(U11 Players from Nenagh meet 6 Nations Champions Dan Sheahan and Joe McCarthy at Seapoint Festival of Rugby last Sunday)

Club Update: While the next week or so will see the on field activity around the club come to a halt exciting things will continue to happen off the field. The season just gone has been incredibly challenging for all in the club in terms of facilities. Work commenced on the installation of the club’s 4G pitch in September 2023 but quickly fell foul of the weather and despite many false starts could not recommence due to the record levels of rainfall experienced over the rest of 2023 and the opening months of 2024. It meant all teams, coaches and especially parents made sacrifices to take boys and girls to venues all over North Munster to ensure training and matches were able to go ahead. We are very much indebted to neighbouring clubs and schools particularly Nenagh Eire Óg, Nenagh AFC, Nenagh Olympic A.C, Ballymackey FC and Nenagh College who were incredibly accommodating over the Winter period. 

We are delighted though to have the contractors back on site this past week and expect that by the time our annual Summer Camp with Munster Rugby comes around in August both our full pitch 4G and all weather training areas will be completed and ready for action. One good turn deserves another and hopefully over the coming seasons we will be in a position to repay the goodwill shown to us by our sporting neighbours and be able to welcome them to share in our facilities. More importantly we are excited to be able to have all our boys, girls and adult teams back playing all their home games on our own turf. 

Stay tuned to our social media pages on Facebook, Instagram and X to see regular updates of progress on the development. New Ormond Park will be a significantly different looking venue by the time we make our Energia AIL Division 1 debut next September. An exciting prospect for multiple reasons.

Dinner Dance: Having enjoyed such a successful season once more right across the spectrum of age groups the club are delighted to host a celebratory Dinner Dance and Awards night in the Abbey Court Hotel on May 11th at 7.30pm. Tickets are on sale now for €60 from the Abbey Court and also online by visiting nenaghormondrfc.com/products. Stay tuned to our social pages for updates on guests, entertainment etc. on the night. We invite all members, friends and supporters of the club to attend and please contact any committee member should you wish to reserve a table or need any more information.

U13: We are fast running out of superlatives to describe the Nenagh Ormond Under 13 side. Once again they were on the road with a cup semi final on Sunday away to a fully loaded Garryowen team. Garryowen have a large panel to pick from and they had according to this reporter’s sources, been lining up this game for a month at least. Having won the Under 13 league last Sunday we were worried about the lads getting back up again emotionally to a higher level to take on probably the best opponent we have faced yet. And so it proved with the Nenagh lads slow out of the blocks and literally conceding 2 tries from the first 2 Garryowen possessions and go 14-0 down after 5 minutes. There were glances between coaches on the sideline as we feared the worst. However as I have alluded to before these young men are different gravy and while other teams would have folded their tent satisfied with 2 trophies already, these lads have a huge hunger and discipline. With Oliver Duff superb at full back, the forwards found some front foot ball and some great play from Robbie Powell found Aidan O Gorman in space and the Toomevara express didn’t disappoint as he glided past the cover to scoot in to make it 14-7. With half time looming, some more great play from the forwards with Justin Ziolonis immense in the tight anchoring the pack at tight head as well as George Graham and Liam O Meara doing Trojan work and Michael Cullinane supporting him. Hugo Stanley did great at the line out with some great leaps allowing go forward ball from both set piece platforms. Captain JP Callahan and Jack Comerford were causing all sorts of trouble in the loose and Eoin Hogan was an absolute menace at the breakdown. JP forced his way over in the corner right on the stroke of half time from a lovely pass from Silvermines live wire Christopher Ryan. Garryowen heads visibly dropped as Robbie Powell drilled the ball straight over the black spot from miles out and level the score at 14-14 at half time. 

We started well again with the fresh legs of Gavin O Brien and Ben Platt again making a difference. Tiernan Dillon had some good carries as well as Mackenzie Koh who along with the Burgess Bull Tommy Ryan put Garryowen on the back foot. We now had control of the game with JP again forcing his way over from close quarters making it 21-14. We were in the home straight now but a lack of concentration and errors allowed garryowen into our 22. The ever classy Fionn Tucker almost had us out of it but a mistake allowed Garryowen a try in the corner. These things happen and the lads just settled down again. The conversion was crucial as many people in the ground probably didn’t know that in the cup, in the event of a draw, the first try scorer goes through and that would have been us out. Luckily it fell short but still work to do. We soon won back possession and with some great play and carries from Paraic Sheehy and the utterly dependable Evan Jones, Aidan O Gorman again forced his way over in the corner with the last play. The conversion was almost good but no matter, the ref looked at his watch and blew the final whistle. 

What a battle it was , our toughest examination yet from a fresh team at the end of a long successful season, which will stand to the lads next week. The cup final vs Bruff is scheduled next Sunday for Garryowen again. Another fresh team off the last 3 weeks awaits but the treble is on!

U12 Girls: Our girls U12 finished off their season with a brilliant showing at the Seapoint Festival of Rugby blitz. A full season unbeaten, that doesn't happen very often. We say goodbye to many of our team as they move up to U14 next season.Training for both age groups returns in September. We look forward to welcoming back players new and old. Keep an eye on our social media pages for updates closer to the time.

U10, 11 and 12 Boys: Our players from U10- 12 joined the U12 girls on the long trip to Seapoint Sunday morning. The 7.15 start didn’t discourage our young warriors as they proceeded to put on a great display of the skills they have honed all year against teams from right across the island at this long running and very well run event. Thank you once again to the organisers in Seapoint RFC for putting on what is always a very successful event. Thanks to all our players, coaches and parents with these teams for their efforts all season and we look forward to welcoming you all back in September for a new season. There was an exciting end to the day when the players had a visit from Irish stars Joe McCarthy and Dan Sheahan. Maybe some of our young stars will follow in their footsteps in the coming years!

Split the Bucket: Congratulations to our most recent winner Steven O Flaherty. Our Split the Bucket Draw continues to hand out a minimum of €500 in prize money every week. This is our main fundraiser and supports the work of the club at all age levels. Go to nenaghormondrfc.com/products to enter and be in with a chance to win our next weekly jackpot.

Coldplay Fundraiser: Tickets to Coldplay in Croke Park this Summer are possibly the most sought after in the country right now. If you haven’t got one there’s still time to win two Premium tickets by entering our draw. For as little as €10 you could be in with the chance to win. Go to nenaghormondrfc.com/products where there are a range of entry options. Don’t miss out.