President's Message 11.2.26

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Another very busy week in the Club and a welcome change in fortune for our Men’s firsts in the AIL. I want to start my message this week with a big thank you to Conor Cleary, Pat Finn, Mick Hearty and our groundsman, Paul Tallant, for having the pitch playable at the weekend in spite of the incessant rain again last week. It wasn’t looking good on Friday night but come kick off on Saturday we were good to go. We were very anxious to play this critical match vs Naas in Stradbrook and getting our members and supporters back to the Club.

The decision was truly vindicated with an excellent turnout at our pre match lunch, a wonderful turnout of supporters and an incredibly exciting match which went down to the last play of the game. Well done to both Naas and Blackrock for treating us to this spectacle. Thankfully we came out the right side of this very tight contest. I keep saying the AIL is a wonderful product and where will you get better value for €10. Please spread the word. Our team manager John Colclough Jnr has an excellent Match Report and there are some fantastic action photos from the game on the Club website, thanks to Lisa Broughan.

I also want to say a huge thank you to Richie Allen for coming out of retirement to step in as hooker in our hour of need with our injury crisis, and we wish him well in his "final" retirement.

It was great to see the buzz in the Clubhouse afterwards where a large crowd watched the 6 Nations games and enjoyed the musical entertainment. Thanks to Erin, Conor, Dave and our Bar & Catering teams for all the work that went in to making it a special day and night.

The result moves us just ahead of Naas into 8^th position in the table. We have 5 matches to go in the regular season, effectively 5 cup finals! Our next game is a very tricky away fixture to Armagh on 28^th February, followed by another away trip to Garryowen on 7^th March.

Our Men’s J1s were very unlucky to lose 24-26 to Barnhall on Sunday in Stradbrook. The pitch held up remarkably well after the AIL game the day before. A losing bonus point as well as a four try bonus point were some consolation for a fantastic effort from our lads. The ref commented to me afterwards that it was a pleasure for him to be involved in such an exciting free flowing game.

Our Castle 3rds are back in action at home vs Old Belvedere on Saturday morning. Why not drop into Stradbrook before the Italian match. Your support would be appreciated.

Our u20 squad had a fantastic trip to Bristol last weekend. There is a detailed Tour report of the trip on the Club website. A brilliant time was had by all. Huge thanks to the Management team of John O Leary, Mark McGinty, Paul Graham, Mark O Brien and Enda Norton for organising the trip… it's hugely memorable for these young men. This is what Club rugby is all about.

Our u17 team had another good win away in Skerries. The future of the Club is bright!

Our Women’s firsts continued on their winning ways with a 60-0 victory away in Tullow. That is an incredible 12 consecutive winning bonus points in a row. We have secured a semi final spot in the AIL with 5 matches to go. We are home to Wicklow this Saturday with a 5pm kick off. Why not come down and watch the Italian match in the Club and support our women straight afterwards. Our goal now is to get a home semi final. We are in second place in the table, 4 points behind UL Bohemians and 10 points ahead of third placed Railway Union. I cannot speak highly enough of our Women’s squad and their coaches and management. They go about their business very professionally and with the minimum of fuss. We are still awaiting a date for the Metro Final for our Women’s J1s who will play Railway Union.

A date for your diary… a huge day planned for 7^th March when our Women's Teams play a double header vs Railway Union. We have a lunch and panel discussion starting at 1pm. We’ll have current and former internationals on the panel, as well as an address by Lynne Cantwell. A lot to look forward to. Tickets for the event are available for purchase now on the Club website.

The ongoing exceptional wet weather is leading to ongoing cancellations and lack of pitches. The Minis/Youths management teams and Mick Hearty are doing their level best to source alternative pitches. I can understand the frustration of the boys and girls and their parents in missing training, matches, blitzes and just not having the opportunity to get together to play rugby and have fun. Please bear with us while we work through this period of bad weather and we very much look forward to having all teams back in Stradbrook as soon as possible.

We had two tables of Dads from the Minis/Youths attend the AIL pre match lunch last Saturday. I really appreciate your ongoing support to me and the Club this season. I hope you all enjoyed the day.

Two stalwarts of our Club, Mike Conn and Andrew Savage, were recognised last Saturday. Mike under the IRFU's Respect Our Game initiative and Andrew Savage who reached a remarkable milestone with his 100^th AIL cap for the Club. Congrats Gentlemen. Details on these events are covered on our website.

After a very tough weekend for the Ireland Mens A and under 20 teams, we hope for better fortunes this weekend vs Italy. We wish Derry Moloney and Lee Fitzpatrick the very best with the u20s on Friday night in Cork… go well lads.

A few more dates for your diary-

We have over 120 already booked into the Queen’s pre match lunch on 21^st March. We want to pack the Club out that day so please book your table with Erin as soon as possible.

I hope you also have the date for the Golf Classic in your calendar... 21^st May. I look forward to your support for what is one of the highlights of the year.

There is so much going on in the Club. This is Your Club. Please come down and enjoy the rugby and the camaraderie. You won’t be disappointed.