RUGBY
Tallaght aim to maintain strong growth when finally through the Covid crisis
By Daire Walsh
THIS time last year, Tallaght RFC were gearing up for a Metro League Division Six Final against Terenure College at their home pitch in Tymon Park.
Having secured the Metro Seven crown 12 months earlier, Tom Leigh’s side were hell-bent on issuing another statement of intent. Yet, as Tallaght’s Honorary President Jim O’Connor explains, the world was subsequently turned on its head and hasn’t quite been the same since.
“Unfortunately that’s when Covid hit,” recalled Tallaght’s Honorary President Jim O’Connor. “The final was put off and eventually it was just never played.
“We had topped the league, so we were awarded the Metro League Six. Since then, they made the decision to go into the Leinster League, which is Sunday rugby.
“We got a couple of cup games in September and we got one league game. We got our first ever four-try bonus point, because up until now we’d always played in leagues where they didn’t do four-try bonus points.
“It was nice to even do that. Then the lockdowns came in again.
“This season is effectively gone at this point, because the club rugby season only runs until the end of April anyway.
“I would doubt at this point we’d see any more rugby this season. Unless there was literally a very short window where they might literally play a couple of cup games, but I doubt that as well because lads haven’t been able to train.”
Still, there is reason for O’Connor and the rest of those on the club’s committee to optimistic about the future. The 2019/20 season had seen Tallaght competing at a variety of different levels – in both the juvenile and adult grades.
“In our last full season, we had the men’s firsts and seconds. We had the women’s first team. At underage, we had the Bisto’s.
“They were basically Under-18s girls and it was an amalgamation of players from St Mary’s, Old Belvedere, Tallaght and Blackrock. They did really well, they actually won a trophy.
“We had a lot of teams going and then the youths and the minis then, they wouldn’t have specific teams. They would play in blitzes on Saturday, Sunday mornings. There was a lot of activity. It was the busiest we’d ever been.”
In between the first and second national lockdowns, Tallaght took part in a 24-hour running challenge at their training ground in Firhouse and ultimately raised over €15,500 for the mental health charity Aware.
This was an extremely worth cause and is emblematic of the strong community spirit within the club, which was set-up as part of the ‘Tallaght Project’ in 2002.
“We’re extremely open and extremely welcoming to new people. Basically anyone who has any interest in rugby who wants to play or who wants to help out, they’re just welcome.
“We’re not going to turn you away. We don’t care what school you went to or even if you played before. If you want to come up and play or even just train, you’re absolutely welcome,” O’Connor stressed.