Leinster Rugby vs DHL Stormers

Photo: John Crothers
“By the nature of the two schools we are
in partnership with, most of our players
are not compromised by the Schools Cup
competitions. That is very beneficial to us.
“We understand that we will lose players
to the traditional rugby schools, like St
Mary’s College or Blackrock College.
“But the integrated pathway is there to
make them feel that they have had so
much support on their rugby journey that
DLSP is ‘their club’ and the one that they
want to return to.
“When the players complete their
schooling and their time in college, they
might come back and play with us again.
That has worked surprisingly well.”
It has led to an upswing in fortunes on the
playing field where DLSP won promotion
from Division 2A of the Leinster League
this season.
“We are in the right place now and on
the right trajectory having come out of
Covid with a couple of successful seasons
in Leinster League Division 2A.
“Last year, we finished second in 2A,
losing a play-off to Mullingar. This year,
we won the Division after 11 rounds of
the 14, having won all 11 games with
nine try-scoring bonus-points, playing
an expansive style of rugby which is not
overly common at that level.
“This successful expansive style very
much derives from the player and coach
development approach we take through
the integrated pathway where we try to
instil physical literacy, rugby handling
and technical skills in our players so that
they are proficient when it is most required
at the adult levels.
“The success this season is a manifestation
of how the strategy can work.
“We have an extended senior squad of
about 50 players. Twenty-six of them
were in DLSP’s U20 squad that won the JP
Fanagan Division Three League in 2020,
playing 14 and winning 14.
“Of that 26, 25 had played youth rugby
at DLSP. Of that 25, 20 had played mini
rugby at DLSP. Of that 20, 12 of them
have been at DLSP since U6.
“Effectively, one-quarter of the senior
squad has played their rugby since U6.
Co-incidentally, I coached that group,
primarily because my son Luke was one
of the 12.
“Other coaches who worked with me with
that group include Barry Murphy, our
current Club President; John Feeney, now
one of our senior squad managers, and
Emmet Nealon, who is currently coaching
our Girls Under 18s.
“This is the integrated pathway in action –
for both players and coaches/members,
how it can work and how it has worked
for us,” says Norman.
The number of adults playing rugby is
dwindling all across the country, leaving
DLSP in an enviable position at present.
“We have a great underage set-up
which we hope is going to provide us
with sustainable player resources into the
future and we have to do everything we
can to maximise that excellent resource.
“If we can retain as many as we can of
that cohort, we will be in a really good
place when it comes to our adult rugby.
“The collaboration of all our rugby
cohorts in this regard is absolutely
instrumental in the the collective
success we have achieved and the
implementation of the overall strategy.
“It is exactly what we mean when we say
that DLSP is ‘One Club, Many Teams’.
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