Ormond begin defence of Munster Cup
The seasons change quickly in Lisatunny. That said, it’s now four months since the epic helter-skelter play-off finale in which Nenagh Ormond returned from the dead to snatch promotion from a shell-shocked UCC on the astroturf of New Ormond Park. Summer has come and gone and a new club rugby season is upon us.
For the past two years Ormond have been living in a sort of never-ending fairytale. They roared to the 2B title in 2023/24, before going on to collect a famous Munster Senior Cup title and earn promotion to the AIL’s top-tier in 2024/25. Surely the juggernaut cannot continue much longer? Or can it? That’s the question on the lips of Ormond supporters, but the squad and management firmly believe they have the capabilities to compete with the elite of Irish club rugby.
There was a novel twist to their pre-season. Some of the players conjured up the fanciful idea of going abroad, as part of a training camp. Turned out it wasn’t so fanciful after all. Director of Rugby John Long reached out to former Nenagh and Ireland second-row Donnacha Ryan, now assistant coach to Ronan O’Gara at La Rochelle. The response was a warm one and before long the team were jetting off to southwestern France.
“It kind of came out of the blue, the trip to La Rochelle,” he admitted.
“We wanted to do something together as a squad and a couple of the players jokingly brought it up about going out foreign. But we explored it, and I made contact with Donnacha Ryan and he couldn’t have been more helpful.
“He arranged for us to train out there, to train in their facilities for a couple of days. We trained in their academy, with the La Rochelle Espoirs. And a couple of us got to go in and watch the actual senior team train.
“So, it was really beneficial. A great experience for the players, to see what goes on, to see how they operate.”
PRIMARY CONCERN
Of the squad that secured promotion last April, most have remained, which is “remarkable”, Long says. It’s one of the unseen and underappreciated aspects of management - keeping players on board when the off-season arrives. But it just points to the level of unity within the squad, and the fact that so many hail from the North Tipperary area.
“At the end of any season your primary concern is keeping all the players here and not losing anybody,” Long added.
“Thankfully we didn’t, apart from Ben Pope, who returned home to New Zealand after two years here. Colm Skehan - our S&C coach and player - retired as well. Outside of that, we lost nobody. For the last four or five years, two-thirds of our squad have been home grown, and we’re very proud of that.”
They’ve made a few notable acquisitions as well. Angus Blackmore - the combustible centre who earned Player of the Match in the Munster Senior Cup Final last March - will spend a second season in Lisatunny. Australian Matthew Price has also come on board, as has Portlaoise-based scrum-half Luke Kerr who had been looking for a top-tier AIL side to play with, having moved back to the midlands following a spell in Cork. Nenagh was his nearest option.
With blockbuster clashes against the likes of Clontarf, Lansdowne and Cork Con all on the horizon in 1A, next Saturday’s outing against UL Bohs in the Munster Senior Challenge Cup might not seem all that significant. But Nenagh are treating it with care, according to Long. Bohs might be languishing in 2B, but regardless of who the opposition is, the North Tipp side will want to lay down a marker immediately and set a tone for the new season.
“There’ll be a little bit of experimenting, getting back into the groove. But we’ll be taking the competition seriously. We’re not just viewing it as a pre-season.”