Ormond have no other choice than to stick together
By Thomas Conway
There was a wintery chill in the air in Lisatunny last Saturday, but the cold, hard reality of life in Division 1A of the All-Ireland League had already been biting Nenagh Ormond for some time.
There’s no sugarcoating it. While it is a privilege and honour to be competing in the very highest echelon of Irish club rugby, Division 1A is a crucible. The matches are brutally demanding, the schedule is tough, and the teams are ruthless - they will punish you at every opportunity.
And so, these past two months have been difficult for Nenagh Ormond, players and management. They’ve now suffered six successive losses, when you include last weekend’s defeat to Clontarf in the Bateman Cup semi-final. Psychologically that has to take its toll, something which player/head coach Derek Corcoran acknowledged in the aftermath of the game last Saturday.
“Losses are tough to take, but we’re sticking together,” he insisted.
“We always knew it was going to be a very tough season, but spirits are good. We’re constantly trying to improve our game, all the time. The lads keep training hard, and we have to keep believing that the results will come.”
Nenagh can take solace from their late revival against the reigning AIL champions - who currently sit third in the table and are again amongst the favourites to win this year’s competition.
At the interval last Saturday, Clontarf were 22-7 up. The general mood of the place was beginning to sour and there was an uneasy feeling that this game might turn into another annihilation. But Nenagh demonstrated an inner resilience to come back fighting in the latter stages. Sure, Clontarf probably took their foot off the pedal, but Nenagh seemed to take command in the final twenty minutes. They looked like they were executing their gameplan, and enjoying doing so.
“We got together at half-time and just said we wanted to stay in the game and stick to our systems - which we probably didn’t do for the last couple of weeks,” Corcoran added.
“In the AIL, we’ve ended up on the end of some big losses. But I think sticking to our systems paid off. We started to get the bit between our teeth and ran them quite close in the end.”
Nobody is doubting Ormond’s ability to play swashbuckling rugby. Give their backs a few metres of space and they’ll dazzle any opposition with their movement and pace. The trouble is, you just don’t get those few metres at this level. What Nenagh need to do now is to deliver a sustained eighty minute performance. Dipping out of the game in the second and third quarters - as they did last Saturday - is just not an option.
They have an immediate opportunity to atone for their poor AIL form against Ballynahinch in New Ormond Park next Saturday. Corcoran is telling his players to keep the faith. A victory is coming, but if relegation is to be avoided, it needs to come soon.
“We’ve just went toe-to-toe with one of the top teams in the country. So, it’s about belief now. If we keep doing what we’re doing we will get the win,” Corcoran concluded.