland<br />
<strong>Leinster</strong> <strong>Rugby</strong><br />
Summer Camps<br />
have officially<br />
launched, with<br />
29 camps to<br />
choose from<br />
around the 12<br />
counties.<br />
The summer camps are open to<br />
girls and boys aged six to 12 and<br />
all of the camps are run by fully<br />
accredited IRFU coaches. Each<br />
camp runs from Monday to Friday<br />
and from 9.30am to 1pm.<br />
The summer camps, which will take place<br />
in 28 different locations all across the<br />
province in July and August, offer children<br />
the chance to learn to play the <strong>Leinster</strong><br />
way while having plenty of fun!<br />
<strong>Leinster</strong> <strong>Rugby</strong> have also announced that<br />
with the change in the rugby schedule<br />
this summer due to the <strong>Rugby</strong> World Cup,<br />
<strong>Leinster</strong> <strong>Rugby</strong> players will once again be<br />
available and will make appearances at<br />
this year’s summer camps.<br />
There are also a number of new venues<br />
added reflecting the growth in popularity<br />
of the camps, including; Rathfarnham/<br />
Stillorgan, Birr, Carlingford Knights,<br />
Carlow and Roscrea rugby clubs.<br />
Ray McCabe, <strong>Leinster</strong> <strong>Rugby</strong> Summer<br />
Camp Co-ordinator, said, “We’re thrilled<br />
to have Bank of Ireland on board again<br />
as the title sponsor of our <strong>Leinster</strong> <strong>Rugby</strong><br />
summer camps.<br />
“And it’s brilliant as well to have the<br />
<strong>Leinster</strong> <strong>Rugby</strong> players back visiting<br />
our camps. The players playing for Leo<br />
Cullen and for Tania Rosser, they are the<br />
stars of the show and it’s a real bonus to<br />
have them back visiting our camps and<br />
inspiring all the boys and girls.<br />
“We know from the feedback we receive<br />
that the kids really enjoy meeting the<br />
players and we look forward to having<br />
them back this summer.”<br />
As well as learning to play the <strong>Leinster</strong><br />
way, making new friends and having lots<br />
of fun, each child will also receive a pack<br />
including a rugby training t-shirt, a Rhino<br />
rugby ball and a boot bag.<br />
They will also get one free ticket to a<br />
selected <strong>Leinster</strong> <strong>Rugby</strong> game.<br />
The cost of attending the camp will be<br />
€90 per child.<br />
For more information, and to book your<br />
place before it’s too late, click HERE.<br />
www.leinsterrugby.ie | 43
Scan to sign up for<br />
Welcome to the new weekly rugby newsletter from<br />
The Irish Times led by rugby correspondent Gerry Thornley.<br />
This newsletter provides exclusive additional coverage<br />
of international rugby, the Champions Cup, URC<br />
and women’s rugby, as well as a selection<br />
of our best rugby articles from the week.<br />
THE IRISH TIMES<br />
PROUD MEDIA PARTNER OF LEINSTER RUGBY
Roscrea<br />
Inclusivity<br />
to Kick Off<br />
BY CIARA MAHER<br />
Last month, Roscrea<br />
RFC officially launched<br />
their new Additional<br />
Needs Tag <strong>Rugby</strong> Team.<br />
In the coming weeks, the club will<br />
run a competition within schools<br />
in the area to name and design<br />
the logo for this new addition.<br />
These new teams will provide<br />
an inclusive and enjoyable<br />
experience for those with<br />
additional needs, allowing them<br />
to participate in a fun and socially<br />
engaging sport.<br />
On the night, Roscrea RFC Youths<br />
<strong>Leinster</strong> <strong>Rugby</strong><br />
are delighted<br />
to welcome<br />
St Colmcilles<br />
CS to the RDS<br />
this evening.<br />
Coordinator - Darren Bayliss welcomed<br />
guests and provided a comprehensive<br />
overview of the club's plans for the<br />
future and the ethos of how these<br />
new additional needs teams and how<br />
they will be designed entirely around<br />
encompassing inclusivity, camaraderie<br />
and fun to create a safe and supportive<br />
environment for all players, regardless<br />
of their abilities or experience to a wellrepresented<br />
crowd of parents and local<br />
service providers.<br />
The club welcomes expressions of interest<br />
from new members and wants to expand<br />
its reach in the coming months. The new<br />
Tag <strong>Rugby</strong> teams aim to become the<br />
premier Additional Needs Tag <strong>Rugby</strong><br />
team in the area and hopes to continue<br />
fostering a welcoming environment for all.<br />
For more information, please get<br />
in touch with Darren Bayliss at<br />
youthcoodroscrearfc@gmail.com<br />
St Colmcilles win<br />
Inclusion Competition<br />
The school took part in <strong>Leinster</strong>’s<br />
Inclusivity Committee School<br />
Survey earlier this season.<br />
St Colmcilles Junior <strong>Rugby</strong> Team became<br />
<strong>Leinster</strong> Champions in Energia Park on<br />
December 15 against Mountrath CS in<br />
the Division 3A JCT Development Shield<br />
Final. It was a greay display of rugby<br />
was shown by these talented young boys<br />
only after starting rugby in the school two<br />
months prior.<br />
Winning this has fuelled their desire to<br />
compete at a higher level and are now<br />
entered into the Junior B league, where<br />
they will play at a very competitive level.<br />
We wish the team the best of luck to the<br />
boys in their upcoming season, and hope<br />
they enjoy their night in the RDS.<br />
www.leinsterrugby.ie | 45
compiled by stuart farmer<br />
media services limited<br />
<strong>Leinster</strong> Player<br />
SQUAD CAP NO DEBUT<br />
Statistics<br />
2022/23 SEASON FOR LEINSTER LEINSTER CAREER<br />
ALL GAMES URC EPCR ALL GAMES PRO14/URC EPCR<br />
App Try Pts App Try Pts App Try Pts App Try Pts App Try Pts App Try Pts<br />
SINCE LAST TRY<br />
CAPS<br />
VAKHTANG ABDALADZE 1263 2 DEC 17 0+8 - - 0+8 - - - - - 0+25 2 10 0+24 2 10 0+1 - - 10 GEO 3<br />
MICHAEL ALA'ALATOA 1301 25 SEP 21 15+1 2 10 11+1 1 5 4 1 5 27+14 5 25 22+7 3 15 5+7 2 10 1 WS 12<br />
AITZOL ARENZANA-KING 1316 28 JAN 23 0+1 - - 0+1 - - - - - 0+1 - - 0+1 - - - - - - -<br />
RYAN BAIRD 1278 27 APR 19 8+2 2 10 6+1 2 10 2+1 - - 27+21 9 45 23+15 9 45 4+6 - - 3 IR 11<br />
LEE BARRON 1308 23 APR 22 0+2 - - 0+2 - - - - - 0+4 - - 0+4 - - - - - - -<br />
JACK BOYLE 1317 18 FEB 23 0+2 - - 0+2 - - - - - 0+2 - - 0+2 - - - - - - -<br />
BEN BROWNLEE 1313 28 OCT 22 1+1 - - 1+1 - - - - - 1+1 - - 1+1 - - - - - - -<br />
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<br />
HARRY BYRNE 1280 28 SEP 19 4+5 2 53 4+2 2 43 0+3 - 10 25+20 8 236 25+16 8 221 0+4 - 15 2 IR 2<br />
ROSS BYRNE 1236 4 SEP 15 11+4 - 99 7+4 - 67 4 - 32 96+47 9 925 78+25 4 663 18+22 5 262 26 IR 19<br />
TOM CLARKSON 1285 29 AUG 20 2+4 1 5 2+4 1 5 - - - 8+16 1 5 8+16 1 5 - - - 5 -<br />
JACK CONAN 1223 20 FEB 14 6+4 - - 4+2 - - 2+2 - - 97+30 25 125 67+18 16 80 30+12 9 45 20 IR 38<br />
WILL CONNORS 1264 9 FEB 18 1+6 - - 1+6 - - - - - 19+13 2 10 18+13 2 10 1 - - 19 IR 9<br />
CHRIS COSGRAVE 1305 26 MAR 22 2+1 1 5 2+1 1 5 - - - 3+2 1 5 3+2 1 5 - - - 3 -<br />
JAMES CULHANE 1315 28 JAN 23 0+1 - - 0+1 - - - - - 0+1 - - 0+1 - - - - - - -<br />
MAX DEEGAN 1256 3 DEC 16 8+1 2 10 8 2 10 0+1 - - 51+42 26 130 48+29 24 120 3+13 2 10 1 IR 2<br />
BRIAN DEENY 1306 23 APR 22 4+4 2 10 4+3 2 10 0+1 - - 6+4 2 10 6+3 2 10 0+1 - - 3 -<br />
CAELAN DORIS 1268 28 APR 18 8+1 2 10 4+1 - - 4 2 10 55+9 10 50 37+7 6 30 18+2 4 20 2 IR 28<br />
CORMAC FOLEY 1299 24 APR 21 2+4 1 5 2+4 1 5 - - - 4+7 2 10 4+7 2 10 - - - 4 -<br />
CIARAN FRAWLEY 1265 17 FEB 18 3+2 - 9 3+2 - 9 - - - 34+27 7 188 31+19 5 172 3+8 2 16 7 -<br />
TADHG FURLONG 1220 1 NOV 13 1+1 - - 1+1 - - - - - 86+43 10 50 48+35 3 15 38+8 7 35 8 IR 65<br />
JAMISON GIBSON-PARK 1247 2 SEP 16 5+1 - - 2 - - 3+1 - - 65+57 22 110 51+30 15 75 14+27 7 35 8 IR 25<br />
MARCUS HANAN 1295 19 FEB 21 0+1 - - 0+1 - - - - - 0+4 - - 0+4 - - - - - - -<br />
CIAN HEALY 1142 5 MAY 07 4+6 - - 4+2 - - 0+4 - - 164+95 30 150 97+58 16 80 65+36 13 65 11 IR 123<br />
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 63<br />
JASON JENKINS 1310 17 SEP 22 9+2 2 10 8+2 2 10 1 - - 9+2 2 10 8+2 2 10 1 - - 8 SA 1<br />
DAVE KEARNEY 1158 16 MAY 09 8 3 15 8 3 15 - - - 158+23 55 275 132+16 48 240 25+6 7 35 1 IR 19<br />
HUGO KEENAN 1253 5 NOV 16 7 4 20 3 1 5 4 3 15 48+3 13 65 31+3 6 30 17 7 35 1 IR 30<br />
RONAN KELLEHER 1277 22 FEB 19 6+3 4 20 4+1 1 5 2+2 3 15 35+10 17 85 20+6 12 60 15+4 5 25 2 IR 21<br />
JORDAN LARMOUR 1258 2 SEP 17 10+1 5 25 8 3 15 2+1 2 10 74+11 32 160 48+7 23 115 26+4 9 45 2 IR 30<br />
TEMI LASISI 1304 12 MAR 22 - - - - - - - - - 0+1 - - 0+1 - - - - - - -<br />
46 | www.leinsterrugby.ie
SQUAD CAP NO DEBUT<br />
2022/23 SEASON FOR LEINSTER LEINSTER CAREER<br />
ALL GAMES URC EPCR ALL GAMES PRO14/URC EPCR<br />
App Try Pts App Try Pts App Try Pts App Try Pts App Try Pts App Try Pts<br />
SINCE LAST TRY<br />
CAPS<br />
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 20<br />
JOE MCCARTHY 1303 29 JAN 22 3+3 - - 2+2 - - 1+1 - - 11+6 1 5 10+2 1 5 1+4 - - 8 IR 1<br />
NICK MCCARTHY 1241 19 DEC 15 1+11 - - 1+10 - - 0+1 - - 10+48 5 25 10+41 5 25 0+7 - - 18 -<br />
TADGH MCELROY 1312 28 OCT 22 0+2 - - 0+2 - - - - - 0+2 - - 0+2 - - - - - - -<br />
LUKE MCGRATH 1206 5 MAY 12 11+3 7 35 10+1 6 30 1+2 1 5 125+64 48 240 89+50 39 195 36+14 9 45 2 IR 19<br />
JOHN MCKEE 1307 23 APR 22 4+7 2 10 4+7 2 10 - - - 6+8 2 10 6+8 2 10 - - - 6 -<br />
MICHAEL MILNE 1279 28 SEP 19 4+6 3 15 4+4 3 15 0+2 - - 5+22 5 25 5+20 5 25 0+2 - - 1 -<br />
MARTIN MOLONEY 1300 24 APR 21 0+3 - - 0+3 - - - - - 2+8 - - 2+8 - - - - - - -<br />
ROSS MOLONY 1233 20 FEB 15 13+5 - - 11+3 - - 2+2 - - 95+62 5 25 83+45 4 20 12+17 1 5 34 -<br />
BEN MURPHY 1309 21 MAY 22 - - - - - - - - - 0+1 - - 0+1 - - - - - - -<br />
CHARLIE NGATAI 1311 17 SEP 22 9+2 - - 7+2 - - 2 - - 9+2 - - 7+2 - - 2 - - - NZ 1<br />
JAMIE OSBORNE 1294 30 JAN 21 10+2 1 5 8+1 - - 2+1 1 5 23+8 2 10 21+7 1 5 2+1 1 5 4 -<br />
JIMMY O'BRIEN 1272 23 NOV 18 13 3 15 9 1 5 4 2 10 56+10 19 99 43+9 11 59 13+1 8 40 2 IR 5<br />
SEAN O'BRIEN 1297 12 MAR 21 - - - - - - - - - 0+3 - - 0+3 - - - - - - -<br />
TOMMY O'BRIEN 1283 20 DEC 19 - - - - - - - - - 10+11 6 30 10+9 6 30 0+2 - - 2 -<br />
MAX O'REILLY 1291 2 JAN 21 2 1 5 2 1 5 - - - 10+1 2 10 10+1 2 10 - - - 1 -<br />
SCOTT PENNY 1271 23 NOV 18 9+2 4 20 9+1 4 20 0+1 - - 43+9 27 135 43+8 27 135 0+1 - - 1 -<br />
ANDREW PORTER 1246 2 SEP 16 8+4 3 15 4+4 2 10 4 1 5 49+54 17 85 33+35 12 60 16+19 5 25 6 IR 53<br />
GARRY RINGROSE 1237 12 SEP 15 10+1 6 30 6+1 4 20 4 2 10 110+3 36 188 66+2 23 123 44+1 13 65 1 IR 50<br />
RHYS RUDDOCK 1167 6 DEC 09 9 3 15 9 3 15 - - - 165+54 15 75 127+35 13 65 37+17 2 10 2 IR 27<br />
ROB RUSSELL 1302 3 OCT 21 6+4 8 40 6+4 8 40 - - - 9+6 8 40 9+6 8 40 - - - 2 -<br />
CHARLIE RYAN - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -<br />
JAMES RYAN 1259 2 SEP 17 8+3 1 5 4+3 - - 4 1 5 60+9 4 20 31+4 1 5 29+5 3 15 5 IR 53<br />
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 I R 113<br />
DAN SHEEHAN 1286 23 OCT 20 9+3 9 45 7+1 8 40 2+2 1 5 18+23 25 125 15+14 21 105 3+9 4 20 3 IR 17<br />
ANDREW SMITH 1292 2 JAN 21 - - - - - - - - - 1+1 - - 1+1 - - - - - - -<br />
ALEX SOROKA 1296 28 FEB 21 0+2 - - 0+2 - - - - - 2+5 - - 2+5 - - - - - - -<br />
CHARLIE TECTOR 1314 28 OCT 22 0+5 1 9 0+5 1 9 - - - 0+5 1 9 0+5 1 9 - - - 2 -<br />
JAMES TRACY 1211 4 NOV 12 - - - - - - - - - 64+77 18 90 57+48 17 85 7+29 1 5 5 IR 6<br />
LIAM TURNER 1287 23 OCT 20 7+2 2 10 7+1 2 10 0+1 - - 11+4 2 10 11+3 2 10 0+1 - - 3 -<br />
JOSH VAN DER FLIER 1228 11 OCT 14 9+1 7 35 5+1 2 10 4 5 25 99+25 25 125 57+19 10 50 42+6 15 75 1 IR 50<br />
KICKING<br />
2022/23 SEASON FOR LEINSTER LEINSTER CAREER<br />
SUCCESS<br />
ALL GAMES URC EPCR ALL GAMES PRO14/URC EPCR OVERALL<br />
RATE C PG DG C PG DG C PG DG C PG DG C PG DG C PG DG ATT Career %<br />
HARRY BYRNE 70.00% 20 1 - 15 1 - 5 - - 83 10 - 77 9 - 6 1 - 122 76.23%<br />
ROSS BYRNE 83.93% 42 5 - 26 5 - 16 - - 296 95 1 221 66 1 75 29 - 496 78.83%<br />
CIARAN FRAWLEY 100.00% 3 1 - 3 1 - - - - 57 13 - 54 13 - 3 - - 84 83.33%<br />
JIMMY O'BRIEN - - - - - - - - - - 2 - - 2 - - - - - 4 50.00%<br />
GARRY RINGROSE - - - - - - - - - - 4 - - 4 - - - - - 6 66.67%<br />
JOHNNY SEXTON 68.42% 12 1 - 11 1 - 1 - - 277 308 11 140 172 7 130 132 4 733 79.81%<br />
CHARLIE TECTOR 66.67% 2 - - 2 - - - - - 2 - - 2 - - - - - 3 66.67%<br />
www.leinsterrugby.ie | 47
TITLE PARTNER<br />
OFFICAL KIT PARTNER<br />
PREMIUM PARTNERS<br />
PARTNERS & SUPPLIERS<br />
MEDIA PARTNERS<br />
48 | www.leinsterrugby.ie
Bank of Ireland<br />
Match Day Mascots<br />
Conor Brady<br />
Rhys James Bolger<br />
Séimí Canny<br />
Bobby Connolly<br />
Matthew Earlie<br />
Elizabeth Earlie<br />
Jamie Fenlon<br />
Archie Kearney<br />
Isla Kearney<br />
Freddie Morrissey<br />
Alexander Norton<br />
Danny O’Keeffe<br />
Jack O’Keeffe<br />
Rhys Robinson<br />
Charlie Strahan
ig picture<br />
18 March 2023<br />
It’s a family affair! <strong>Leinster</strong> and<br />
Ireland teammates Jimmy O’Brien,<br />
Caelan Doris and Hugo Keenan<br />
celebrate with family and friends<br />
after the Guinness Six Nations<br />
<strong>Rugby</strong> Championship match<br />
between Ireland and England at<br />
Aviva Stadium in Dublin.<br />
50 | www.leinsterrugby.ie
Photo by Harry Murphy/Sportsfile<br />
www.leinsterrugby.ie | 51
Thank you<br />
to all the rugby volunteers<br />
& behind-the-scenes heroes.<br />
You make the<br />
game we love possible.<br />
Think of the Possibilities
offical leinster<br />
supporters club<br />
Welcome back to the RDS for<br />
the final URC group stage<br />
match of the season.<br />
What a weekend for Irish <strong>Rugby</strong><br />
last week! It was fantastic to see<br />
both the Irish Senior team and<br />
the U20s team crowned Grand<br />
Slam champions on home soil on<br />
St. Patrick’s Weekend.<br />
We want to give a special milestone<br />
mention since our last game for Garry<br />
Ringrose and Josh van der Flier who<br />
both earned their 50th cap for Ireland<br />
and to Johnny Sexton for setting a new<br />
record for the highest points scorer in the<br />
history of the Championship. Massive<br />
congratulations to everyone involved<br />
in both competitions and wishing all<br />
those who sustained an injury a speedy<br />
recovery.<br />
So, it’s Friday night lights here tonight in<br />
the RDS, where we welcome our visitors<br />
the <strong>DHL</strong> <strong>Stormers</strong> who have made the<br />
trip from Cape Town in South Africa. The<br />
<strong>Stormers</strong> are the current URC Champions<br />
and come to Dublin to try and break our<br />
winning record in the URC competition.<br />
We met the <strong>Stormers</strong> last year in April<br />
when <strong>Leinster</strong> made the inaugural trip to<br />
Cape Town last April.<br />
Unfortunately, we lost that day 20-13, but<br />
we did manage a losing bonus point. It’s<br />
a top-of-the-table clash here in the RDS<br />
54 | www.leinsterrugby.ie<br />
tonight, and <strong>Leinster</strong> will want to keep<br />
that unbeaten streak in order to keep<br />
that all-important home advantage as<br />
we progress to the Knockout stages. So,<br />
grab a flag, grab a drum, and let’s make<br />
the stadium blue and noisy as we shout<br />
the team on.<br />
There are lots of fun things happening<br />
in the RDS tonigh. The Laya drummers<br />
are back, and we also have given out<br />
Bodhrans and drums to create lots of<br />
noise all around the RDS. We have live<br />
music in the Guinness Fanzone, Player<br />
Q&A, and lots more going on.<br />
The OLSC Shop is well stocked but<br />
will only be open until kickoff, as we<br />
have to get ready for our 2023 Legend<br />
T-Shirt launch. Can you guess who it<br />
is? Well, listen out for the announcement<br />
at halftime where the identity will be<br />
revealed, followed by a post-match Q&A<br />
in the Guinness Fanzone with the Legend<br />
himself where he will unveil our 2023<br />
T-shirt.<br />
All proceeds from the sale will go to our<br />
nominated charity partner Jigsaw. A big<br />
shout out, and thanks goes to the t-shirt<br />
designer David Cahill who has come up<br />
with all these amazing designs over the<br />
years and gives his time voluntarily. We<br />
are very excited to return to the Aviva<br />
Stadium next weekend for our Round of<br />
16 knock-out match against Ulster <strong>Rugby</strong><br />
in the Heineken Champions Cup. Thanks<br />
to the hospitality of Lansdowne <strong>Rugby</strong><br />
Club we are moving the OLSC Fanzone<br />
to the club for that game.<br />
Watch out on social media for all our<br />
events planned there, that includes flags,<br />
face painters, and a big screen to show<br />
the games in the build-up to ours. Once<br />
again, a big thanks to all our volunteers<br />
who help us out regularly, we just couldn’t<br />
do any of it without your help.<br />
If you would like to help out, please reach<br />
out, we will need lots of help over the<br />
coming weeks. Please tag us in any of<br />
your photos from the day #OLSC. As<br />
always, we’re thankful for the support we<br />
as a committee get from <strong>Leinster</strong> <strong>Rugby</strong>,<br />
Bank of Ireland, Laya, Guinness, and all<br />
our other sponsors and we encourage<br />
you to show your support through our<br />
social media channels.<br />
Be loud, be true, be blue!<br />
Yours in <strong>Rugby</strong>,<br />
The OLSC Committee<br />
olsc@leisterrugby.ie
Mental health support...<br />
CHARITY PARTNER<br />
2022/23<br />
At Jigsaw, we understand and support young<br />
people’s mental health.<br />
Both online and in person, we give advice and support to<br />
help young people aged 12 to 25 years-old.<br />
jigsaw.ie<br />
Jigsaw is a registered charity in Ireland.
Be a Sport - Play<br />
<strong>Rugby</strong> is launched<br />
in Kildare<br />
Des Kavanagh Past President IRFU:<br />
Kevin Greene Co Author: John<br />
Walsh Co Author: Philip Lawlor<br />
Development Manager <strong>Leinster</strong> <strong>Rugby</strong><br />
The legendary<br />
John B Keane<br />
stated<br />
“There’s<br />
a book in<br />
everyone. It’s<br />
not always<br />
necessary to<br />
publish it”<br />
56 | www.leinsterrugby.ie<br />
Authors and compilers of “Be<br />
a Sport - Play <strong>Rugby</strong> – a guide<br />
to rugby in the North Midlands<br />
Area” can be justifiably proud of<br />
their achievement in producing<br />
a booklet that is a must buy for<br />
all fans of the game. It is a fitting<br />
tribute to the development of the<br />
sport in the North Midlands Area<br />
that currently consists of a total<br />
of ten clubs. that encompasses an<br />
area that stretches from Kilcock<br />
to Athy and from Blessington to<br />
Portarlington.<br />
The eighty-page booklet was officially<br />
launched in the Silken Thomas, Kildare,<br />
by IRFU Past President Des Kavanagh and<br />
Irish international Philip Lawlor (<strong>Leinster</strong><br />
<strong>Rugby</strong> Development Manager). They<br />
congratulated authors Kevin Greene<br />
(Secretary and Press Officer of the<br />
North Midlands Area) and John Walsh<br />
(President <strong>Leinster</strong> <strong>Rugby</strong> 2020/22)<br />
on a publication that has succeeded in<br />
promoting all aspects of game in the<br />
North Midlands Area from Mini <strong>Rugby</strong> to<br />
the Irish international rugby stage that so<br />
many players from the Area have graced.<br />
“The response to the magazine has been<br />
positive and most rewarding for the<br />
effort that Kevin and I have put into the<br />
project. We have copies already making<br />
their way to Australia, New Zealand,<br />
Boston, Kentucky, Wales and England to
Lorraine Casey Grey Athy RFC:<br />
Eibhlin Smith Portarlington RFC:<br />
Anne Connelly Newbridge RFC<br />
Moira Flahive Chair Inclusivity<br />
Committee <strong>Leinster</strong> <strong>Rugby</strong><br />
former players that were involved with<br />
the clubs in the Area” stated John Walsh<br />
on a project that commenced as a result<br />
of the Covid Pandemic when sport was<br />
suspended.<br />
Each of the ten clubs based in the Area<br />
has been profiled in detail, as have<br />
the results from the Area competitions.<br />
The important contribution that<br />
Referees from the Area have made<br />
in addition to the dedication of the<br />
Club administrators and Volunteers<br />
are also recognised for their efforts<br />
in developing the sport in their<br />
communities.<br />
The individual players from the North<br />
Midlands who have gone on to play<br />
with <strong>Leinster</strong> Youths and Girls U18s<br />
since the inception of the Inter-Area<br />
Competitions are recognised, along<br />
with the Girls from the Area who have<br />
gone on to play adult rugby for <strong>Leinster</strong>,<br />
Ireland 7s and Ireland Emerging 7s.<br />
Speaking at the launch, Kevin Greene<br />
said that; “as an Area, we continue to<br />
support a number of ideals which are<br />
important to the <strong>Rugby</strong> Family. Organ<br />
Donor Programmes have impacted on<br />
many families in the Area. Clubs are<br />
encouraged to display Organ Donor<br />
Cards in their clubhouses, highlighting the<br />
importance of Organ Donation”.<br />
He further drew attention to the role of<br />
the IRFU Charitable Trust, which helps<br />
support seriously injured players. In<br />
addition to encouraging membership<br />
of the “Friends of the IRFU Charitable<br />
Trust”, he drew attention to an<br />
upcoming event – “<strong>Rugby</strong> World<br />
Cup, France 2023, Walk and Cycle”.<br />
Contact with the Trust can be made<br />
through linda.black@irfu.ie.<br />
In addition to the large attendance<br />
from all the Area clubs we were<br />
joined by Moira Flahive (Chair<br />
of the <strong>Leinster</strong> <strong>Rugby</strong> Inclusivity<br />
Committee), Karl O’Neill (Chair<br />
of the <strong>Leinster</strong> <strong>Rugby</strong> Committee),<br />
Robert Mc Dermott (Past President<br />
<strong>Leinster</strong> <strong>Rugby</strong>) who published the<br />
booklet and Philip Lawlor (<strong>Rugby</strong><br />
Development Manager <strong>Leinster</strong><br />
<strong>Rugby</strong>).<br />
www.leinsterrugby.ie | 57
Naas players and<br />
coaches take their<br />
journey to the RDS<br />
As coaches we are just sorry all of our<br />
52 players at U12s could not take to the<br />
pitch this evening. We have watched<br />
them grow from the age of 5 and 6 years<br />
of age.<br />
We know the players have come on,<br />
but what about the coaches? The Naas<br />
U12s coaches have come a long way<br />
too (some further than others). As all eight<br />
of us gathered for the <strong>Leinster</strong> <strong>Rugby</strong><br />
coaching course we did not know what<br />
was ahead of us back then.<br />
BY JACK KEEGAN (NAAS RFC)<br />
There were, the ex-<strong>Rugby</strong> players<br />
showing off, the ex-GAA players<br />
throwing shapes, the ex-Boxer wanting<br />
to throw a punch or two and the rugby<br />
virgins, terrified. We all learned together,<br />
sometimes having more fun than our<br />
players along the way. Participation for<br />
all is to the fore of all of what we do in<br />
Naas.<br />
From the introduction to rugby group -<br />
“The Rattlers”, the mixed ability group<br />
- “The Vipers”, right through the age<br />
groups, boys and girls are all given<br />
the chance to play this game with the<br />
guidance of lots of parents who have<br />
become rugby coaches.<br />
What is important to us as the Naas RFC<br />
U12’s coaches is that we are teaching<br />
them more than how best to play a game.<br />
We instil in our players the importance to<br />
show what we are made of individually<br />
and as a group, in preparation, during<br />
the game and also after the final whistle.<br />
We are learning more about the players<br />
as individuals and, that this sport and this<br />
team can mean more to them than the<br />
couple of hours spent on a pitch every<br />
week.<br />
Like coaches the length and breadth<br />
of this country, of all sports, we are<br />
dedicated to our players. We share<br />
the highs and lows on the pitch. As our<br />
players mature in different ways over the<br />
years to come we will prepare and equip<br />
ourselves.<br />
Support from our own club in Naas is<br />
immense. Talking to mini coaches who<br />
have gone before us, it allows us to<br />
dream of the next Jamie Osborne or<br />
Oscar Cawley who, we may have had a<br />
small input into a growing rugby career.<br />
Support from the lads in <strong>Leinster</strong> <strong>Rugby</strong>,<br />
the CRO and CCRO have given our<br />
coaches great guidance as we introduce<br />
new facets of the game to our players.<br />
We wish our 20 players who are taking<br />
the field the best of luck this evening<br />
but more, we are proud to have the 52<br />
players of our squad here – it shows what<br />
we are made of.<br />
We are the ones in green and white,<br />
North stand, give us a wave!<br />
www.leinsterrugby.ie | 59
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www.leinsterrugby.ie | 61
WHERE<br />
ARE<br />
THEY<br />
NOW?<br />
tony BY DES BERRY<br />
ryan<br />
THEN - Tony<br />
played once<br />
for <strong>Leinster</strong><br />
against<br />
Scarlets in<br />
2015.<br />
NOW - He lives<br />
with his<br />
fiance Laura<br />
in Stillorgan,<br />
working as<br />
a Business<br />
Sales<br />
Executive for<br />
Fannin Ltd.<br />
62 | www.leinsterrugby.ie
The hardest thing<br />
to deal with was<br />
the skill and speed<br />
at which training<br />
was done, learning<br />
it all on the fly.<br />
Saturday, February<br />
21st, 2015.<br />
<strong>Leinster</strong> forwards coach Leo<br />
Cullen came along to have a look<br />
at Clontarf props Royce Burke-<br />
Flynn and Iain Hirst play against<br />
Terenure at Castle Avenue in the<br />
All-Ireland League.<br />
He stayed to ask one<br />
question: ‘who is<br />
your number<br />
eight?’<br />
Cullen was scouting the AIL for players<br />
that could step in when the bulk of the<br />
first-team squad would be preparing for<br />
the 2015 <strong>Rugby</strong> World Cup.<br />
Ryan had been beavering away in the<br />
South-East area team, had made the<br />
<strong>Leinster</strong> Youths and had been on the<br />
<strong>Leinster</strong> U19s squad.<br />
This was the apprenticeship to joining<br />
his home club Enniscorthy’s first team for<br />
two years, being central to the Provincial<br />
Towns Cup win in 2012.<br />
“Leo came to look at the two other lads,<br />
not me. I didn’t know anything about<br />
it. It was probably better that way. It<br />
escalated from there,” says Tony.<br />
“He wanted to know if I would be<br />
interested in coming in for pre-season<br />
that summer. It was ideal for me as I was<br />
just finishing my four-year degree in<br />
Analytical Science at DCU.<br />
“I was shocked that he wanted me to<br />
come in. I didn’t even know <strong>Leinster</strong><br />
looked at the AIL for players.<br />
“I went in for an initial meeting with<br />
Leo. He brought me around the<br />
complex. He was introducing me<br />
to guys like Dominic Ryan, Isa<br />
Nacewa.<br />
“I was a <strong>Leinster</strong> supporter. All of a<br />
sudden, I am going to be in training with<br />
these guys. I just remember feeling, ‘what<br />
am I doing in here?’”<br />
Four months later, Enniscorthy’s Tony<br />
Ryan reported for pre-season at <strong>Leinster</strong><br />
<strong>Rugby</strong>, harbouring a lot of questions that<br />
needed answers.<br />
“For some reason, you feel like an<br />
imposter. They don’t see you like that.<br />
They just see another lad coming in.<br />
“But, you are thinking ‘will I be up to the<br />
mark physically? How will my skills hold<br />
up?’ I was very nervous.”<br />
However, the Clontarf contingent was<br />
strong, Mick McGrath, Burke-Flynn, Hirst,<br />
Bryan Byrne, Mick Kearney, providing<br />
familiar faces to ease the nerves.<br />
“It was like the first day of any job. You<br />
don’t know where to go, what to do.<br />
Everyone had a locker with their name on<br />
it. I didn’t have a locker or even a seat.<br />
“All the Ireland internationals weren’t<br />
there, so I was sitting wherever lads<br />
weren’t sitting. I had no kit, no gear.<br />
I was just there on a two-month contract<br />
and could have been gone in eight<br />
weeks.”<br />
www.leinsterrugby.ie | 63
We flew over the<br />
night before and we<br />
had to wait around<br />
all day for a night<br />
game. I’m nervous at<br />
the best of times.<br />
There was a fine system in place for<br />
those without the proper attire. Tony was<br />
scrambling. Mick McGrath was giving the<br />
new recruit gear and Kevin McLaughlin<br />
was handing him socks, shorts and a<br />
jersey.<br />
“I was also concerned about the training<br />
load. It was a shock to the system, two<br />
sessions a day, eating all the time, resting,<br />
recovering, and sleeping. I would be<br />
wrecked,” he said.<br />
“I found I had to eat a lot of food to keep<br />
on the weight rather than put it on. The<br />
hardest thing to deal with was the skill<br />
and speed at which training was done,<br />
learning it all on the fly.<br />
“You were given a little grace at the start<br />
for making mistakes, but pretty soon, it just<br />
wasn’t good enough.”<br />
The expectation to pick up in a short<br />
number of weeks what others had been<br />
given the length of an Academy contract<br />
to master made every day a pressurecooker.<br />
“I would be a nervous player before<br />
matches whether it is an AIL final or a<br />
pre-season friendly. That is just the way I<br />
am,” he says.<br />
“Every day going into <strong>Leinster</strong>, I would<br />
be nervous of messing up, feeling every<br />
mistake is noticed and every move is<br />
assessed. I knew I had two months. But,<br />
I wanted to impress to be kept on for the<br />
entire season.”<br />
At the end of two months, Leo offered a<br />
one-month rolling contract which lasted<br />
into the New Year.<br />
In that time, Tony managed to secure<br />
his one and only cap against Scarlets in<br />
a back row with Josh van der Flier and<br />
Dominic Ryan on October 16th, 2015.<br />
“I actually remember the whole week<br />
even, coming back from my friend’s stag<br />
party at home on the weekend to go<br />
training on the Monday.<br />
“You know the team is based on the team<br />
called out for training on Monday. It was<br />
called out and I was in it. James Tracy<br />
came up to me.<br />
“He said: ‘I think that means you are in for<br />
the Scarlets. ”<br />
“I said: “oh, f&*k!.’”<br />
It began to dawn on Tony through the<br />
week that he was going to be involved,<br />
settling for a place on the bench.<br />
“We flew over the night before and<br />
we had to wait around all day for a<br />
night game. I’m nervous at the best of<br />
times.<br />
“But, when the time comes to go on, that<br />
is when the nerves leave you. You’re not<br />
shocked or anything like that.”<br />
It couldn’t have gone much better, the first<br />
touch turned into an offload to Noel Reid<br />
and a try for Isa Nacewa.<br />
“Even though we lost, I was buzzing<br />
because I made an impact when I came<br />
on and I knew the opportunities to play<br />
for <strong>Leinster</strong>’s first team were few and far<br />
between.<br />
“As a professional, even for me now still<br />
playing for Clontarf, if I don’t play well<br />
on Saturday, it eats me up all week until I<br />
play again.<br />
“It was my first cap and I felt I performed<br />
under the pressure of a one-month rolling<br />
contract. I was delighted with myself.<br />
That night, Dan Leavy was eight, Josh van<br />
der Flier was seven and Dominic Ryan<br />
was six. That’s with all the <strong>Leinster</strong> loose<br />
forwards players away for the World<br />
Cup.<br />
Jamie Heaslip, Jordi Murphy, Rhys<br />
Ruddock and Jack Conan would all return<br />
to remove any chance of Tony adding to<br />
his cap.<br />
“That is how difficult it was to get into the<br />
team.”<br />
64 | www.leinsterrugby.ie
“I had been in there for over four<br />
months and this is when it became really<br />
intimidating. These guys I had been<br />
watching on television started to appear<br />
and Sean O’Brien is my favourite player<br />
of all-time.”<br />
Even then, <strong>Leinster</strong> respected Tony’s<br />
game enough to keep playing him for<br />
<strong>Leinster</strong> A at a time when he turned<br />
down a professional contract to play in<br />
England.<br />
There was an offer on the table from<br />
Rotherham to join the Championship club,<br />
amounting to £16,000 for the season. No<br />
match fees. No accommodation.<br />
Still thriving at Clontarf, he is a decorated<br />
veteran with three All-Ireland League<br />
medals in 2014, 2016 and 2022 with<br />
plans to add a fourth by the end of the<br />
season.<br />
“I absolutely loved my time at <strong>Leinster</strong>. I<br />
was disappointed it was all over. I look<br />
back on it now and feel I did as well as I<br />
could from the opportunities I got. I would<br />
have preferred to stay a professional.<br />
The right opportunity just never came my<br />
way.”<br />
“I was also anxious to get going in my<br />
career,” he says.<br />
Tony’s memories of playing there for the<br />
<strong>Leinster</strong> A’s didn’t make the decision any<br />
harder. There was no way he was going<br />
to forego his career.<br />
For the last five years, Tony has worked<br />
as a Business Sales Executive for medical<br />
devices company Fannin Ltd, finding a<br />
familiar crossover in some aspects of his<br />
job.<br />
“When you play rugby, you have a<br />
good grasp of discipline and working in a<br />
team environment,” he adds.<br />
“When you play, you have a<br />
performance expectation. The same goes<br />
for work. You always have to perform.<br />
My work is in sales. There are a lot of<br />
targets and results to be met.<br />
“Outside that, there is the social element<br />
that is required for rugby and in sales. You<br />
have to be able to relate to people.”<br />
www.leinsterrugby.ie | 65
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Referees<br />
Corner<br />
BY DAN WALLACE<br />
A very warm welcome to another<br />
edition of Referees Corner.<br />
Today’s match referee is<br />
Sam Grove-White front the<br />
Scottish <strong>Rugby</strong> Union. Sam<br />
started refereeing following<br />
an ankle injury whilst playing<br />
in university. He has had a<br />
steady progression through<br />
his refereeing career. He has<br />
refereed in the Japanese Top<br />
League in 2015 as part of a<br />
Scottish <strong>Rugby</strong> Union initiative<br />
to create links with Scotland<br />
and Japan <strong>Rugby</strong> and he is<br />
also a regular in the Scottish<br />
Premiership, as well as the URC.<br />
Sam was picked as a referee for the<br />
World <strong>Rugby</strong> Sevens Series of 2016-<br />
17 season. This continued through to<br />
the 2018-19 season. Grove-White<br />
has refereed in the Under 20 Six<br />
Nations and also refereed in the 2018<br />
Commonwealth Games. This is his fifth<br />
time refereeing <strong>Leinster</strong>. Today he will<br />
be ably assisted by Peter Martin and<br />
Keane Davison of the Ulster Society<br />
with Andrew McMenemy in the TMO<br />
box. We wish the team well.<br />
Schools Cup<br />
Congratulations to Padraic Reidy who<br />
was appointed to the 2023 Bank<br />
of Ireland Schools Senior Cup Final<br />
between Gonzaga and Blackrock<br />
College. Padraic has been a member of<br />
the IRFU National Referees panel for a<br />
number of years and recently refereed<br />
the Bateman Cup Final between<br />
Terenure College and Buccaneers.<br />
Padraic was assisted by last year’s final<br />
referee Andrew Cole and also Sam Holt.<br />
Jonny Hollywood and Wayne Sheridan<br />
were 4th and 5th official, with Brian<br />
MacNeice TMO and Dan Wallace as<br />
Timekeeper. Well done to both teams<br />
on a great game and to Gonzaga on a<br />
fantastic first cup final win.<br />
68 | www.leinsterrugby.ie
Law in Focus<br />
Law 18.3 Quick Throw<br />
Ireland had an early try disallowed in<br />
Scotland after they appeared to have<br />
legally stolen a Scotland throw and sent<br />
their forwards driving over – but was this<br />
call correct?<br />
After seemingly being alerted by a<br />
message from his assistants on the<br />
sidelines, referee Luke Pearce consulted<br />
with the closest touch judge then<br />
disallowed the score.<br />
The law states: A player who carries<br />
the ball into touch must release the ball<br />
immediately so that a quick throw may<br />
be taken. Sanction: Penalty.<br />
At a quick throw, the ball is thrown in:<br />
Between the mark of touch and the<br />
thrower’s own goal line; and Parallel to<br />
or towards the thrower’s own goal line;<br />
and So that it reaches the five-metre line<br />
before it touches the ground or hits a<br />
player; and By a player whose feet are<br />
both outside the field of play.<br />
A quick throw is disallowed and a<br />
lineout is awarded to the same team if: A<br />
lineout had already been formed; or the<br />
ball had been touched after it went into<br />
touch by anyone other than the player<br />
throwing in or the player who carried<br />
the ball into touch; or A different ball is<br />
used from the one that originally went<br />
into touch.<br />
Monthly Seminars<br />
We’ve had some great turnouts at<br />
our monthly seminars in 2023. It is a<br />
great opportunity for our referees to<br />
get together in an informal setting and<br />
discuss their games. This month we are<br />
focusing on a key aspect of refereeing<br />
- Communication. Match officials use<br />
a wide range of tools to communicate<br />
during a <strong>Rugby</strong> match. The use of these<br />
tools, which of course will depend on<br />
the game situation in front of you, allows<br />
you to achieve three critical things in<br />
your capacity as referee. There are three<br />
ways the referee communicates:<br />
Voice<br />
Whistle<br />
Signals<br />
But first of all, referees need always<br />
be close to the action and position<br />
themselves in the best possible way. As a<br />
referee, if you can communicate clearly<br />
and succinctly, players and coaches<br />
will better understand your decisions.<br />
This involves communicating with your<br />
whistle, your primary and secondary<br />
signals and your voice. Sometimes you<br />
will encounter challenging situations<br />
that will require more management. The<br />
ability to build a relationship during a<br />
game with a captain can help you to<br />
manage a team as a whole when the<br />
temperature of a game rises.<br />
It is about people management and<br />
working with many different personality<br />
types and an appreciation of emotional<br />
intelligence. You must stay calm in<br />
sometimes stressful environments.<br />
The language you use, your tone of<br />
voice and your body language are all<br />
effective refereeing tools. Sometimes,<br />
not speaking can be just as effective as<br />
speaking. Thanks to Sean Gallagher and<br />
John Carvill for some great presentations<br />
this month on this.<br />
Want to get<br />
involved?<br />
Referees provide a vital<br />
function in servicing all<br />
levels of the game. Whether<br />
you aspire to referee at<br />
the highest level or to<br />
referee locally, there is a<br />
place for you. There are<br />
excellent support structures<br />
to develop referees and a<br />
thriving social aspect too.<br />
Feel free to make contact with<br />
the <strong>Leinster</strong> <strong>Rugby</strong> Referees at<br />
hayley.whyte@leinsterrugby.ie<br />
If you are interested in becoming<br />
a referee get in contact with<br />
us through our Facebook, our<br />
website<br />
www.leinsterrugbyreferees.ie<br />
or through twitter<br />
@leinsterreferee.<br />
www.leinsterrugby.ie | 69
ank of ireland<br />
MATCHDAY minis<br />
Birr RFC<br />
Players: Adam Fogarty, Callum Rock, Cathal Mooney,<br />
Charlie de Forge, Cillian Sammon, Conor Mahon,<br />
Darragh Mc Dowall, David Mugan, Duke Makim,<br />
Eamon Sheehan, Emmet Ryan Horan, Eric Lawlor, Eric Ward,<br />
Finn McIntosh, Gary Shanahan, Gearoid Oakley,<br />
Isaac McLoughlin, James Houlihan, John Fogarty, John Plunkett,<br />
Mark Dennedy, Mark Mahon, Michael Conneely, Noah Alves<br />
Smyth, Rory Milne, Ryan Kelly, Seamus Carbery<br />
and Tadhg O’Grady<br />
Coaches: Daithi de Forge, Cahal Rock, John Regan<br />
Longford RFC<br />
Players: Eimhin Kelly, James Donnelly, Max Samplawski, Sam<br />
Ferguson, Donnagh Martin, Senan Lyne, Theodore Flower,<br />
Lucas Egan, Eoin McCondichie, Rionn Sheehan, Tom Fox, Julian<br />
Clare, Lorcan McDermott, Kaelan Rowe, Donnacha McGovern,<br />
Adam Radomski, Braiden Carrigy, Ethan McDowell, Oliver<br />
Farrell, Fiachra Fagan, Patrick Glennon, Aaron Reilly, James<br />
Reilly, Padraig Cullen, Kacper Jakacki, Tima Madzhanov, Liam<br />
Kelly, Luke Columb and Ethan Devlin<br />
Coaches: Tom Fox, Kevin Sheehan, Shane Lyne, George<br />
McDermott and Pauline Marlowe<br />
Naas RFC<br />
Players: Adam O Brien, Alexander Harford, Ben Bowden,<br />
Charlie Lloyd, Charlie Murphy, Cian Downes,<br />
Cillian McMahon, Cillian Tamming, Conor O’Grady,<br />
Devin Kenny, Diarmuid Conheady, Eoin O’Mongáin,<br />
Flynn Clayton, Harry Kelly, Harry Spellman, Jack Keegan,<br />
Ollie Preston, Robert Domican, Shane Kelly<br />
and Zach Minogue O Reilly<br />
Coaches: Jack Keegan and Warrick Bowden<br />
Newbridge RFC<br />
Players: Charlie Burke, Elliot Lane, Wiktor Kuzniewicz,<br />
Ely Dunne-Weir,Eoghan Lane, Stefan Liuzzi, Adam Farrell,<br />
Hogan Byrne, Mason Comerford, Rian Keating, Andy Toft,<br />
Finn Hayes, Liam Moore, Tadhg McDonnell, Sam Steed,<br />
Oisin Mulhern, Ben Eustace, Fionn Clandillon, Oran Beagon<br />
and James Byrne<br />
Coaches: Senan Clandillion, Paul Liuzzi, David Burke,<br />
Aidan Farrell, Bernard Eustace, Brian McDonald,<br />
Martin Lane and Mark Dunne-Weir<br />
www.leinsterrugby.ie | 71
Longford’s 4G<br />
pitch to officially<br />
open next week<br />
Longford <strong>Rugby</strong> Club will welcome<br />
<strong>Leinster</strong> Branch President Debbie<br />
Carthy on Friday 31st March, to cut<br />
the ribbon and officially open the<br />
new full size 4G pitch. The pitch<br />
will be dedicated to five former<br />
directors of the club who between<br />
them, amassed over 255 years<br />
service to the club.<br />
The directors are: Warren Turner, Patrick<br />
Quinn, Mel Difley, Pat Fitzgearld (former<br />
IRFU President) and Robert Belton. The<br />
commitment of all five through the years<br />
has ensured the development of the club<br />
in the right direction.<br />
The official opening ceremony will be<br />
preceded by the inaugural Longford and<br />
District Schools’ tournament, with local<br />
schools competing for the Hugh Connolly<br />
Perpetual Cup.<br />
Dedicated to the memory of club stalwart<br />
Hugh Connolly, who worked tirelessly<br />
developing Youths and Minis rugby<br />
at Longford <strong>Rugby</strong> Club right up to his<br />
untimely passing in 2014, the new annual<br />
schools youth competition is a very fitting<br />
acknowledgment of the dedication Hugh<br />
had for Longford <strong>Rugby</strong> Club.<br />
They will also have a Longford and<br />
District Schools’ girls tournament with<br />
teams competing for the Karen Lennon<br />
Perpetual Cup. Karen has been involved<br />
with ladies rugby at the club for many<br />
years. She earned a provincial cap for<br />
Connacht during her playing career and<br />
currently serving as the club’s first Lady<br />
Vice President.<br />
It’s little over one year since the<br />
completion of the state of the art full size<br />
4G pitch at the club. The state-of-the-art<br />
pitch development has ensured that teams<br />
are no longer exposed to cancellation<br />
of training sessions during the week,<br />
and weekend game schedules are not<br />
compromised due to weather conditions.<br />
The Longford and District Schools<br />
Tournament will see six boys junior teams<br />
and two girls teams representing St. Mel’s<br />
College Longford, Wilson’s Hospital,<br />
Cnoc Mhuire Granard, Ard Scoil Padraig<br />
Granard, Meán Scoil Mhuire Longford<br />
participating.<br />
Last season, the club was host to an area<br />
schools Tag <strong>Rugby</strong> blitz, which followed<br />
a programme of rugby development in<br />
the secondary schools, delivered by club<br />
captain and School Youths coach, Daniel<br />
McHugh. Following that programme,<br />
a number of schools in the area then<br />
completed blocks of full contact training<br />
this season, giving many students a first<br />
taste of a first full contact game in a team<br />
environment.<br />
The successful schools programme saw St.<br />
Mel’s College Longford enter the Junior<br />
Development league this year and to<br />
date have enjoyed a successful run in the<br />
league. In addition, a number of schools<br />
players are now training and playing with<br />
the club U15 & U16 teams.<br />
It is hoped the success of the project will<br />
be recognised with the financial support<br />
required to aid the expansion of the<br />
programme locally and indeed be used<br />
as a template to develop the game in<br />
schools across the country.<br />
www.leinsterrugby.ie | 73
Please support<br />
Daffodil Day<br />
24 March 2023<br />
CHY 5863 RCN 20009502<br />
CLICK TO DONATE
My name<br />
is Sharzie<br />
Delaney. I’m<br />
a cancer<br />
survivor.<br />
And this<br />
year, I am<br />
so thrilled<br />
to be an<br />
ambassador<br />
for the<br />
Irish Cancer<br />
Society’s<br />
Daffodil Day.<br />
You never imagine you will be the<br />
one to hear those dreaded words<br />
“you have cancer”.<br />
I was 33 years old when I found a lump<br />
on my breast. I had just returned from<br />
a magical holiday in Rome, where my<br />
boyfriend Ian had proposed to me! We<br />
were planning our wedding and planning<br />
a family, I had always wanted children.<br />
But once I got my treatment schedule, we<br />
knew we’d have to postpone the wedding<br />
and change our plans. I also learned<br />
that cancer could potentially prevent me<br />
from ever being able to have a baby. I<br />
was devastated. It felt like cancer was<br />
about to take away so many of life’s most<br />
exciting possibilities.<br />
Cancer takes from us every day. It takes<br />
big days, little days, and everything inbetween.<br />
It replaces them with treatment<br />
days and recovery days. But together,<br />
we have the power to take these days<br />
back from cancer. One person every<br />
three minutes in Ireland receives a cancer<br />
diagnosis. My heart goes out to each of<br />
those people, who like me, slowly begin<br />
to realise what cancer can steal from you.<br />
I lost days of my life to cancer. I lost my<br />
hair. I Iost days in recovery. I lost days<br />
feeling down.<br />
All the while, I couldn’t let go of the<br />
simple hope of starting a family. But<br />
cancer had another challenge to throw<br />
in our way. To prevent my breast cancer<br />
returning, I had to start a special five-year<br />
long Tamoxifen treatment.<br />
And the bad news is – it’s not possible<br />
to get pregnant while you’re on this<br />
medication. Five years waiting to have a<br />
baby – it felt like a lifetime. I was already<br />
34, so I started considering coming off<br />
my treatment, just long enough to get<br />
pregnant. As you can imagine, these<br />
were very anxious days and I couldn’t<br />
find any helpful information to guide<br />
me. Coincidentally, around this time my<br />
oncologist asked me to join a landmark<br />
clinical research trial – to study the risks<br />
of stopping Tamoxifen treatment in order<br />
to get pregnant – so I was delighted to<br />
say yes.<br />
It’s called ‘THE POSITIVE TRIAL’ and<br />
it’s funded by the Irish Cancer Society<br />
through their partners at Cancer Trials<br />
Ireland. I joined it because it means that,<br />
as the results of the research emerge,<br />
other women will be able to have the<br />
exact information I was then searching<br />
for.<br />
Eighteen months into the trial, we<br />
decided to take the risk and come<br />
off the treatment. I couldn’t let cancer<br />
take motherhood away from me too.<br />
Thankfully everything worked out. And<br />
eight months later, in the middle of one<br />
of the worst times of our lives, we got the<br />
best news possible. I was pregnant!<br />
Nine months later, our lovely little girl,<br />
Zohrah, was born. We were over the<br />
moon! Cancer took so much. But we<br />
didn’t let it take this, after all.<br />
The Irish Cancer Society helps fund<br />
this landmark trial, and so many other<br />
important research projects too. Your<br />
generous donation this Daffodil Day<br />
will fund vital cancer research like this<br />
and so many other important projects.<br />
Your support will ensure cancer patients<br />
across the country can get free lifts to their<br />
chemotherapy appointments. It means<br />
that a qualified cancer nurse will answer<br />
when someone in need rings the Support<br />
Line. It’s a Night Nurse who provides<br />
comfort and expert care at home.<br />
By joining me this Daffodil Day you are<br />
giving hope to the thousands of people<br />
facing a cancer diagnosis in Ireland<br />
today. Thanks to your support, nobody in<br />
Ireland will face cancer alone.<br />
The Irish Cancer Society’s Daffodil Day,<br />
the day we take back from cancer takes<br />
place on Friday March 24th 2023. Go to<br />
cancer.ie/daffodilday to donate<br />
www.leinsterrugby.ie | 75
COUNTRY: SOUTH AFRICA HOME GROUND: <strong>DHL</strong> STADIUM CAPACITY: 55,000 FOUNDED: 1997<br />
last time out<br />
<strong>DHL</strong> <strong>Stormers</strong> 29<br />
Cell C Sharks 23<br />
SATURDAY 04 MARCH | UNITED RUGBY CHAMPIONSHIP · ROUND 15 | <strong>DHL</strong> STADIUM | REFEREE: AJ JACOBS<br />
The <strong>DHL</strong> <strong>Stormers</strong> made<br />
it a clean sweep of the<br />
other South African teams<br />
in the BKT United <strong>Rugby</strong><br />
Championship this season<br />
with a 29-23 win against the<br />
Cell C Sharks at <strong>DHL</strong> Stadium<br />
a the start of March.<br />
<strong>DHL</strong> STORMERS: Clayton Blommetjies, Angelo Davids, Ruhan Nel, Sacha Feinberg-<br />
Mngomezulu, Seabelo Senatla, Manie Libbok, Paul de Wet, Marcel Theunissen, Ben-<br />
Jason Dixon, Deon Fourie (captain), Ruben van Heerden, Ernst van Rhyn, Neethling<br />
Fouche, Joseph Dweba, Ali Vermaak.<br />
REPLACEMENTS: JJ Kotze, Brok Harris, Sazi Sandi, Connor Evans, Willie Engelbrecht,<br />
Herschel Jantjies, Jean-Luc du Plessis, Suleiman Hartzenberg.<br />
TRIES: Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Dixon, Blommetjies, Davids<br />
CONS: Libbok 3<br />
PEN: Libbok<br />
CELL C SHARKS: Boeta Chamberlain, Werner Kok, Marnus Potgieter, Rohan Janse<br />
van Rensburg, Aphelele Fassi, Curwin Bosch (captain), Grant Williams, Sikhumbuzo<br />
Notshe, Vincent Tshituka, Henco Venter, Gerbrandt Grobler, Emile van Heerden, Hanro<br />
Jacobs, Fez Mbatha, Dian Bleuler.<br />
REPLACEMENTS: Kerron van Vuuren, Ntuthuko Mchunu, Carlu Sadie, Lappies<br />
Labuschagne, James Venter, Phepsi Buthelezi, Cameron Wright, Yaw Penxe.<br />
TRIES: Penxe, Janse van Rensburg, Williams<br />
CON: Bosch<br />
PENS: Bosch 2<br />
They were made to work hard<br />
for the win as they were down to<br />
13 men in the final stages, but the<br />
<strong>DHL</strong> <strong>Stormers</strong> did enough to clinch<br />
the full five points.<br />
The visitors struck first with a penalty<br />
from flyhalf Curwin Bosch, but the <strong>DHL</strong><br />
<strong>Stormers</strong> responded with a try as Sacha<br />
Feinberg-Mngomezulu took a great<br />
offload from Clayton Blommetjies to go<br />
over.<br />
The Cell C Sharks edged in front with a<br />
second penalty from Bosch, but those<br />
were to be their last points of the first<br />
half, as the home side took control with<br />
two more tries.<br />
The first was an intercept from flank Ben-<br />
Jason Dixon, who made a great read to<br />
76 | www.leinsterrugby.ie
snatch the ball in the 22 and canter over.<br />
The second came off the back of<br />
a period of sustained pressure, as<br />
Blommetjies glided through a gap to<br />
score.<br />
That gave the home side a 19-6<br />
advantage at half-time, to the delight of<br />
the <strong>DHL</strong> Stadium crowd.<br />
The bonus-point try came 13 minutes<br />
into the second half, with Angelo Davids<br />
getting on the end of a cross-kick from<br />
Libbok and grounding it despite slipping<br />
in the process.<br />
The Cell C Sharks fought back well,<br />
scoring two tries of their own from wing<br />
Yaw Penxe and centre Rohan Janse van<br />
Rensburg to make it 26-18 heading into<br />
the last 15 minutes.<br />
The <strong>DHL</strong> <strong>Stormers</strong> were down to 14 for<br />
the last 10 minutes after replacement<br />
prop Sazi Sandi was shown a yellow<br />
card for a cynical infringement.<br />
Scrumhalf Grant Williams scored a third<br />
for the visitors and Seabelo was shown<br />
a yellow card for a trip, which meant the<br />
<strong>DHL</strong> <strong>Stormers</strong> had to finish the game with<br />
13 men on the field.<br />
That set up a tense finish, but the <strong>DHL</strong><br />
<strong>Stormers</strong> had the final say with a late<br />
penalty from Libbok to seal the win.<br />
The 29-23 win ensured that the<br />
<strong>DHL</strong> <strong>Stormers</strong> are United <strong>Rugby</strong><br />
Championship South African Shield<br />
winners for the second consecutive<br />
season.<br />
www.leinsterrugby.ie | 77
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Head Coach:<br />
John Dobson<br />
Dobson took charge of the <strong>Stormers</strong> in<br />
2019, and also works as Head Coach<br />
with Western Province in the Currie Cup.<br />
The former hooker also worked in Italy,<br />
and is a published author, having penned<br />
novels in 2012 and 2016.<br />
Captain:<br />
Steven<br />
Kitshoff<br />
The Springboks prop was part of the team<br />
the won the 2019 <strong>Rugby</strong> World Cup, and<br />
the 2021 Test Series against the British<br />
and Irish Lions. The 31-year-old has<br />
spent the entirety of his career in South<br />
Africa, bar two years in the Top 14 with<br />
Bordeaux-Begles.<br />
He was part of the team that won the<br />
inaugural URC title last season and has<br />
over 100 appearances for the team. He<br />
will be moving to Ulster after this year’s<br />
<strong>Rugby</strong> World Cup.<br />
stormers squad<br />
FORWARDS<br />
KWENZO BLOSE<br />
PROP<br />
HACJIVAH DAYIMANI<br />
FLANKER<br />
BEN-JASON DIXON<br />
LOCK<br />
JOSEPH DWEBA<br />
HOOKER<br />
WILLIE ENGELBRECHT<br />
FLANKER<br />
CONNOR EVANS<br />
LOCK<br />
NEETHLING FOUCHE<br />
PROP<br />
DEON FOURIE<br />
FLANKER<br />
BROK HARRIS<br />
PROP<br />
Brok Harris<br />
STEVEN KITSHOFF<br />
PROP<br />
JJ KOTZE<br />
HOOKER<br />
LEON LYONS<br />
PROP<br />
FRANS MALHERBE<br />
PROP<br />
LEE-MARVIN MAZIBUKO<br />
PROP<br />
SIMON MILLER<br />
LOCK<br />
SALMAAN MOERAT<br />
LOCK<br />
KEKE MORABE<br />
NO. 8<br />
SCARRA NTUBENI<br />
HOOKER<br />
MARVIN ORIE<br />
LOCK<br />
JUNIOR POKOMELA<br />
FLANKER<br />
GARY PORTER<br />
LOCK<br />
EVAN ROOS<br />
NO. 8<br />
SAZI SANDI<br />
PROP<br />
ADRE SMITH<br />
LOCK<br />
CHAD SOLOMON<br />
HOOKER<br />
MARCEL THEUNISSEN<br />
FLANKER<br />
ANDRE-HUGO VENTER<br />
HOOKER<br />
ALI VERMAAK<br />
PROP<br />
NAMA XABA<br />
FLANKER<br />
RUBEN VAN HEERDEN<br />
LOCK<br />
ERNST VAN RHYN<br />
LOCK<br />
BACKS<br />
CLAYTON BLOMMETJIES<br />
FULLBACK<br />
ANGELO DAVIDS<br />
WING<br />
SACHA FEINBERG-MNGOMEZULU<br />
FLY-HALF<br />
SULEIMAN HARTZENBERG<br />
CENTRE<br />
HERSCHEL JANTJIES<br />
SCRUM-HALF<br />
IMAD KHAN<br />
SCRUM-HALF<br />
ALAPATI LEIUA<br />
CENTRE<br />
TRISTAN LEYDS<br />
FULLBACK<br />
MANIE LIBBOK<br />
FLY-HALF<br />
GODLEN MASIMLA<br />
SCRUM-HALF<br />
RUHAN NEL<br />
CENTRE<br />
SEABELO SENATLA<br />
WING<br />
CORNEL SMIT<br />
CENTRE<br />
STEFAN UNGERER<br />
SCRUM-HALF<br />
DAMIAN WILLEMSE<br />
FLY-HALF<br />
KADE WOLHUTER<br />
FLY-HALF<br />
LEOLIN ZAS<br />
WING<br />
MNOMBO ZWELENDABA<br />
CENTRE<br />
JUAN DE JONGH<br />
CENTRE<br />
PAUL DE WET<br />
SCRUM-HALF<br />
JEAN-LUC DU PLESSIS<br />
FLY-HALF<br />
DAN DU PLESSIS<br />
CENTRE<br />
www.leinsterrugby.ie | 79
Director of<br />
<strong>Rugby</strong> Norman<br />
Byrne is 30<br />
years into a<br />
love affair<br />
with DLSP.<br />
Club in<br />
Focus<br />
BY DES BERRY<br />
dlsp<br />
Photo: John Crothers<br />
“The club is ingrained in me. I<br />
joined as a player in 1993. I even<br />
played in the first match DLSP<br />
played in the All-Ireland League<br />
back in 1995,” he says.<br />
“I captained the club in 1996/97. I have<br />
been involved as a player, a coach and<br />
a member ever since, becoming the<br />
Director of <strong>Rugby</strong> on a full-time basis in<br />
November 2018.<br />
“I feel very fortunate to be part of such<br />
a wonderful rugby club, which is like an<br />
extended family.”<br />
The various roles Norman immersed<br />
himself into over the years provided a<br />
great vantage point to observe and to<br />
understand the complexities of the club.<br />
“Because I know the club as well as I<br />
do, I was in a position to work with great<br />
people in all levels of the club to evolve<br />
the revised strategy which we have been<br />
implementing in recent years.<br />
“It is very much a community-based<br />
club, evolving even more in that direction<br />
as the residential population of the city<br />
has grown out towards Stepaside and<br />
Enniskerry.<br />
“We are one of a few rugby clubs that<br />
have facilities in the area. We just had to<br />
get our strategy right.”<br />
80 | www.leinsterrugby.ie
“We were in the first division of the<br />
AIL back in the early 2000s, possibly<br />
punching slightly above our weight back<br />
then.<br />
“But, we competed relatively successfully<br />
in the AIL for a number of years, before<br />
then dropping out of the AIL and<br />
struggling for a period in the <strong>Leinster</strong><br />
League - even dropping two divisions in<br />
consecutive seasons in 2019 and 2020.<br />
They were very challenging years.”<br />
Those in the club came to realise that<br />
foundation blocks needed to be put in<br />
place so that it could thrive again.<br />
“The strategy we have now is the strategy<br />
that really suits the club,” says Norman.<br />
“It starts with being the best communitybased<br />
rugby club in the area. We provide<br />
rugby for all, attracting every man,<br />
woman and child into the club to play<br />
rugby.<br />
“We have a team for everyone. We<br />
currently have 475 players registered in<br />
the Mini and Youth section, from our U5<br />
‘Daisy Pickers’ up to and including U18s.<br />
This is the integrated pathway<br />
in action - for both players and<br />
coaches/members, how it can work<br />
and how it has worked for us.<br />
“We have 23 teams, from all the Mini<br />
and Youth teams for both boys and<br />
girls, to our Special Needs ‘Eagles’ and<br />
Mixed Ability ‘Vikings’, Touchies, Taggers,<br />
American Footballers and our four adult<br />
male and female teams.<br />
“We field youth teams from U13 to<br />
U18 either by ourselves or on an<br />
amalgamated basis with other clubs,<br />
which has served us well too.<br />
“The community and inclusivity aspects<br />
are critical to our strategy,” says Norman.<br />
“We have two main feeder schools in<br />
De La Salle Churchtown and St Benildus<br />
College. We have very good partnership<br />
arrangements with them. We have a wide<br />
network of primary and national schools<br />
we work with in the area as well.<br />
“If you put that all together, the club’s<br />
strategy has been to develop a<br />
sustainable pathway for players to start<br />
and finish their rugby at DLSP.<br />
“To facilitate this, we have implemented<br />
a four-step integrated pathway: mini<br />
rugby, youths rugby, U20 rugby and<br />
adult rugby.<br />
“We place a strong emphasis on<br />
supporting our players in the transition<br />
from one stage of this pathway to the<br />
next, with the hope and intention of<br />
retaining the players through their rugby<br />
careers and beyond if they want to be a<br />
coach, manager or pavilion member.<br />
“There is also a space to attract players<br />
back to Salmo, if they have left along the<br />
way,” he adds.<br />
www.leinsterrugby.ie | 81
Try <strong>Leinster</strong>’s Next Big Dish<br />
from Mao At Home today
Photo: John Crothers<br />
“By the nature of the two schools we are<br />
in partnership with, most of our players<br />
are not compromised by the Schools Cup<br />
competitions. That is very beneficial to us.<br />
“We understand that we will lose players<br />
to the traditional rugby schools, like St<br />
Mary’s College or Blackrock College.<br />
“But the integrated pathway is there to<br />
make them feel that they have had so<br />
much support on their rugby journey that<br />
DLSP is ‘their club’ and the one that they<br />
want to return to.<br />
“When the players complete their<br />
schooling and their time in college, they<br />
might come back and play with us again.<br />
That has worked surprisingly well.”<br />
It has led to an upswing in fortunes on the<br />
playing field where DLSP won promotion<br />
from Division 2A of the <strong>Leinster</strong> League<br />
this season.<br />
“We are in the right place now and on<br />
the right trajectory having come out of<br />
Covid with a couple of successful seasons<br />
in <strong>Leinster</strong> League Division 2A.<br />
“Last year, we finished second in 2A,<br />
losing a play-off to Mullingar. This year,<br />
we won the Division after 11 rounds of<br />
the 14, having won all 11 games with<br />
nine try-scoring bonus-points, playing<br />
an expansive style of rugby which is not<br />
overly common at that level.<br />
“This successful expansive style very<br />
much derives from the player and coach<br />
development approach we take through<br />
the integrated pathway where we try to<br />
instil physical literacy, rugby handling<br />
and technical skills in our players so that<br />
they are proficient when it is most required<br />
at the adult levels.<br />
“The success this season is a manifestation<br />
of how the strategy can work.<br />
“We have an extended senior squad of<br />
about 50 players. Twenty-six of them<br />
were in DLSP’s U20 squad that won the JP<br />
Fanagan Division Three League in 2020,<br />
playing 14 and winning 14.<br />
“Of that 26, 25 had played youth rugby<br />
at DLSP. Of that 25, 20 had played mini<br />
rugby at DLSP. Of that 20, 12 of them<br />
have been at DLSP since U6.<br />
“Effectively, one-quarter of the senior<br />
squad has played their rugby since U6.<br />
Co-incidentally, I coached that group,<br />
primarily because my son Luke was one<br />
of the 12.<br />
“Other coaches who worked with me with<br />
that group include Barry Murphy, our<br />
current Club President; John Feeney, now<br />
one of our senior squad managers, and<br />
Emmet Nealon, who is currently coaching<br />
our Girls Under 18s.<br />
“This is the integrated pathway in action –<br />
for both players and coaches/members,<br />
how it can work and how it has worked<br />
for us,” says Norman.<br />
The number of adults playing rugby is<br />
dwindling all across the country, leaving<br />
DLSP in an enviable position at present.<br />
“We have a great underage set-up<br />
which we hope is going to provide us<br />
with sustainable player resources into the<br />
future and we have to do everything we<br />
can to maximise that excellent resource.<br />
“If we can retain as many as we can of<br />
that cohort, we will be in a really good<br />
place when it comes to our adult rugby.<br />
“The collaboration of all our rugby<br />
cohorts in this regard is absolutely<br />
instrumental in the the collective<br />
success we have achieved and the<br />
implementation of the overall strategy.<br />
“It is exactly what we mean when we say<br />
that DLSP is ‘One Club, Many Teams’.<br />
www.leinsterrugby.ie | 83
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IS ESSENTIAL IN THIS GAME.<br />
OFFICIAL LEGAL ADVISOR<br />
Beauchamps LLP | Riverside Two | Sir John Rogerson’s Quay | Dublin 2 | D02 KV60<br />
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Birr RFC continues<br />
to grow both on and<br />
off the field<br />
Birr RFC stands as one of the oldest<br />
rugby clubs in the country, having been<br />
initially formed in 1887.<br />
Like many clubs it lapsed on<br />
several occasions, particularly<br />
during the two world wars and<br />
again in the mid-50s, this time<br />
due to an argument about unpaid<br />
for Champagne consumed in<br />
the celebration of some longforgotten<br />
win. However, it was<br />
reformed in 1963 and has been in<br />
continuous existence since.<br />
The club has seen great growth over the<br />
last few seasons due to the outstanding<br />
work of the Mini’s coaches and volunteers<br />
with close to 200 boys and girls aged<br />
6 – 12 attended training seasons every<br />
Sunday morning.<br />
This increase in playing number was, in<br />
part, due to the creation of the new U8,<br />
U10 and U12 girls’ teams over the last<br />
number of seasons that now sees 40 girls<br />
playing rugby every Sunday as the club<br />
continues its commitment to growing the<br />
game for everyone.<br />
The club also recently secured a new<br />
major sponsor for their Mini <strong>Rugby</strong><br />
division with Precision Construction<br />
Limited coming on board to sponsor new<br />
jerseys for all the teams.<br />
Youth’s rugby in the club continues to be<br />
an uphill battle with the draw of multiple<br />
sports and other commitments on players.<br />
While the club saw a drop in player<br />
number for a few seasons, primarily at<br />
the older age brackets due to Covid,<br />
this led to a strategic amalgamation of<br />
some of our youth teams with our nearest<br />
neighbour Roscrea, to ensure that they<br />
could play matches.<br />
This tied the club over for a few seasons<br />
and we are now starting to see the<br />
success of the Mini’s rugby feed into our<br />
Youth rugby, with strong playing numbers<br />
in our U13 and U14 Boys and hopefully<br />
this trend will continue.<br />
The senior men’s team are currently<br />
rebuilding after winning the Provincial<br />
Towns (J2) plate only a few seasons<br />
ago. With several players gone due to<br />
retirements, work, and injury the team is<br />
currently kept going by a stalwart of older<br />
players and a handful of new players.<br />
Over the last number of seasons, the<br />
club has undertaken numerous projects<br />
to improve the facilities in the club with<br />
more in the planning phase. A lot of work<br />
has been carried out in the clubhouse<br />
from upgrading the clubhouse lounge,<br />
insulating the building, upgrading the<br />
windows, women’s bathrooms etc to<br />
ensure we have a warm and welcome<br />
clubhouse for our members and guests.<br />
This work also extends to the pitches with<br />
the clubs ongoing efforts to improve the<br />
playing pitch quality and lighting. Only<br />
recently Birr have been awarding a sports<br />
capital grant to redo our training pitch in<br />
the centre of town, a pitch that has had<br />
rugby played continuously on it since the<br />
reforming of the club in ’63.<br />
The club are very proud to have five<br />
former youth players currently involved<br />
in the professional game, something that<br />
few junior clubs in the country can claim.<br />
Michael Milne has had a starring role for<br />
<strong>Leinster</strong> this season. Both Peter Dooley<br />
and Share Delahunt are playing with<br />
Connacht, Jack Regan with Ospreys and<br />
Ronan Loughnane with Aurillac in France.<br />
The club has a dynamic young committee<br />
who ensure the smooth running of the<br />
club, which now allows boys and girls the<br />
opportunity to play rugby in a fun and<br />
safe environment from the age of seven<br />
onwards. Birr are an open club who look<br />
forward to welcoming new members<br />
who want to enjoy our wonderful game.<br />
Needless to say any Champagne bills<br />
are paid up rapidly. They live and learn.<br />
www.leinsterrugby.ie | 85
86 | www.leinsterrugby.ie
michael<br />
milne<br />
THE INTERVIEW<br />
BY PAUL CAHILL<br />
It’s quite likely you’ll<br />
see a few Birr RFC shirts<br />
around the RDS tonight.<br />
Their minis will be in<br />
action at half-time, but<br />
it’s a former Birr RFC<br />
minis graduate that many<br />
have come to see.<br />
www.leinsterrugby.ie | 87
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Michael Milne, a proud Offaly man<br />
has had a season to remember so<br />
far.<br />
The loosehead prop has played a pivotal<br />
role all season in the <strong>Leinster</strong> <strong>Rugby</strong> front<br />
row as well as earning a call up to the<br />
Emerging Ireland squad in October,<br />
made a first European appearance in<br />
January, and was given a call up to the<br />
Ireland Six Nations squad in February.<br />
Having missed most of last season<br />
through injury, it’s been exactly what the<br />
Offaly man was hoping for.<br />
“Last year, I missed nine months through<br />
injury. So to be honest, I just set out to<br />
have a good pre-season,” says Milne.<br />
“I just wanted to make sure my body was<br />
right to give me a chance. Then, when<br />
you start coming to the end of preseason,<br />
you start making new goals for<br />
the season.<br />
“But, my main goal was to stay fit and<br />
play games.”<br />
After a long layoff last season, it was<br />
against tonight’s opponents that Milne<br />
made his return towards the end of last<br />
season on our first URC trip to South<br />
Africa.<br />
“It was incredible getting to go over to<br />
Durban and Cape Town for the tour after<br />
the injury. Getting on against the <strong>Stormers</strong><br />
was great. It was a nice way to finish the<br />
injury layoff.<br />
“It was such a class stadium. Things are<br />
done differently over there. I remember<br />
there were loads of cheerleaders on the<br />
pitch before the game and it was a party<br />
atmosphere. It was amazing to get back<br />
on the pitch.”<br />
With a solid pre-season under his belt,<br />
the Birr RFC man made the matchday<br />
squad for the season opener away to<br />
Zebre.<br />
Now up and running, he received a call<br />
to travel back to South Africa with the<br />
Emerging Ireland side.<br />
It was an opportunity for younger players<br />
to work with the senior Irish coaches and<br />
one which Milne relished.<br />
“Going over there and getting to work<br />
within the Irish setup was class. It really<br />
opened your eyes as to why Ireland are<br />
so good because they create a brilliant<br />
environment.<br />
“Everyone wants to be learning from<br />
each other and you can see why lads<br />
love playing for Ireland.<br />
“It was very much like that for us for the<br />
two weeks in South Africa. It was a lot of<br />
young lads so it was great fun too.”<br />
After starting in the 28-21 win over the<br />
Cheetahs in Bloemfontein, Milne hit the<br />
ground running on his return to <strong>Leinster</strong>.<br />
He played against Scarlets, Glasgow<br />
Warriors, Connacht and Ospreys, as well<br />
as touching down under the posts against<br />
Glasgow.<br />
It was the type of run he was hoping for.<br />
www.leinsterrugby.ie | 89
They prepared us for that,<br />
so even when we are under<br />
pressure, we know that if<br />
we just stick together we<br />
know it will come good.<br />
“The thing about rugby is, getting a run of<br />
games makes such a big difference.<br />
“It’s made a big difference to my game<br />
this year. You probably get a bit more<br />
confidence in terms of being on the ball<br />
and things you can do in defence.<br />
“Scrummaging as well. The only way to<br />
get better is to do it, so getting the game<br />
time has been brilliant for that.”<br />
Powering over from close range against<br />
Glasgow must have felt good too?<br />
“Funnily enough, they don’t let the<br />
loosehead carry those penalties anymore<br />
since then. It was a close game when<br />
I came on, so it was great to make an<br />
impact and get over the line.”<br />
That fine form was soon rewarded as<br />
Milne was included in a European<br />
Champions Cup matchday squad for the<br />
very first time for the trip to Gloucester.<br />
One thing in particular stood out for him<br />
that day.<br />
“The support was unreal.<br />
“I’d never travelled to an away European<br />
fixture before so it was all new to me. It<br />
was a 1pm kick off as well, so you were<br />
out of bed and straight at it. The colour<br />
when we arrived at the stadium was<br />
incredible.<br />
“I remember looking up into the stands<br />
at one point and my parents were in the<br />
middle of it all which was great to see.”<br />
After the full time whistle, Milne posed<br />
for a photo with the other two European<br />
debutants. Two players he knows well.<br />
“It was nice making my European debut<br />
alongside Liam Turner and Brian Deeny.<br />
“I have played with Liam since the Ireland<br />
U-18 side, which was a while ago now.<br />
We came through the ranks together.<br />
“We then met Brian Deeny at <strong>Leinster</strong><br />
U-20 level and he’s a legend so it was<br />
nice for the three of us to get our first<br />
European caps together.”<br />
A week later, Milne would get his first<br />
taste of European action at Aviva Stadium<br />
as <strong>Leinster</strong> <strong>Rugby</strong> faced French giants,<br />
Racing 92.<br />
The entire Milne family made the journey<br />
to Dublin, as well as a big contingent<br />
from Birr RFC.<br />
“All of my friends and family came to<br />
that game. It was a bit of a nightmare<br />
getting tickets for everyone.<br />
“When you play at Aviva Stadium it’s<br />
such a big deal. The dressing rooms,<br />
the walk out, it’s all class.<br />
90 | www.leinsterrugby.ie
“My parents and my four older sisters are<br />
great for coming to my games. My father,<br />
Ger, has only missed one game this year<br />
which was the Edinburgh game.<br />
“I said to him he must be bad luck if I<br />
scored twice when he’s not there.”<br />
That Edinburgh game, which was our<br />
most recent fixture at the start of the<br />
month, was a tight battle until <strong>Leinster</strong><br />
pulled away late in the second half.<br />
“The first 10 minutes we were under the<br />
pump. But, that’s why the coaches are<br />
so good here. They prepared us for that,<br />
so even when we are under pressure,<br />
we know that if we just stick together we<br />
know it will come good.<br />
“I think we scored off our first attacking<br />
phase. Little things like that build<br />
confidence. Harry Byrne and Ciáran<br />
Frawley were giving good clear<br />
messages and everyone was very calm.”<br />
It’s a game Michael Milne will remember<br />
for a while as he was so close to claiming<br />
a famous hat-trick.<br />
He burst over the line for tries in the<br />
28th and 51st minutes, but isn’t too<br />
disappointed at not getting to keep the<br />
match ball.<br />
“For my two tries, I just fell over the line<br />
and was lucky being in the right place at<br />
the right time.<br />
“I was probably a bit surprised at having<br />
scored the second. I just tried to take a<br />
breath and refocus on the restart. Some<br />
of the lads were laughing as we ran back<br />
but I just focusing on the next ball.”<br />
While scoring two tries away from home<br />
might seem like the standout moment from<br />
this block of games for Michael Milne,<br />
you would be wrong.<br />
An unexpected call on what was due to<br />
be a down day presented another huge<br />
opportunity for Milne as he was drafted<br />
into the Ireland Six Nations squad for<br />
the week of the France game at Aviva<br />
Stadium.<br />
“I wasn’t expecting the phone call. I<br />
missed a call on a Sunday and I didn’t<br />
think much of it. They rang back it was<br />
Andy Farrell, so I was called in for the<br />
France game week, which was a brilliant<br />
experience.<br />
“I went in as cover so I was just trying<br />
to learn from Andrew Porter and<br />
Cian Healy. Ports is probably the best<br />
loosehead in the world and Cian Healy<br />
has done everything.<br />
“You’re trying to pick up what they’re<br />
doing and what works for them.<br />
“You can see what Paul O’Connell is<br />
coaching and how good they are in the<br />
22 in attack so I just wanted to learn as<br />
much as I could.<br />
“The matchday was brilliant. It was a<br />
great atmosphere from the start of the<br />
warm up so it was a great day.”<br />
So, with a number of milestones<br />
completed this season, attention turns to<br />
this evening.<br />
<strong>Leinster</strong> <strong>Rugby</strong> welcome the reigning URC<br />
champions to the RDS, the <strong>DHL</strong> <strong>Stormers</strong>.<br />
“I can’t wait for this game. We’ve worked<br />
as a group without the international lads<br />
and worked very hard and got some<br />
good results. This is the last big one before<br />
they come back.<br />
“We’ve been waiting for this game for a<br />
while now and it’s our last home game<br />
at the RDS so it should be a special night<br />
in front of a big crowd. I’m really looking<br />
forward to it.”<br />
After a lengthy spell on the sideline,<br />
Michael Milne is very happy to be<br />
competing and hitting new milestones.<br />
“The biggest thing is coming back from<br />
injury last year. I’m just happy to be in a<br />
good flow of games now. I’m happy with<br />
how things are going and I just want to<br />
kick on.”<br />
www.leinsterrugby.ie | 91
<strong>Leinster</strong><br />
<strong>Rugby</strong><br />
Academy<br />
Year<br />
Three:<br />
92 | www.leinsterrugby.ie<br />
Marcus Hanan (4) #1295<br />
DOB 3 July 2000<br />
FROM Clane, Co Kildare<br />
HEIGHT 1.85m (6’ 0”)<br />
WEIGHT 112kg (17st 9 lbs)<br />
POSITION Loosehead prop<br />
SCHOOL Salesian College, Celbridge<br />
CLUB Clane RFC<br />
HONOURS Ireland U-20 (2 caps)<br />
John McKee (14) #1307<br />
DOB 15 February 2000<br />
FROM Belfast<br />
HEIGHT 1.85m ( 6’ 0”)<br />
WEIGHT 108kg (17st 0lbs)<br />
POSITION Hooker<br />
SCHOOL Campbell College<br />
CLUB Terenure College RFC<br />
HONOURS Ireland U-20 (10 caps)<br />
Seán O’Brien (3) #1297<br />
DOB 31 July 2000<br />
FROM Pittsburgh, PA, USA<br />
HEIGHT 1.91m ( 6 ’ 3”)<br />
WEIGHT 106kg ( 16st 10lbs)<br />
POSITION Back Row<br />
SCHOOL Blackrock College<br />
CLUB UCD RFC<br />
HONOURS Ireland U-20 (3 caps)<br />
Max O’Reilly (11) #1291<br />
DOB 26 February 2000<br />
FROM Long Island, USA<br />
HEIGHT 1.86m (6’ 1”)<br />
WEIGHT 90kg (14st 2lbs)<br />
POSITION Full-back<br />
SCHOOL St Gerard’s School<br />
CLUB DUFC<br />
HONOURS Ireland U-20 (3 caps)<br />
Andrew Smith (2) #1292<br />
DOB 21 July 2000<br />
FROM Dublin<br />
HEIGHT 1.8 m (5’ 11”)<br />
WEIGHT 93kg (14st 9lbs)<br />
POSITION Back Three<br />
SCHOOL St Michael’s College<br />
CLUB Clontarf FC<br />
HONOURS Ireland U-20 (3 caps)<br />
<strong>Leinster</strong><br />
<strong>Rugby</strong><br />
Academy<br />
Year<br />
Two:<br />
Alex Soroka (7) #1296<br />
DOB 19 February 2001<br />
FROM Cork<br />
HEIGHT 1.95m (6’ 5”)<br />
WEIGHT 107kg (16st 12lbs)<br />
POSITION Back Row<br />
SCHOOL Belvedere College<br />
CLUB Clontarf FC<br />
HONOURS Ireland U-20 (8 caps)<br />
Jack Boyle (2) #1317<br />
DOB 10 March 2002<br />
FROM Dublin<br />
HEIGHT 1.86m (6’ 1”)<br />
WEIGHT 108kg (17st 0lbs)<br />
POSITION Loosehead prop<br />
SCHOOL St Michael’s College<br />
CLUB UCD RFC<br />
HONOURS Ireland U-20 (9 caps)<br />
Lee Barron (4) #1308<br />
DOB 15 February 2001<br />
FROM Dublin<br />
HEIGHT 1.93m (6’ 3”)<br />
WEIGHT 107kg (16st 12 lbs)<br />
POSITION Hooker<br />
SCHOOL St Michael’s College<br />
CLUB DUFC<br />
HONOURS Ireland U-20 (2 caps)<br />
Chris Cosgrave (5) #1305<br />
DOB 24 July 2001<br />
FROM Dublin<br />
HEIGHT 1.85m (6’ 0”)<br />
WEIGHT 86kg (13st 7lbs)<br />
POSITION Back Three<br />
SCHOOL St Michael’s College<br />
CLUB UCD RFC<br />
HONOURS Ireland U-20 (3 caps)<br />
Temi Lasisi (1) #1304<br />
DOB 9 May 2001<br />
FROM Enniscorthy, Co Wexford<br />
HEIGHT 1.83m (6’ 0 “)<br />
WEIGHT 116.5kg (18st 5lbs)<br />
POSITION Tighthead prop<br />
SCHOOL CBS Enniscorthy<br />
CLUB Lansdowne FC/Enniscorthy RFC<br />
HONOURS Ireland U-20 (3 caps)<br />
(3) = <strong>Leinster</strong> <strong>Rugby</strong> Senior caps
Ben Murphy (1) #1309<br />
DOB 23 April 2001<br />
FROM Bray<br />
HEIGHT 1.76m (5’ 8”)<br />
WEIGHT 80kg (12st 8lbs)<br />
POSITION Scrum-half<br />
SCHOOL Presentation College, Bray<br />
CLUB Clontarf FC<br />
HONOURS Ireland U-20 (3 caps)<br />
<strong>Leinster</strong><br />
<strong>Rugby</strong><br />
Academy<br />
Year<br />
One:<br />
Rob Russell (15) #1302<br />
DOB 13 January 1999<br />
FROM Dublin<br />
HEIGHT 1.83m (6’ 0”)<br />
WEIGHT 91kg (14st 5lbs)<br />
POSITION Back Three<br />
SCHOOL St Michael’s College<br />
CLUB DUFC<br />
HONOURS Ireland U-20 (5 caps)<br />
Ben Brownlee (2) #1313<br />
DOB 28 September 2002<br />
FROM Dublin<br />
HEIGHT 1.87m (6’ 2”)<br />
WEIGHT 100kg (15st 11lbs)<br />
POSITION Centre<br />
SCHOOL Blackrock College<br />
CLUB UCD RFC<br />
HONOURS Ireland U-20 (3 caps)<br />
James Culhane (1) #1315<br />
DOB 22 October 2002<br />
FROM Enniskerry, Co Wicklow<br />
HEIGHT 1.94m (6’ 4”)<br />
WEIGHT 110kg (17st 5lbs)<br />
POSITION Back Row<br />
SCHOOL Blackrock College<br />
CLUB UCD RFC<br />
HONOURS Ireland U-20 (5 caps)<br />
Aitzol Arenzana-King<br />
(1) #1316<br />
DOB 15 June 2002<br />
FROM Gormanston, Co Meath<br />
HEIGHT 1.91m (6’ 3”)<br />
WEIGHT 97.5kg (15st 5lbs)<br />
POSITION Back Three<br />
SCHOOL Gormanston College/CUS<br />
CLUB Clontarf FC/Balbriggan RFC<br />
HONOURS Ireland U-20 (8 caps)<br />
Diarmuid Mangan<br />
DOB 6 March 2003<br />
FROM Kildare<br />
HEIGHT 1.93 m (6’ 4”)<br />
WEIGHT 106kg (16st 10lbs)<br />
POSITION Back Row<br />
SCHOOL Newbridge College<br />
CLUB UCD RFC<br />
HONOURS Ireland U-20 (11 caps)<br />
Rory McGuire<br />
DOB 26 August 2002<br />
FROM Dublin<br />
HEIGHT 1.93m (6’ 4”)<br />
WEIGHT 118kg (18st 8lbs)<br />
POSITION Tightead prop<br />
SCHOOL Blackrock College<br />
CLUB UCD RFC<br />
HONOURS Ireland U-20 (5 caps)<br />
Sam Prendergast<br />
DOB 12 February 2003<br />
FROM Kildare<br />
HEIGHT 1.94m (6’ 4”)<br />
WEIGHT 91kg (14st 5lbs)<br />
POSITION Out-half<br />
SCHOOL Newbridge College<br />
CLUB Lansdowne FC<br />
HONOURS Ireland U-20 (9 caps)<br />
Charlie Tector (5) #1314<br />
DOB 28 March 2002<br />
FROM Wexford<br />
HEIGHT 1.89 m (6’ 2”)<br />
WEIGHT 94kg (14st 11lbs)<br />
POSITION Out-half<br />
SCHOOL Kilkenny College<br />
CLUB Lansdowne FC<br />
HONOURS Ireland U-20 (5 caps)<br />
www.leinsterrugby.ie | 93
fixtures and<br />
results 2022/23<br />
Date<br />
17/09<br />
23/09<br />
30/09<br />
08/10<br />
14/10<br />
22/10<br />
28/10<br />
26/11<br />
03/12<br />
10/12<br />
16/12<br />
26/12<br />
01/01<br />
07/01<br />
14/01<br />
KO/<br />
Result<br />
Opposiotion Venue 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 1 2<br />
W<br />
29-33 URC ZEBRE Stadio Sergio<br />
Lanfranchi<br />
O’REILLY RUSSELL OSBORNE NGATAI<br />
KEARNEY<br />
1T<br />
R. BYRNE<br />
C4<br />
W<br />
42-10 URC BENETTON RDS Arena J O’BRIEN LARMOUR RINGROSE HENSHAW KEARNEY FRAWLEY<br />
3C<br />
W<br />
13-20 URC ULSTER Kingspan<br />
Stadium<br />
W<br />
54-34<br />
URC<br />
CELL C<br />
SHARKS<br />
J O’BRIEN LARMOUR RINGROSE HENSHAW KEARNEY<br />
RDS Arena J O’BRIEN LARMOUR<br />
HENSHAW<br />
1T<br />
NGATAI<br />
RUSSELL<br />
1T<br />
R. BYRNE<br />
2C 2P<br />
SEXTON<br />
1T, 7C<br />
W<br />
0-10 URC CONNACHT Sportsground J O’BRIEN TURNER RINGROSE NGATAI RUSSELL R. BYRNE<br />
1C<br />
W<br />
27-13 URC MUNSTER Aviva<br />
Stadium<br />
W<br />
5-35 URC SCARLETS Parc y<br />
Scarlets<br />
FRAWLEY J O’BRIEN RINGROSE HENSHAW OSBORNE<br />
COSGRAVE<br />
1T<br />
RUSSELL<br />
1T<br />
W<br />
40-5 URC GLASGOW RDS Arena OSBORNE RUSSELL<br />
3T<br />
TURNER NGATAI KEARNEY<br />
TURNER<br />
W<br />
38-29 URC ULSTER RDS Arena KEENAN O’BRIEN RINGROSE<br />
2T<br />
W<br />
10-42 HCC RACING 92 Stade<br />
Océane<br />
KEENAN<br />
J O’BRIEN<br />
RINGROSE<br />
1T<br />
NGATAI<br />
OSBORNE<br />
NGATAI<br />
KEARNEY<br />
1T<br />
W<br />
57-0 HCC GLOUCESTER RDS Arena KEENAN J O’BRIEN RINGROSE NGATAI LOWE<br />
2T<br />
W<br />
19-20 URC MUNSTER Thomond<br />
Park<br />
W<br />
41-12 URC CONNACHT RDS Arena J O’BRIEN LARMOUR<br />
(2T)<br />
W<br />
19-24 URC OSPREYS Swansea.<br />
com Stadium<br />
LOWE<br />
1T<br />
LOWE<br />
KEENAN J O’BRIEN RINGROSE OSBORNE LOWE<br />
KEENAN<br />
(1T)<br />
W<br />
14-49 HCC GLOUCESTER Kingsholm KEENAN<br />
(1T)<br />
TURNER<br />
(1T)<br />
NGATAI<br />
LARMOUR OSBORNE NGATAI<br />
LARMOUR<br />
(1T)<br />
RINGROSE<br />
OSBORNE<br />
(1T)<br />
RUSSELL<br />
(1T)<br />
J O’BRIEN<br />
(1T)<br />
J O’BRIEN<br />
SEXTON<br />
2C, 1P<br />
R. BYRNE<br />
3C<br />
R. BYRNE<br />
4C<br />
R BYRNE<br />
5C, 1P<br />
R BYRNE<br />
4C<br />
R BYRNE<br />
5C<br />
R BYRNE<br />
2P, 2C<br />
SEXTON<br />
(2C)<br />
H. BYRNE<br />
(1P, 1C)<br />
R. BYRNE<br />
(5C)<br />
MCGRATH<br />
1T<br />
MCGRATH<br />
1T<br />
MCGRATH<br />
MCGRATH<br />
FOLEY<br />
1T<br />
MCGRATH<br />
1T<br />
E BYRNE<br />
PORTER<br />
PORTER<br />
PORTER<br />
1T<br />
KELLEHER<br />
SHEEHAN<br />
4T<br />
SHEEHAN<br />
1T<br />
SHEEHAN<br />
E. BYRNE SHEEHAN<br />
HEALY<br />
SHEEHAN<br />
1T<br />
MCGRATH E. BYRNE MCKEE<br />
MCGRATH E. BYRNE KELLEHER<br />
GIBSON- PARK<br />
GIBSON- PARK<br />
MCGRATH<br />
1T<br />
N MCCARTHY<br />
HEALY<br />
PORTER<br />
1T<br />
PORTER<br />
PORTER<br />
KELLEHER<br />
1T<br />
SHEEHAN<br />
1T<br />
KELLEHER<br />
2T<br />
SHEEHAN<br />
1T<br />
GIBSON- PARK MILNE KELLEHER<br />
FOLEY<br />
HEALY<br />
SHEEHAN<br />
(1T)<br />
GIBSON- PARK PORTER SHEEHAN<br />
21/01<br />
W<br />
36-10 HCC RACING 92 Aviva<br />
Stadium<br />
KEENAN<br />
(2T)<br />
LARMOUR<br />
RINGROSE<br />
(1T)<br />
OSBORNE<br />
J O’BRIEN<br />
(2T)<br />
R. BYRNE<br />
(2C)<br />
GIBSON- PARK PORTER KELLEHER<br />
28/01<br />
18/02<br />
04/03<br />
W<br />
28-14<br />
W<br />
43-14<br />
URC<br />
CARDIFF<br />
RUGBY<br />
URC<br />
DRAGONS<br />
RFC<br />
RDS Arena<br />
COSGRAVE<br />
RDS Arena J O’BRIEN<br />
W<br />
27-47 URC EDINBURGH DAM Health<br />
Stadium<br />
24/03 19:35 URC <strong>DHL</strong><br />
STORMERS<br />
01/04 17:30 HCC ULSTER<br />
15/04 14:00 URC EMIRATES<br />
LIONS<br />
22/04 16:05 URC VODACOM<br />
BULLS<br />
RDS Arena<br />
Aviva<br />
Stadium<br />
Emirates<br />
Airline Park<br />
Loftus<br />
Versfeld<br />
O’REILLY<br />
(1T)<br />
LARMOUR<br />
(1T)<br />
TURNER<br />
(1T)<br />
BROWNLEE<br />
KEARNEY<br />
TURNER OSBORNE KEARNEY<br />
FRAWLEY LARMOUR TURNER OSBORNE<br />
KEARNEY<br />
(1T)<br />
H. BYRNE<br />
(3C)<br />
H BYRNE<br />
(2T, 3C)<br />
H BYRNE<br />
(6C)<br />
MCGRATH<br />
(2T)<br />
MCGRATH<br />
(1T)<br />
MCGRATH<br />
MILNE<br />
MILNE<br />
MILNE<br />
(2T)<br />
MCKEE<br />
MCKEE<br />
MCKEE<br />
94 | www.leinsterrugby.ie
3 4 5 6 7 8 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23<br />
ALAALATOA<br />
MOLONY<br />
JENKINS<br />
1T<br />
RUDDOCK<br />
T2<br />
ALAALATOA MOLONY JENKINS BAIRD<br />
ALAALATOA MOLONY JENKINS<br />
ALAALATOA<br />
MOLONY<br />
JENKINS<br />
2T<br />
BAIRD<br />
1T<br />
PENNY DEEGAN MCKEE MILNE ABDALADZE DEENY SOROKA MCCARTHY FRAWLEY CONNORS<br />
VAN DER FLIER<br />
1T<br />
DORIS KELLEHER E. BYRNE HEALY MCCARTHY CONNORS FOLEY<br />
R. BYRNE<br />
3C<br />
NGATAI<br />
VAN DER FLIER CONAN MCKEE E. BYRNE ABDALADZE RYAN CONNORS MCCARTHY SEXTON NGATAI<br />
BAIRD CONNORS RUDDOCK<br />
MCKEE<br />
1T<br />
HEALY ABDALADZE RYAN MOLONEY FOLEY BYRNE<br />
FURLONG MOLONY RYAN DORIS VAN DER FLIER CONAN MCKEE PORTER ALAALATOA MCCARTHY MOLONEY MCCARTHY<br />
ALA’ALATOA JENKINS RYAN DEEGAN<br />
CLARKSON<br />
1T<br />
PENNY<br />
1T<br />
FRAWLEY<br />
1P<br />
DORRIS MCKEE PORTER CLARKSON MOLONY CONAN MCCARTHY R. BYRNE<br />
RINGROSE<br />
2T<br />
HENSHAW<br />
MOLONY JENKINS RUDDOCK PENNY DEEGAN MCELROY MILNE ABDALADZE DEENY MOLONEY MCCARTHY TECTOR BROWNLEE<br />
CLARKSON MOLONY MCCARTHY RUDDOCK PENNY DEEGAN<br />
MCKEE<br />
1T<br />
ALA’ALATOA RYAN JENKINS BAIRD VAN DER FLIER CONAN SHEEHAN<br />
ALA’ALATOA RYAN JENKINS BAIRD<br />
ALA’ALATOA<br />
MOLONY<br />
RYAN<br />
1T<br />
DORIS<br />
1T<br />
HEALY BAIRD J MCCARTHY RUDDOCK<br />
ALA’ALATOA<br />
DEENY<br />
(1T)<br />
RYAN<br />
BAIRD<br />
(1T)<br />
VAN DER FLIER<br />
2T<br />
VAN DE FLIER<br />
1T<br />
PENNY<br />
1T<br />
VAN DER FLIER<br />
(1T)<br />
DORIS<br />
KELLEHER<br />
MILNE<br />
1T<br />
PORTER<br />
1T<br />
E BYRNE<br />
1T<br />
ABDALADZE JENKINS BAIRD FOLEY<br />
H. BYRNE<br />
1C<br />
RUSSELL<br />
1T<br />
COSGRAVE<br />
FURLONG MOLONY DORIS MCCARTHY TECTOR TURNER<br />
HEALY MOLONY CONAN MCGRATH<br />
CONAN SHEEHAN E. BYRNE HEALY J MCCARTHY DEEGAN GIBSON- PARK<br />
H BYRNE<br />
2C<br />
SEXTON<br />
1C<br />
OSBORNE<br />
LARMOUR<br />
1T<br />
DEEGAN MCKEE MILNE ABDALADZE MOLONY CONAN MCGRATH H BYRNE TURNER<br />
DORIS MCKEE PORTER ABDALADZE SOROKA PENNY FOLEY<br />
ALA’ALATOA MOLONY DEENY RUDDOCK PENNY CONAN MCKEE MILNE ABDALADZE RYAN<br />
ALA’ALATOA<br />
(1T)<br />
MOLONY RYAN BAIRD<br />
ALA’ALATOA J MCCARTHY RYAN DORIS<br />
ALA’ALATOA<br />
MOLONY<br />
DEENY<br />
(1T)<br />
ALA’ALATOA MOLONY DEENY<br />
ALA’ALATOA<br />
(1T)<br />
RUDDOCK<br />
RUDDOCK<br />
(1T)<br />
JENKINS MOLONY RUDDOCK<br />
VAN DER FLIER<br />
(1T)<br />
VAN DER<br />
FLIER<br />
(1T)<br />
PENNY<br />
DORIS<br />
(1T)<br />
KELLEHER<br />
(1T)<br />
VAN DER<br />
FLIER<br />
MCCARTHY<br />
MILNE HEALY DEENY CONAN MCCARTHY<br />
CONAN SHEEHAN MILNE HEALY MOLONY BAIRD MCGRATH<br />
DEEGAN<br />
(1T)<br />
MCELROY HANAN CLARKSON CULHANE CONNORS MCCARTHY<br />
PENNY DEEGAN BARRON BOYLE CLARKSON JENKINS CONNORS N MCCARTHY<br />
PENNY<br />
(2T)<br />
DEEGAN<br />
(1T)<br />
H. BYRNE<br />
(1C)<br />
R. BYRNE<br />
(2C)<br />
H. BYRNE<br />
(2C)<br />
H BYRNE<br />
(1C)<br />
TECTOR<br />
(1C)<br />
TECTOR<br />
(1T, 1C)<br />
OSBORNE<br />
RUSSELL<br />
TURNER<br />
PENNY<br />
KING<br />
RUSSELL<br />
(1T)<br />
BARRON BOYLE CLARKSON DEENY CONNORS MCCARTHY N TECTOR RUSSELL<br />
www.leinsterrugby.ie | 95
matchday<br />
Squads<br />
officials<br />
Jordan LARMOUR<br />
Rob RUSSELL<br />
Liam TURNER<br />
Ciarán FRAWLEY<br />
Dave KEARNEY<br />
Harry BYRNE<br />
Luke McGRATH<br />
15<br />
14<br />
13<br />
12<br />
11<br />
10<br />
9<br />
FULL BACK<br />
RIGHT WING<br />
OUTSIDE CENTRE<br />
INSIDE CENTRE<br />
LEFT WING<br />
FLY HALF<br />
SCRUM HALF<br />
Clayton BLOMMETJIES<br />
Suleiman HARTZENBERG<br />
Dan DU PLESSIS<br />
Damian WILLEMSE<br />
Seabelo SENATLA<br />
Manie LIBBOK<br />
Paul DE WET<br />
REFEREE:<br />
SAM GROVE-WHITE<br />
(SRU, 33RD COMPETITION GAME)<br />
ASSISTANT REFEREE:<br />
PETER MARTIN (IRFU)<br />
ASSISTANT REFEREE:<br />
KEANE DAVISON (IRFU)<br />
TMO:<br />
ANDREW MCMENEMY (SRU)<br />
Michael MILNE<br />
John McKEE<br />
Michael ALA’ALATOA<br />
Ross MOLONY<br />
Jason JENKINS<br />
Rhys RUDDOCK [C]<br />
Scott PENNY<br />
Max DEEGAN<br />
1<br />
2<br />
3<br />
4<br />
5<br />
6<br />
7<br />
8<br />
LOOSE HEAD PROP<br />
HOOKER<br />
TIGHT HEAD PROP<br />
SECOND ROW<br />
SECOND ROW<br />
BLINDSIDE FLANKER<br />
OPENSIDE FLANKER<br />
NUMBER 8<br />
Steven KITSHOFF [C]<br />
Joseph DWEBA<br />
Frans MALHERBE<br />
Ruben VAN HEERDEN<br />
Marvin ORIE<br />
Deon FOURIE<br />
Ben-Jason DIXON<br />
Hacjivah DAYIMANI<br />
Lee BARRON<br />
Ed BYRNE<br />
Vakhtang ABDALADZE<br />
Brian DEENY<br />
Will CONNORS<br />
Nick McCARTHY<br />
Charlie TECTOR<br />
Ben BROWNLEE<br />
16<br />
17<br />
18<br />
19<br />
20<br />
21<br />
22<br />
23<br />
REPLACEMENT<br />
REPLACEMENT<br />
REPLACEMENT<br />
REPLACEMENT<br />
REPLACEMENT<br />
REPLACEMENT<br />
REPLACEMENT<br />
REPLACEMENT<br />
JJ KOTZE<br />
Brok HARRIS<br />
Neethling FOUCHE<br />
Ernst VAN RHYN<br />
Willie ENGELBRECHT<br />
Marcel THEUNISSEN<br />
Herschel JANTJIES<br />
Jean-Luc DU PLESSIS
*Restrictions apply.<br />
*
Parting Shot<br />
18 March 2023<br />
Photo by Harry Murphy/Sportsfile<br />
Johnny Sexton converts<br />
a penalty to become the<br />
all-time Six Nations points<br />
scorer during the Guinness<br />
Six Nations <strong>Rugby</strong><br />
Championship match<br />
between Ireland and<br />
England at Aviva Stadium<br />
in Dublin.<br />
www.leinsterrugby.ie | 99