Suited and Booted

Nenagh Ormond's double-jobbing President and Director of Rugby John Long

By Thomas Conway

The sports platform Off the Ball recently broadcast an interview with former Garryowen and Munster hooker Mike Sherry lamenting the decline of club rugby across Ireland. Sherry was candid and frank, speaking about the demise of the traditional inter-club system and the rise of second-level schools as nurseries for elite players.

What he said is probably true in some parts of the country, but he should visit Nenagh Ormond, a club which is quite literally going from strength to strength, following almost two seasons of extraordinary success.

At the time, winning last season’s Division 2A title looked to many like it would be the crowning moment of a remarkable rise, but now the senior side are on the cusp of reaching another crescendo.

Win next Sunday, in the famed surrounds of Thomond Park, in front of their legion of supporters, and it might just be Nenagh Ormond’s finest hour.

That all sounds great, but Nenagh Ormond President and Director of Rugby John Long isn’t getting carried away.

Like head coach Derek Corcoran and indeed the players themselves, he is aware that as brilliant and spectacular an occasion as this promises to be, it’s a game of rugby which has to be played and won. Irrespective of the outcome, this season will go down in the annals as another remarkable year.

Long admits that even he didn’t quite know how they would fare at the outset, but the squad has exceeded all expectations.

“Coming into 1B was a massive, massive jump, for everyone,” he revealed.

“It was the unknown I suppose. But the season has been fantastic. The lads have worked as hard as always and stepped up to the mark massively. They’re rubbing shoulders with massive teams.

“Then the Senior Cup run has been phenomenal - to beat Cork Con, Highfield, Shannon, Young Munster. They’re all enormous teams in the rugby world. So yeah, getting to the final, it’s massive, it’s huge to get there and we’re very excited about it.”

There’s life beyond next Sunday, win or lose. Nenagh are in contention for promotion to division 1A, and Long emphasises that there remains a lot of “work to do” in the league.

Whether or not Nenagh secure a coveted home play-off spot will depend on the outcomes of their final three games - home clashes against Old Wesley and Blackrock College, followed by an away fixture against Dublin University (Trinity).

The last time Nenagh locked horns with Munster Cup final opponents Old Crescent was in March 2024. They swept the Limerick outfit aside 24-3 on the road to the Division 2A title.

This year Crescent are floating near the bottom of the 2A table, and currently sit seventh. Relegation isn’t a threat (Buccaneers have already been demoted), and so the historic Shannonside club can devote their full focus to this final.

They’ll go into the game as underdogs, but John Long is wary of the threat they pose, particularly in terms of physicality. He also cites the psychological challenge of playing in such a high-stakes game.

Nenagh’s form has been slightly erratic since the turn of the year, but despite recent losses, the players have shown huge mental resolve.

“It’s going to be a tough physical battle and it’s down to those eighty minutes and having the players prepared for those eighty minutes, and not letting the emotions of it being a final take over,” Long added.

“We’ve had a couple of losses there since Christmas and you know, the boys have responded massively well to it.

“I know we’re coming off the back of a loss now, coming into this Cup final but look, as I said, it’s down to those eighty minutes.”