Hungry Ormond are gunning for promotion

There isn’t a rugby club on this island that hasn’t been energised by Ireland’s exploits at the World Cup in France. The recent game against South Africa was a titanic battle, an eighty-minute blockbuster of bashing and bruising and sheer high octane, adrenaline-fueled rugby that has already etched itself into the memories of all who witnessed it. The sense of anticipation, of febrile excitement surrounding this Irish team is now more palpable than ever. Expectations are high. Many believe Ireland could go all the way. Even the doubters have raised their eyebrows and reconsidered.

In a strange, slightly intangible way, there are parallels between this Ireland squad and the current Nenagh Ormond set-up out in Lisatunny. The metrics might be different - Division 2A is a far cry from elite level World Cup standard rugby - but the two teams share a couple of distinct similarities.

Expectations are also high. The club is currently thriving, and many believe the first team have enough potential to sweep through this year’s league and secure promotion to 1B. Were Nenagh to go and do it, to qualify for the next tier, it would represent a near epic achievement.

To the Tipp club, 1B is unexplored waters. They’ve never been there before, despite coming painfully close last season, when they suffered an agonising defeat to Blackrock College in the playoff semi-final.

Nenagh’s Director of Rugby John Long is unambiguous when it comes to setting out this season’s objectives. Nenagh are going in search of promotion, and they’ll do so in front of an ever-expanding audience of Ormond fanatics, which now fill the stand each Saturday afternoon.

“From our perspective promotion is the goal,” Long insists.

“That’s what we’re shooting for. We were the first Tipperary club to become senior and we’d be the first Tipperary club to play Division 1 rugby if it happens. But the support and the crowds that we get at games is just massive. It really does drive the team on, and I suppose those attendance numbers are evidence of the type of rugby we’re playing - that exciting gameplan. It’s nice rugby to watch and people are coming back to see more of us. The crowds are getting bigger and bigger with each game, so that’s another huge positive.”

The crowds are getting bigger and bigger. So too are some of the players. Many of them have utilised the pre-season well, bulking up to give Nenagh that extra physical edge that will be required for the team to seriously contend for promotion. But they’ve been working just as hard on the pitch as they have been in the gym.

Long is content with what he has seen over the course of pre-season. Nenagh put in an exceptionally heavy block of training during July, before approaching this year’s newly designed Munster Senior Cup with added enthusiasm. Narrow defeats to Cork Con and Young Munster were interspersed by impressive victories over Division 1B sides Shannon and Highfield.

“We went back for pre-season in mid-July and have been working pretty hard since then,” added the Director of Rugby.

“The new layout for the senior cup then was fairly challenging - we were drawn in a very tough group. But the reason that was the case was that we were victims of our own success - the groups were picked based on last season’s rankings, and we had obviously done well. But overall, we were very happy with how it turned out. We played four games against four Division 1 teams. We beat two of them and we kept the other two within a score, so overall we think we’ve had a really good build-up to prepare us for the start of the AIL. Both pre-season and the cup competition have benefited us massively.”

Air of excitement

Long speaks about this year’s AIL campaign with an air of excitement, a sense of boundless possibility. Nenagh have every intention of going all the way. They’re now a stronger, more balanced outfit, having reinforced their squad with a number of eye-catching new recruits. Long is effusive in his praise of those new arrivals, highlighting Kiwi back Ben Pope in particular, but the Director of Rugby is also keen to emphasise the crucial role being played by Nenagh’s coaching team, who are entirely invested in this project. Derek Corcoran et al. have led the way in terms of pre-match preparation and post0game analysis, helping Nenagh to develop that dynamic brand of off-the-shoulder rugby that is quickly becoming synonymous with them.

“The coaching team have been phenomenal,” Long added.

“They very much have their finger on the pulse in terms of what works and what doesn’t. We’ve adapted our game to suit the players that we have, the players at our disposal, and I have every confidence in what the coaching team is doing. And I think their approach has been vindicated in beating Shannon and beating Highfield. That didn’t just happen out of nowhere. We analysed ourselves and analysed the opposition, and then played to a gameplan that we knew would work against those teams.

“And it will be the same approach each week when it comes to the AIL. We’ll be looking to analyse who we’re playing and what their strengths and weaknesses are. But we’ll also be trying to play our own game, our own brand of rugby.”

If Nenagh Ormond want to achieve their objective and work their way into contention for promotion at the business end of the 2023/24 season, a number of things will have to go right. Flashy, mercurial displays of off-the-cuff rugby just won’t cut it. Consistency will prove key. And over the course of an eighteen-game season, consistency can often prove difficult to find.

But Nenagh have assets at their disposal, and they’ve learned lessons from the last campaign. For a start, they know that they are viable challengers in the 2A table. They’ve not just there to make up the numbers. Nenagh’s backs, each and every one of them, from the combustible skipper Willie Coffey to the flying David Gleeson, know how to score tries. They’ll present a very real threat to whomever they come against. If Nenagh can offload quickly and run the ball wide, they will inflict damage.

Stability

Last season saw the Tipp side restore stability to the pack, so much so their work from set-pieces became a genuine asset in the closing stages of the season. A functioning scrum and lineout are essential elements of any side, at any level, but if Nenagh really want to shoot for the stars, they’ll have to learn to master the set-piece. And they have the players to do that.

John O’Flaherty is generally a rock of solidity in the second row. Others, such Mikey Doran, Rob Buckley, and Jack O’Keefe, have already displayed glimpses of their capabilities in pre-season competition. If Nenagh can balance the scrum and control their lineout, it should open the door for the backs to attack with greater fluency. A good set of forwards isn’t all about size and weight. The best packs are the ones that create space for their try-scorers, that opens up the field for sweeping passes and loose running.

Should Nenagh Ormond find themselves in contention for a top spot come the latter stages of the 2023/24 season, they’re likely to bump into familiar company. MU Barnhall will be there; so too will Cashel and Division 2A newcomers Banbridge - the Down side will be anxious to reprieve themselves following relegation from 1B last year. Expect them to approach this season with all guns blazing.

In the final analysis, Nenagh Ormond are just as good if not better than any of those sides. Crucially, Ormond now possess a wealth of experience within their ranks. Yes, they’ve incorporated new strands of youth into the set-up, but there’s also an element of maturity to this squad, a sense that they’ve equipped to handle high pressure occasions. And in a Division as tight as 2A, where the margins are invariably fine, every game is a high-pressure scenario. Nenagh can deal with the pressure. The only question is, can they do it consistently on a week-to-week basis. The coming weeks and months will reveal all.