Ormond hope new dimension brings change in fortune

RUGBY: Energia All-Ireland League Division 2A Preview

By Thomas Conway

UL BOHEMIAN v NENAGH ORMOND

UL Arena

Saturday 1st October

Kick-off @ 2.30pm

Whatever happens on the pitch, however Nenagh Ormond navigate the 2022/23 AIL season, the journey will be tinged with an irrepressible note of sadness.

The sudden and untimely passing of Club President Keith Hayes in May, just weeks after the close of Nenagh’s last campaign, left an entire community reeling in shock. One of his final experiences as president had been to witness his beloved club preserve their division 2A status, following a gutsy two-legged playoff victory over Derry side Rainey Old Boys. Nenagh’s form had ebbed and flowed throughout the season, but during that two-legged affair they summoned enough steely resolve and strength of character to retain their place in the AIL’s third tier.

If they harness that same resilience and channel it into this season’s campaign, it should serve them well. But it will take more than just nerve and valour to compete in the third tier.

Nenagh’s Director of Rugby, John Long, is well aware of this, and so too are his players. Pre-season preparations have gone well, on the pitch as well as the training ground. Nenagh are flying high after a shock victory over Division 1A heavyweights Garryowen, in Dooradoyle, the week before last. According to Long, there is a sense of conviction amongst the players. They know their objectives, and they are rigidly committed to achieving them.

“We’ve put in a huge pre-season,” Long revealed.

“The lads have really put the effort in and worked hard. And we have worked on a lot of key things, small things but key things. And that’s what has allowed us to put on a performance like that. But the lads want, and I think you can see that. The lads want Nenagh to get back to a place where we are winning matches, week in week out, where we are up there competing with the top teams.”

Nenagh Ormond amassed just 28 points last season, winning five games, drawing one, and losing twelve. They scored 399 points but conceded 460. To put those stats perspective, Queen’s University, which topped last year’s Division 2A table before losing the play-off final to Buccaneers, racked up a total of 75 league points, scoring 672 and conceding just 282. To even climb into the top half of the table the North Tipp club will have to increase their share of league table points by more than a third.

That is certainly not an insurmountable challenge, but given the form which Nenagh have exhibited throughout pre-season, it seems reasonable to ask the question: is this squad capable of challenging for promotion? The answer should begin to reveal itself over the coming weeks, but Long feels that there is now another dimension to this side. The squad has greater depth than previously. It has benefited from the arrival of a number of new players, graduates of Nenagh’s well-organised underage structure.

“We’ve added to the squad, definitely,” he added.

“We have two new lads which have stepped up from underage - John Brislane and Joe Coffey. They’ve both bulked up and added to the squad, given us that more depth. And it’s those young lads who are bringing a new intensity to the training sessions, which is rubbing off on everybody. Those two are just one example of the young blood which is coming through in the club, and that’s thanks to the hard work being done at underage.”

Only time will tell whether Nenagh have it in them to contend for Division 2A honours, but should they feature at the business end of this season’s league campaign, it would mark a dramatic reversal on last year. A dramatic reversal, but not an unrealistic one.