Man of the Match Blackmore etches name in Ormond folklore
By Shane Brophy
When Angus Blackmore decided to spend his off-season from semi-professional rugby in Australia by coming to play in Ireland, not even he could have thought it would be so enjoyable, and also successful.
The livewire centre hard to miss on the field with his blond locks, and from his first game with Nenagh last September, has become a fan favourite, and cemented his place in club folklore with a two-try man of the match performance in Sunday’s Munster Senior Challenge Cup final.
“I knew the boys were on the up considering they were promoted last year,” Blackmore said of why he chose Nenagh to spend the season with in the Northern Hemisphere.
“As soon as I came, I knew it was the right decision.”
Thomond Park is a rugby theatre known the world over so to play there in a final as Nenagh Ormond chased their first win in the competition was as big a game as the 23 year old has played in his career.
“This week it dawned on me how big of an occasion it was, especially the last few days I was very nervous,” he added.
“My parents both stayed up and watched a livestream.
“I’m still in awe that we won, especially in Thomond Park which is such a prestigious ground.”
The timing of Blackmore’s tries were important in the game, coming either side of half time when Nenagh were in need of inspiration after playing second fiddle until then.
He might not be the biggest of centres, but he is powerfully strong and showed that in breaking a number of tackles for the first try, but also showed the nimbleness of his footwork in cutting back to run onto a Josh Rowland pass for his second try.
“Credit to Old Crescent, it was a bloody tough first half,” he added.
“We conceded a lot of penalties, but we managed to come in even at half time and started the second half well and pulled away to the win.”
Nenagh Ormond has a long tradition of players from Down Under making big impacts in their time with the club, Ben Pope and Josh Rowland similarly, with all three scoring the five tries between them in the final.
Blackmore’s time with Nenagh is coming to an end, he returns to Australia at the end of the season and hopes to do so after helping them achieve promotion to division 1A of the All-Ireland League.
“It is stereotypical to say it is a brotherhood,” he added of his experience with Nenagh Ormond.
“As soon as I came and my first session, you could tell what the culture was, another buzzword, but just the culture of everyone buying in. Everyone is super close and welcomed me really well.
“We have still got playoffs hopefully coming so we can enjoy this win, but we have a couple of more games to get our heads down and go again.
“I couldn’t ask for a better way to experience St Patrick’s Day.”