President’s Message 26.3.26

An incredibly busy weekend gone by for the Club. Saturday saw a sold out pre match lunch followed by crucial AIL wins for our Men’s and Women’s firsts. The Men’s match report and photo galleries from both games are up on the Club website. Thanks to everyone who came down to support our teams. There was a tremendous buzz around Stradbrook and it was lovely to see people of all ages enjoying a wonderful Club day in beautiful weather. The men’s bonus point win over Queens moves them into seventh spot in the 1B table, 3 points ahead of Naas and 5 points ahead of UCC. We travel to Cork on Saturday to play Highfield, the second last of our 5 cup finals followed by Trinity at home on Saturday week.

Our Women’s team remain in second place and head to Limerick on Saturday to play league leaders UL Bohemians in their final game of the regular season. The goal is to secure a home semi final.

Best of luck to both our Men’s and Women’s teams.

Sunday saw our Men’s J1s and u20s bow out of their respective Cups but not without incredible drama and a huge effort from our guys. The J1s went down 19-26 away to Old Wesley in Donnybrook. The u20s were very unlucky to lose a titanic battle 31-33 vs Old Belvedere in Stradbrook right at the end of the game. Hard luck to both squads and their Coaches and Management and thanks for everything you have contributed to the Club throughout the season. The J1s have one more game vs St Mary’s in the next week or two,a league play off game.

Our Women’s J1s play Edenderry in the Flood Cup this Sunday at 1pm in Stradbrook and we wish them well.

Last Sunday was another busy day for our Minis and Youths. Well done to our u13 blue squad who unfortunately lost their cup quarter final. Our u13 white squad have a cup semi final in a couple of weeks. Our u15s will play in the Metro Cup, first match on 18^th April. The u17s have a league quarter final vs Birr at 12 noon this Sunday in Stradbrook. Why not pop in to lend your support. It’s wonderful to see so much activity across all our minis/youths age groups.

Hard luck to Luke Coffey and the Blackrock SCT squad on coming out the wrong side of a thrilling SCT replay on Monday. Congrats to St Mary’s on their first Cup victory in 24 years. Both teams were a credit to their schools and families. Unfortunately there could only be one winner. The future of Irish rugby is looking good on the basis of the quality we witnessed over the two games.

Please note the following dates for important dates for important events coming up.Details are in the newsletter and on the Club website.

• The Men’s AIL match vs Trinity on Saturday 4^th April. The pre match lunch is sold out.

• Annual Club dinner on Friday 8^th May.

• Golf Classic on Thursday 21^st May in Milltown. This is booking out very quickly. Please book your team &/or tee sponsorship through the Club website or contact Erin in the office.

Thanks for your ongoing support.

Yours in rugby

Mick