PROFILE - Roscrea RFC Senior Men's Rugby team - 2020 NENAGH GUARDIAN SPORTS AWARD WINNER

Roscrea senior rugby team were crowned Leinster League Division 3 champions 2019/2020 after completing an undefeated season.

Roscrea senior rugby team were crowned Leinster League Division 3 champions 2019/2020 after completing an undefeated season.

Passion, pride, resilience, determination, respect, and an indomitable will to win were the keys to their success, winning fourteen games from fourteen, winning the title the weekend before Covid restrictions were put in place in March 2020.

When head coach John Maher started to plan for the 2019/20, he had one primary focus, to turnaround the slump in fortunes for the club.

“Traditionally we would have been a division 1A or 1B team but in recent years we suffered a huge slump and went down through the divisions after suffering a few relegations,” Maher said.

“We got together at the start of last season and all the lads bought into what we were aiming for which was promotion, and as we started winning matches, we changed our aim to go unbeaten for the year.

“They were essentially the same group of players that had been relegated but they all bought into it and worked hard, really putting in the effort on the training ground. Some nights we over forty players at training but had only one team so there were some games we played totally different line-ups to keep lads going and when we had games cancelled some Sundays, we played A versus B games among ourselves and they were huge matches with fights and everything in them but that set the tone in that if you wanted your place you had to work hard for it.”