2 April 2024
Hello Everyone,
Well, I did say heartbreak for one side was the outcome of last week's encounter with Highfield, and at 4pm last Saturday we were that side. But, while the bunch of us on the sideline--trainers, management, incredibly supportive parents and unbelievably loyal supporters who made this trip (and many like it)--heartbreak was reserved for what we felt for the team. We wanted more for them.
However, heartbreak for us, the supporters, wasn’t the emotion at all.
Instead the feeling that crept in late on Saturday afternoon was overwhelming pride for this bunch of fine young men. These are tough venues to ply your trade in. Hardened Munster teams with years of experience at this level. Yet, we could have done it, and if we had to play the same fixture next week you wouldn’t bet against our guys.
Sure, we had some mistakes caused by lack of 1B experience, but only manifesting because the guys tried so hard, they came to play.
Highfield knew how to frustrate a young, ambitious team full of rugby, and they are very good at this. Highfield stand up to Cork Con, Shannon and Young Munster very capably in the Munster Cup – they’re cute.
Our Captain was heard at one point exclaiming to the ref ‘we’re here to play rugby,’ and they were. This gang will play a lot of rugby and with this season’s experience firmly tucked into their DNA they are going to be a handful next season. We’ll be back to Highfield before we know it, we’ll probably stand in the same spot (marked clearly by the dent in the fence from Roller’s foot!) and we’ll win.
As a club we had a lot to celebrate at the weekend. Munster didn’t vanquish us completely. Quite the opposite with the Women’s team hammering Ballincollig 42-5, and our U11's and U13's victorious in Shannon. On top of that, and moving to Connacht on Sunday, NUIG conceded the fixture to our U20's. All in all a lot of momentum across an ever growing base of rugby. This is worth it’s weight in gold for a club.
The Women's 1st XV are back on again against Cooke at 5pm Saturday at home and the Men’s J1's are up against Mary’s in the league play off final on Sunday. This is a match-up of two very evenly balanced sides, and it’s testament to the work of the coaches, management and players when you consider the challenges we had at this level only last season – an incredible turnaround.
So, do we lick our wounds, feel sorry for ourselves and lie down for the remaining challenge? Do we hell…we’ve UCC at home. They’re full of confidence and want revenge from the opening match of the season. We are just shy of the play-offs, and while tough on the team, this is phenomenal for our first season back. Our guys will want to finish strong and prove to all that they are a challenger for promotion 24/25 with that bit more experience.
One last match for our Men’s 1st XV. Let's show them how much we believe in them and that this season is a super building block towards what we know they are capable of down the road.
Keep the faith – we’re onto something here…
See you out there.
Paul
Paul Flavin
President 2023-24
Blackrock College RFC
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