President's Message 18.12.25

My final message of 2025!

Last weekend saw our three men’s teams lose narrowly. However, the performances from our lads augurs very well for the second half of the season. After a well earned Christmas break we just need some of our injured players back and a little change in luck.

Our u20s kicked off the weekend with a trip away to Terenure on Friday night. Our opponents had won their last two games. Unfortunately, we came out the wrong side of a 26-23 result. We played some sparkling rugby but yielded a few maul tries to the opposition and were unlucky not to convert any of our tries, albeit they were from difficult angles in tricky conditions. Anyway, we earned two bonus points, the least we deserved. There is an excellent match report on the Leinster rugby website: U20s Prem 1 Report. That brings to an end the pre-Christmas campaign and sets up a split in the division, with all the points earned carrying over. We are in a Group with UCD, Clontarf, Old Belvedere and St Mary’s College.

Photo credit: Henry Simpson

Our firsts welcomed league leaders, Old Wesley to Stradbrook on Saturday afternoon. Our injury crisis was epitomised by the fact we didn’t have a recognised hooker in our squad, with our four senior hookers all unavailable. Our squad showed remarkable resilience, playing 75 minutes of the game with only 14 men due to a yellow and red card against us. We were unlucky to lose the game 20-26 to a last minute try from Old Wesley. What an exciting game of rugby even if the end result was disappointing. Probably our best display of the season and our team literally put their bodies on the line. In fairness, a number of Old Wesley supporters and parents I spoke to afterwards felt we were the better team and deserved to win. A losing bonus point was some small consolation. There was definitely a sense of optimism after the game… if we can play with the same attitude, improve our discipline and some of our players recover, we will move out of the relegation zone very quickly. A photo gallery from Saturday's match is on the Club's website: Rock v Old Wesley

Our Castle 3rds travelled out to CYM on Saturday .Unfortunately we lost 17-7, our first loss of the season. We had only 2 subs due to injuries and exam commitments. One of our subs was none other than Aidan Finn, our brilliant Manager. Aidan won’t mind me saying that he is no longer a young man (in rugby terms!). Anyway, an early injury led to Aidan pulling off the tracksuit and playing most of the game at no 8. Aidan is a fantastic club man. What is remarkable is that he made it back to Stradbrook immediately after his game and looked remarkably fresh… well done Aidan! The Castle 3rds are well placed in their league and have a game or two in hand over other teams.

Our women’s AIL squad are on a remarkable run and have consolidated 2^nd place in Division 1 of the AIL… 8 wins and only 1 loss. The latest victory was 43-0 over Cooke away in Belfast last Saturday. Well done to everyone involved. The Club are very proud of your first half performances.

Congratulations to our Men’s senior player, Harry Waters, who has been selected on the Ireland u19 squad for a training camp over Christmas… reward for excellent form including 2 tries vs Wesley on Saturday.

Photo credit: Henry Simpson

Can I thank everyone for making last Saturday in the Club so special, despite the disappointing result. The pre match lunch was a complete sell out. A superb traditional turkey and ham dinner was served to our guests. A big shout out to our caterers, Hastie Catering. We were honoured to have 2 Government ministers, Jennifer Carroll MacNeill and Neale Richmond, on the President’s table. They thoroughly enjoyed the day and were busy putting photos and posts on social media… great publicity for our Club.

I was delighted to see many of our sponsors represented including Fanagans, Sika, Bizquip, Triangle, Fiat/Jeep, Sherry Fitzgerald Lettings amongst others… thank you for your ongoing support. We had 2 tables from the Rock Class of ’79, as well as 15 Past Presidents and all the regulars, including an extra Sheridan's table. There was also a big group representing the Senior team who were promoted from 2B to 1A ten years ago, captained by Davy Rowan. Thanks for choosing to celebrate your reunion with us!

Thanks to everyone who took tables and joined us in the bar after the game. Please share your experience with others… it’s a most enjoyable and sociable way to spend a few hours. I had the pleasure of welcoming Gareth Stingemore, President of Cranleigh RFC in Surrey, and his family to Stradbrook on Saturday evening. They were guests of Brian Cox. They were blown away by the wonderful friendly atmosphere in our Club.

I was particularly delighted to welcome John Kirby’s mother Brenda to the Parent’s table as a special guest. A very emotional and poignant visit back to the Club that her beloved son loved so much. Brenda can’t thank the Club and it’s members enough for the outpouring of support to the family. You are always very welcome back to join us at any stage, Brenda.

Still a few more outings before the year end… Santa this Sunday, the Annual GOAL Mile on Stephen’s Day and the Club’s Raceday in Leopardstown on Sunday 28^th, sold out months ago!

A big thanks to our Chairman, my fellow Exec members, our volunteers. Conor, Erin, Groundskeeper Paul, our bar staff including Linda, Sandra, Aryn, Shauna, Liam, Alan and Patch, the catering team, team managers, coaches, bagmen, players, our sponsors, members and supporters, for all you do for our Club.

May I wish you and your families a happy and peaceful Christmas and a healthy and prosperous 2026.

The first 6 months of my Presidency have flown by. I appreciate the courtesy and friendship (as well as the wind ups!) shown to me by everyone.

Let’s hope for a change in fortunes on the pitch when we return in the New Year.

Take care and look after yourselves.

Mick

Mick Dwan

President 2025/ 2026

Blackrock College RFC