(A happy NORFC U11 side with their counterparts from Bruff RFC after their blitz last Sunday morning.)
Senior Rugby:In possibly the season’s busiest week for adult rugby in the club, the results were really fantastic. Between Wednesday evening and Sunday afternoon three teams were fielded in competitive fixtures with two significant wins and one battling defeat the ultimate outcome.
Wednesday saw the U20.5 team get proceedings underway with a Donal Walsh Trophy fixture away to Garryowen. A good performance was put in by the Nenagh team on the night but ultimately they came up short on a scoreline of 22- 12 to the Limerick outfit. Again though it was heartening to see so many of our homegrown players get meaningful rugby in a competition of this stature and regardless of their final placing in this competition, the experience gained will really aid these players in their efforts to graduate to senior rugby in the coming seasons. Some of the squad members of course already have made that step up to senior rugby and on Saturday both Joe Coffey and John Brislane were involved in one of the club’s biggest wins at Senior level as they blew away a misfortune Malone RFC team on an 83-12 scoreline.
The Senior Seconds team then brought the week to a successful close with a 28-10 win over Limerick rivals UL Bohemians in the second round of the Munster Junior Cup on Sunday with many of the U20.5 side from Wednesday seeing action once more.
That all leaves the Senior side sitting 8 points clear at the top of Division 2A of the Energia AIL with 12 of the 18 games played while the Senior Seconds are through to Round 3 of the Junior Cup where Munster Division 1 side Skibbereen RFC await.
All sides have a down week this week and a vital chance for some R&R ahead of more challenges in the coming weeks. Overall though this an exciting time for the club as we have teams competing for honour’s on multiple fronts and more importantly very high numbers of players seeing regular, competitive action.
U14: Nenagh Ormond under 14s kicked off their Pan Munster League campaign on Sunday last against Clonakilty. This league will have us playing against teams outside of North Munster which will bring its challenges, as teams will not be familiar with each other. Conditions were quite blustery and Nenagh decided to take the advantage and play with the wind. Nenagh needed to start quickly as these games are played in three thirds, with the official result confirmed after the second third.
From the kick off Nenagh took the game to Clonakilty and were eager to get points on the board early. Robbie O Brien, Scott Powell, Shane Gleeson and Luke Slattery made good yards from strong carries which got us into the opposition 22 on numerous occasions. However, the Clonakilty defense held firm and kept us at bay. Nenagh defense was excellent throughout the first half, with Luke Slattery, Anluan White and Ben Madden making dominant tackles. The breakthrough finally came in the last play before the break. Robbie O'Brien was fed by Marcus Finn who got us to within 10 metres of the line. The ball made its way to Kaden Fogarty who saw the space out wide and put in an inch perfect grubber for Cody O'Connor to chase and score. The very difficult conversion was missed and the whistle went to end that third.
The second third was more of a ding dong battle and in fairness to Nenagh they took the game to Clon against a strong wind. Oisin Hogan set the tempo when he got off the defensive line and intercepted a pass. He was very unlucky to be hauled down close to the line. The ball was moved to Scott Powell who seemed to have scored but was deemed to be held up. Even though Nenagh played against the wind, most of the game was played in the Clon half. Nenagh’s back 3 of Cody O'Connor, James O Dwyer and Harry Walsh were immense in the second third. Anything that came down their channel they dealt with it and made good yards every time. The second third ended and Nenagh won 5-0. The final third was a real battle with both teams emptying their benches. Some players found themselves in new positions and adapted very well. Cody Sheedy did very well marshalling things at 10 with Freddie at 15 running everything back when he got the opportunity. Ben Madden and David Mulcahy made some brilliant, dominant tackles which spurred the whole team on. All game Aidan Stead was a menace at ruck time and turned over plenty of rucks when the opportunity arose. Clon did score a try and Nenagh, if they had a small bit more composure, could have replied with a try but it wasn’t to be. Overall Nenagh played very well as a team and worked very hard in defence. In the difficult conditions Nenagh moved the ball from wing to wing which is a testament to their ball skills at such a young age. Training continues Wednesday evening.
U11: Our Under 11s traveled to Bruff RFC on Sunday for a blitz. Conditions were perfect for a very enjoyable morning of rugby. All the lads played extremely well, winning 5 out of the 6 matches. Particular mention needs to go to our 12 new squad members who joined this year. They have really taken to the sport which bodes well for the remainder of the season.
Split the Bucket: Our Split the Bucket Draw continues to hand out a minimum of €500 in prize money every week. This is our main fundraiser and supports the work of the club at all age levels. Go to nenaghormondrfc.com/products to enter and be in with a chance to win our next weekly jackpot.
Fixtures:
U18.5: Nenagh vs Bruff RFC. Sunday Feb 4th @ 11.30 (Lisatunny)
U16: Nenagh vs Kilrush RFC. Sunday Feb 4th @ 13.30 (Lisatunny)
U15: Nenagh vs Clanwilliam. Sunday Feb 4th @ 11.30 (Clanwilliam)
U14: Nenagh vs Waterpark. Time and Date TBC (Waterpark)
U13: Nenagh vs Bruff RFC. Sunday Feb 4th @12.30. (UL 4G)
