ULSTER BANK LEAGUE LAUNCH: JP PHELAN
By Daire Walsh
The 2017/18 season looks set to be a big one for Straffan native JP Phelan, as he aims to make a giant leap at club and interprovincial level.
A former student of Newbridge College, Phelan is now at the beginning of his third year in the Munster Academy, and is also expected to play a major role for Limerick club Garryowen in Division 1A of the Ulster Bank League.
The powerhouse prop was in Donnybrook last Wednesday for the launch of the new domestic campaign, and following their erratic form in the past 12 months, Phelan is hopeful that Garryowen can drive forward in the upcoming term.
“It was a strange one [last season]. Ups and downs. People getting injuries during the year, and we had a very young team for the whole year. Maybe we lacked a bit of experience coming to the latter parts of the season for those last few games to stay in the top-eight,” Phelan remarked.
“We were trying to fight to get out of that relegation play-off zone. I can’t wait now, because I think we’ve a few old heads back in. The likes of James McInerney and [Aaron] McCluskey, just a bit of experience back in to hopefully drive us on this year.”
Phelan was back in familiar terrain for last week’s launch in south Dublin, and though the set-up of the stadium has changed dramatically in recent years, he still has fond memories of Donnybrook from his schools rugby days.
He twice reached the semi-finals of the Leinster Senior Cup during his time with Newbridge, but as he recalls, they were ultimately undone by star-studded St Michael’s and Blackrock sides.
“Yeah, a lot of times up playing league matches and cup matches, and it used to be a feckin’ beach when we were coming up playing! Now back to this 4G. It has changed a lot since I was back in school. Even this clubhouse. I’m used to playing up here, and then I played a year at U20s up in UCD before I went down [to Limerick].
“We got to the semi-final I think pretty much every year I was there [Newbridge], but we lost to Blackrock my year [2014]. They had a ridiculous team, they had the likes of Joey Carbery and Conor Oliver playing, so it didn’t go too well. The year before was playing Michael’s, and we got knocked out. They had Ross Molony, [Ross] Byrne, James Ryan and all lads like that. To see them coming through, its a high standard all the way through.”
Like many of those that have passed through the halls of Newbridge College, Phelan played his underage club rugby with Naas RFC. The Forenaughts outfit almost joined Garryowen in Division 1A of the Ulster Bank League, and were actually in the same promotion/relegation play-off series as the Limerick men at the tail end of last season.
Naas’ current player-coach Johne Murphy was still contracted to Munster when Phelan first linked up with the southern province, and he has been impressed by the job he has done with his former club.
“They were very close to coming up now. Johne was just on the way out when I was coming into Munster. I think it was his last ‘A’ game when I was playing my first ‘A’ game for them in a trial. He’s a great local man, and he’s always available for a chat. It’s good to see them doing so well, and they’ve invested so much into their underage. It’s nice to see them getting a bit of success from it,” Phelan added.