MY CLUB: SHANNON RFC
Shannon RFC
Thomond Park
Limerick
By DAIRE WALSH
THEY currently sit at the top of the Ulster Bank League roll of honour with nine titles, but the 2015/16 season has been a frustrating one for Shannon RFC.
The Thomond Park outfit are coming towards the end of their third consecutive campaign in Division 1B, and Club Captain Lee Nicholas admitted that their league form has been inconsistent this term.
“It’s been a very inconsistent season, where we’ve had a bad patch, and then we’ve been through a good patch, and something has gone wrong again, and we’ve gone through another couple of games where we find ourselves on the wrong side,” Nicholas remarked.
“It’s hard to pinpoint exactly what’s going on for us, because we’ve had so many good games, and then on the opposite side we’ve had equally the same amount of bad games.”
Nicholas (who featured twice for Munster ‘A’ in this season’s British & Irish Cup) is in his first season as Shannon captain, and although he only joined the famed Limerick side in recent years, he is thrilled to be involved with a club that has such a proud history.
“This is my first season as captain. I had a couple of other clubs before Shannon, but it was mostly schools rugby. This is my third season with Shannon. I came to Shannon when I came out of school.
“I went to St Munchin’s College in school, which is pretty famous for playing rugby. That took up a lot of my time. Before that I was at St Mary’s, in Thomond and Young Munster.
“When I came out of school, I had to take my rugby seriously. I had to join Shannon. Obviously, with a lot of internationals coming through, and guys playing professional rugby, Shannon was very attractive for me coming out of school.”
Including current international Donnacha Ryan, 18 Shannon club members have represented Ireland at senior level – while Colm Tucker, Gerry McLoughlin, Mick Galwey and John Hayes have also been selected by the Lions.
Another former Irish star, Grand Slam winner Marcus Horan, is the current head coach of Shannon (who field several teams from underage up to adult level in their men’s and women’s sections), and Nicholas feels that his past experience as a professinal rugby player is of huge benefit to the senior squad.
“Marcus is a very good coach. He has a lot of experience obviously, and he has also played for Shannon, so he’s mixing his technical ability with his passion for the club and his love for the club. His passion adds on to us as well, and he has a lot of coaching points.
“Marcus is constantly working with professionals through IRUPA, so he knows how the guys at the top level are playing, and how they’re feeling and he’s passing that on to us,” added Nicholas.