Ormond aiming for back-to-back derby wins
The second half of the All-Ireland League Division 2A season begins as the first half ended for Nenagh Ormond as they take on great rivals Cashel in the second Tipperary derby this Saturday.
Off the back of their 20-16 win in West Tipperary before Christmas, Nenagh Ormond extended their lead at the top of the table to eight points going into the last nine games of the season and if they were to make it three wins on the spin over their Tipperary rivals this Saturday, Ormond would be in a strong place to go on and win the league.
However, Nenagh Ormond have taken nothing for granted in any game they have played over the last twelve months, and they won’t start now, particularly this Tipperary derby where they had been on a losing end for a number of years before the 2023 turnaround.
“I am sure they will be a different animal,” Nenagh Ormond Director of Rugby John Long said of Cashel following last months game.
While Nenagh Ormond were targeting promotion at the start of the season, not even they would have foreseen the first half of the season they have had, nine wins out of nine with forty points from a possible forty-five.
Key to Nenagh’s success so far this season has been the depth of their squad, one they have been building over the past two seasons and the patience to follow that plan is paying fruition. In the first derby before Christmas, Nenagh Ormond started without the experienced second row Kevin O’Flaherty, as well as first choice hooker Dylan Murphy and place-kicker Conor McMahon, and the teams level of performance didn’t drop and still managed to record a win in their rivals backyard.
With strength & conditioning coach Colm Skehan returning to a playing capacity this season has strengthen the scrum with his experience while New Zealander Ben Pope has really settled in nicely in the pivotal out-half role.
It has meant classy veteran player-coach Derek Corcoran hasn’t had to feature as much as last season but having him as an option off the bench is another asset, as he showed in the pre-Christmas derby.
The return of all three should make Nenagh Ormond stronger for this return fixture which the home side will be keen to perform better in, particularly their discipline where they had three players yellow-carded in Spafield, so keeping their emotions in check would go a long way to starting 2024 as the previous year ended.