Senior Rugby: In a tricky game for both sides given both would have had an eye on the playoff ties to follow this coming weekend Nenagh ultimately did what was necessary in gaining a bonus point win and securing third spot in Division 2A for 2023. Their final tally of 61 points was a total fitting of many past champions but credit to Queens University who got over the line after many close run attempts in previous seasons to secure automatic promotion to Division 1B on a total of 69 points. The outcome is that Nenagh must travel to 2nd placed Blackrock this Saturday in the Promotion semi final and if they can overcome that significant hurdle they will have a shootout with Malone or MU Barnhall for the final spot in Division 1B next year. Having come within seconds of a win in Stradbrook earlier in the season Nenagh will not fear the challenge on Saturday but Blackrock have a very strong home record and will relish having home advantage for such a huge tie. Either way we encourage all Nenagh fans to make every effort to get to Dublin on Saturday and help carry the lads another step to their season’s goal. With a potential home final to follow should Barnhall come through on the other side the potential prize at stake is massive. Kickoff is at 2.30 pm on Saturday. Please follow our social media pages for updates throughout the week.
Under 18.5: Nenagh Ormond U18.5 team played the much anticipated Munster Plate final on the main pitch in Thomond park last Saturday and what a contest it was. The day was bright and a nice breeze blew straight down the pitch towards the Ballynanty end, with a shower during the second half making the conditions that little bit trickier, when the game went down to the wire. Muskerry were the gallant opponents and it was the opposition that settled better and they were unlucky not to open the scoring after two minutes when a pass to their dangerous left winger was deemed forward by the referee, a let off for Nenagh, as he streaked away under the posts. Nenagh were on the defensive for the most part for the first 15 minutes and we suffered a blow when full back and kicker Darragh Gleeson was forced from the field after a knock to the head. From a scrum Muskerry kicked the ball dead but for some reason the referee awarded a 22 drop out instead of a scrum to Nenagh from where the ball was kicked and from the drop out the dangerous Muskerry 11 caught the ball on the full and beat the tackle on the touch line to streak away for an unconverted try, the conversion kick hitting the post. Then after 23 minutes Nenagh finally got some continuity going. From a scrum on our own 22, there were great carries by Dylan Crowe, Nicky Nie and Sam Lancaster, with some French style offloading, play continued all the way to the Muskerry 10 metre line, where a clever blind side switch by Josh Powell saw Jack Meagher race down the East stand touchline and produce a superb one handed finish to equalise, the difficult conversion was wide. The rest of the first half was keenly fought and the break arrived with the score 5 all and it all to play for. The message from the coaches at half time was we had not played at all but were still in the fight and that the wind in the second half would make it difficult for Muskerry to make their way up the field and that the game was there if we upped the tempo and played as we knew we could. A good early kick from Josh saw us get good field position on their 22 but we lost the lineout and a very loose pass by the Muskerry 9, that went over his outhalf’s head, saw them scramble the ball into touch about 6 metres from their own line. The throw from Dylan to Fionn O’Meara, who was dominant in the middle line jumping all day, saw a good maul set up and Dylan Crowe scored , to leave us 10-5 ahead, the difficult conversion again going wide. A good break after a missed tackle saw Muskerry attack into our 22 again but a fantastic turnover but Josh Powell allowed us to clear our lines and the game ebbed and flowed. We were getting some joy from our maul but on 45 minutes a loose kick allowed Muskerry to run back from their own half to score a very good try wide on the west stand side and a magnificent conversion by their 10 saw them retake the lead, 12-10. With two assistant referees flags for a high tackle and an off the ball pull against Muskerry 16 minutes into the second half, it was clear that discipline was going to be key in the titanic contest, with both teams very evenly matched. Having suffered with some poor discipline during the campaign, it was a massive improvement by the Nenagh boys as they kept their cool under the pressurised atmosphere of the final on such a big stage. From the resulting line out on the next phase Josh made another sniping run and produced an outstanding one handed inside pop to Diarmuid Coleman, who timed his run to perfection to race away for a brilliant try under the posts, Josh’s conversion was good and we were back on top 17-12. We were definitely playing better in this half and began to move the ball and with some good kicking pinned Muskerry in their own half. A break out from their no. 7 up the east stand touchline saw the inside pass going to ground and a let off for Nenagh, as it was clear that the Cork boys were not going to lie down and the battle raged for the next 10 minutes, with defences from both sides on top. Again, from a long kick that was touched down by Muskerry a 22 drop out was knocked on by them and from the scrum we attacked to the edge where Alex Maloney was put clear by Conor McGrath and he was tackled into touch just on the corner flag, as we pressed to get the two score lead that we craved at this stage of the game, with 26 minutes of the second half gone. Muskerry won their lineout but they dropped the ball behind their line and we had an attacking 5 metres scrum and we were in good position but a good tackle by their nine on Fionn as he picked the ball saw us lose momentum and a ball was stripped for a Nenagh player and Muskerry took a quick tap penalty and they broke over the halfway line, where play was stopped by the referee for an injured player. With only 6 minutes of normal time left, we just needed to defend the scrum just inside our 10 metre line but Muskerry got the ball to their dangerous 11 at the outside centre channel and he took a very good line to race way under the posts for a converted try to leave us 19-17 behind. A good chase from the kick off saw Muskerry knock on to give us a scrum tight to the west stand touchline and it was clear that we needed something special to get back in from with the clock very much against us at this stage. The backs passed the ball out of contact and Mason tried a speculative kick that was blocked and a penalty was awarded for a block as it was hacked forward. From the lineout Muskerry went through multiple phases to get to our 22 but Jack O’Callaghan won a magnificent jackal penalty with the game moving into injury time. The kick saw a line out on our own 10 metres line, Jack O’Callaghan made a half break and got a good offload to Mason, who offloaded one handed to Conor McGrath and we moved towards their 22 and he was high tackled by the defence and we were awarded a penalty with time just about up a this stage. Josh kicked the penalty to about 8 metres out and it was clear that we would have one more chance to take the spoils. The throw was good and we set a good maul and to the great excitement of the travelling supporters Dylan Crowe was there to dot down in the final play for a famous 22-19 victory, the missed conversion attempt being immediately followed by the final whistle. It was a titanic contest by two very evenly matched teams and great credit must go to Muskerry who were a fine team and played their part in a magnificent final. Great credit must go to the boys for not panicking and keeping their discipline and staying in the fight and eventually coming out victors at the death. All the boys played well but man of the match Josh Powell was our point of difference and Dylan Crowe had a storming game up front and Jack O’Callaghan came up with the big plays at the death to show his class. Next up for the boys is the North Munster cup next Wednesday night at 7pm in Lisatunny and with a lot of sore bodies we plan to rotate the team for the guys who didn’t get a run on Saturday. Special thanks to the parents and supporters for all their assistance getting us to far flung places like Clonakility and Old Christians during the campaign, there will be a night to present medals at some stages in the coming weeks to celebrate both this win and the North Munster league victory from a few weeks ago.
Team; Nickie Nie, Dylan Crowe, Jess Robbins, Cillian Ryan (capt) Sam Lancaster, Jack Meagher, Ivan Struzia, Fionn O’Meara, Josh Powell, Diarmuid Coleman, Conor McGrath, Jack O’Callaghan, Mason Cawley, Alex Maloney, Darragh Gleeson, Luke Grey, Luke Comerford, Mikey Morgan, Cathan Gaffney, Ryan Inhoff, Sean Tormey, Tommy Wilkinson, Tristen Madden, Dylan Doris, Dan Kenneally, Sean Ryan, Oisin Moloney
U15: Our u15's travelled to Thomond Park on Sat 15th April to contest the final of the u16 development bowl. Our lads started very confidently with a try in the first few minutes from Shay Óg Kennedy after great forwards play. The lads looked good and things were working well for them, exploiting balls over the top and pressuring Shannon's full back. Billy Hodgins played super rugby, fast off the gain line and crossing the whitewash for the next 2 tries with Dean Carey converting one of them. Shannon got a penalty in front of the posts and popped it over for their only 3 point score of the game. Captain Sean Kennedy got another try after 25 mins to put Nenagh 22-3 up going in for half time.The lads continued with great heart and determination in the second half with an almost immediate try from Adam Boland after the break and Carey again converting the kick. Soon after Ben Deegan made a super line break to score a great try with Dean again converting. Again Adam Boland scored a brilliantly worked try to bring the score to 43-3 with Dean converting again. With all our replacements on the pitch the boys continued their dominance with another great try from Sean Kennedy, bringing the final score to an impressive 48-3 win. All the lads gave 100 percent and it was a great experience for them to have such a great win in Thomond Park. They all stayed on to watch our u18.5s play after them,and helped shout them on tyo their triumph over Muskerry. Our u15's are out again on Wednesday v Garryowen at 7.30 in Garryowen for the North Munster Cup
All support would be greatly appreciated. Thanks to all the boys and their parents for their continued dedication
U16: Nenagh’s Under 16s backed up their impressive quarter final win over Bruff RFC with another win in Sunday’s semi final of the North Munster Cup. This time it was Ennis who provided the opposition at the Clare venue and in a tough contest Nenagh came out on the right side of a 17-7 scoreline. They are now through to the final of this competition where Young Munster RFC await. Fixture details are to be confirmed. Please stay in touch with our social media pages for updates.
Under 13: Nenagh Ormond under 13s travelled into Shannon for the semi final of the North Munster Cup on Sunday last. This game was always going to be a battle given that we met them in the plate final a few weeks ago and won. It was a tense game, with Nenagh playing well but looking nervous when in good positions at times. Nenagh kicked off the game and got a good start. We threatened a good few times to score but unfortunately the ball was turned over on the Shannon line. However Nenagh stuck to the task and off a penalty instead of carrying the ball straight up, Marcus moved the ball to Shaun Murphy, who passed to Kaden who in turn shifted it to Donagh who had a bit of space to run into and dotted down for the first score. Oisin added the extras with a monumental kick from out wide. Nenagh continued to play a lot of the game in Shannon’s half with great carries from Anluan, Shaun, Sean, Shane and Scott but didn’t turn the possession into points. The first half ended 7-0. Shannon kicked off the second half and the ball was knocked on. From the resulting scrum Shannon tried to move the ball wide and the eagle eyed James Dwyer spotted the floating ball, gathered it and sprinted three quarters of the length of the field to score. Kaden added the extras to leave the score 14-0. Back came Shannon at us and after some sloppy play we allowed them to score out wide. At 14-5 the game was still in the melting pot. Nenagh had a huge impact from the bench in the last 15 mins, Cody, David, Hugo, Freddie, Sean, Joe, Girvan and Callum all put in a serious shift while others were getting tired. When we were down to 14 men the bench showed it’s worth and helped score a try while down a man. Aidan Ryan made a great carry from the 22m line and seemed to carry half of the Shannon team over the line with him, the try resembling a try scored by a great Newport man Ginger Mcgloughlin for Ireland against England many years ago. Kaden added the extras to leave it 21-5. A great effort by all on such a big day. There was some brilliant defense during the game and 2 try saving tackles spring to mind. Oisin Hogan made a tackle in the second half when their winger was destined to score and Cody made a similar tackle when another Shannon player had the line at his mercy. The final is next Sunday against Garryowen in Young Munster RFC at 12 o clock. All support would be greatly appreciated
