President's Message 29.1.26

Will this rain ever stop? We were lucky last weekend to get all our scheduled matches played, thanks to the availability of various 4G pitches.

I have to start with our Men’s and Women’s AIL squads on Saturday. I’d like to thank everyone involved in getting our Men’s match vs Instonians played… the pre match lunch went ahead in the Club, the match was moved to Williamstown thanks to the School authorities and logistics were put in place to bus the lunch attendees up and back from the school to Stradbrook. The lunch was first class and we were delighted to welcome Alex Mack, a former NFL player who played 13 seasons with the Browns, the Falcons and the 49ers. He was recently inducted into the Hall of Fame. Alex is a friend of our former player Mick Carroll and was a guest of Dec and Cian Carroll. We presented Alex with a Club Tie as a memento of his visit to Stradbrook.

For those who braved the elements we witnessed a super 20-7 victory for the lads over high flying Instonians. The victory had been coming based on the two recent games vs Old Wesley. John Colclough, our first team Manager, has an excellent match report on the Club website, which can be read here: 1st Match Report. Our friends from Instonians were very gracious in defeat and were unanimous in their verdict that we were the better team on the day. After a tough run of results I was delighted for the Management and the squad to see them celebrating a hard earned victory. We face a challenging trip to Cork this Saturday to face UCC who lie one place and two points ahead of us in the League. Hopefully, we can build on that confidence boosting win last Saturday.

Our Women’s AIL squad continued their winning ways with a hard fought 38-12 win away in Ennis. We are lying in 2^nd place on 55 points, 4 behind UL Bohemians and 10 points ahead of third placed Railway Union. A well earned weekend off for our AIL squad before we play Tullow away on Saturday 7^th February. Our Women’s J1 team were due to play Railway Union in the Metro Cup final on Tuesday this week but the game has been postponed due to the very inclement weather conditions and unplayable pitches. We will let you know when the new date for the final is scheduled.

We are still challenged with player unavailability on the Men’s side primarily due to injuries but also due to provincial call ups and Ireland u20 commitments. While this has impacted on the first squad it is being particularly felt by the J1s, Castle 3rds and the u20s who suffered defeats at the weekend. I want to call out the performance from the u20s vs a physically much bigger St Marys on Sunday… they fought so bravely and never gave up right to the end. Playing in the premier division of the J1s and u20s is a big step up on recent seasons. Our Castle 3rds are still very much in contention to reach the final of their league. The J1s were due to play Barnhall at home tomorrow night, however that match has been postponed, while the u20s play Clontarf in the school on Sunday.

While waterlogged pitches are causing disruption for the minis/youths as well, there is still a lot to look forward to... the u15s are planning a trip to Lisbon in March, the 10s go to Winslow in April and the u14s travel to Treviso in May… exciting times ahead for these young players and their coaches/parents.

We have only 3 Men's AIL home games left this season. Another crucial game vs Naas on Saturday 7^th Feb. Numbers are building nicely for the pre-match lunch. Please come along with friends, fellow members, parents, former players and enjoy a great afternoon in Stradbrook. Bookings can be made on the Club website or by contacting Erin in the office.

Lastly, I'd like to wish the best of luck to all those playing in the Leinster Schools Senior Cup competition, including Blackrock College who play Castleknock today at 3pm.

Thanks for your ongoing support.

All the best,

Mick

Mick Dwan

President 2025/ 2026

Blackrock College RFC