Above: Keith Wood and Shane Byrne in action during the 1994 AIL final in Dooradoyle (Photo credit: Sportsfile)
LIMERICK is a city that is famous worldwide for its proud rugby tradition. Intense rivalries on the pitch have led to great stories and friendships off it. Over the next seven weeks, Daragh Frawley will give an insight into Limerickโs seven senior All Ireland League clubs. This week looks at three-time AIL winners, Garryowen.
โIN 1990 against Cork Con there were 11,000 spectators here in Dooradoyle, and a Guinness Jazz band played after what was essentially the inaugural All Ireland League finalโ.
That is a quote that stuck out in a conversation prior to the interview with several stalwarts of Garryowen RFC as we were setting up in the committee room for a chat about all things rugby.
Back then, rugby in Limerick was a way of life for many and Garryowen were beginning to establish themselves at the top table of Irish Club Rugby.
Identity
For former player and past club president Eoghan Prendergast, the โboys in blueโ have been, and continue to be an integral part of his life.
โThree of my ancestors founded the club so I grew up with it. My late father called Garryowen an institution rather than a club, and I think thatโs a good way of putting itโ.
Looking around the room with wall-to-wall photos of teams, trophies and individuals who have played with the club, both Prendergast and incoming club President Seamus Downes remark that Garryowenโs contribution to Munster and Ireland over the years is something that they are very proud of.
However, what they class above all else in terms of what matters most is the clubโs identity.
โOur approach to rugby on and off the field is very important. For decades we instilled a willingness to not leave anything in the dressing room and we do our utmost to play good rugby.
โIn more recent times (mid 2000โs) we brought in a developmental academy, which not only involved kicking and catching a ball but also incorporated life skills and bettering an individualโs career.
โThe wonderful facilities here are a testament to everyone in the club past and present and the standards set have come from within.
We have huge underage numbers and have a great belief that the way we do things helps bring on younger people which in turns helps further the game in the country,โ he said.
A landmark year
Garryowen celebrate winning the All Ireland Cup in 2012 ((Photo credit: Sportsfile)
In 2007, Garryowen won everything there was to win. The AIL, The Munster Senior cup, The Munster Junior cup, The All-Ireland cup as well as the Senior seconds league title and two under 20 provincial titles.
As recognition for the clubs achievements they went on to represent Ireland at the club World cup the same year.
Almost a decade on from what they call the Grand slam, there hasnโt been an AIL title since.
Barring a Munster senior cup in 2012 coupled with the AIB cup the same year, the success which the club had become accustomed to in the mid 90โs through the 2000โs had began to slip.
Sparking great debate, everyone around the table gave their reasons as to why they thought this had happened, with the recession being amongst the most obvious reasons.
โLook at the teams in Dublin, many ex-Garryowen players are currently on team sheets across division 1 and 2. Itโs bad for us but itโs a good reflection from a rugby point of viewโ, said Downes.
For former player, team manager and current Chairman of Rugby David Hayes, the fallout of players from when they finish school has had a big impact on not only Garryowen, but also other clubs in Limerick.
โThe avenues are there where the standout players go to Munster but for the lesser fellas so to speak, who used to come here or go to other clubs in Limerick โ they arenโt doing it anymore.
โThe schools game has gone mad and has actually run away with itself if you ask me.
โYou have schools players who play in the senior schools team, who have been pushed incredibly hard in school and when they leave theyโve fallen out of love with the game.โ
Hayes believes that is a big failing of the game, and went on to state that there is a 70 per cent fallout of schools players upon finishing second level education.
You canโt beat experience
Switching to matters concerning the present day state of the club game and recalling his time as a player in the famed front row union, Prendergast pinpointed gaining experience from the club game as a key factor, which is being overlooked by the provinces.
โItโs not the lack of players. You donโt learn from a scrummaging machine, you learn from being on the pitch.
โWhatโs happening now is that instead of having guys playing in the AIL, the pro teams are instead trying to physically blow these guys up from when they leave school. I was a prop and so was David. The guile and experience we gained from the AIL is what made us and many others the players we were. The AIL is still here but guys donโt get that anymore, the players in this day and age are almost manufactured.
โWhen I was club president, five Munster contracted players (David Wallace, Conor Murray, Mike Sherry, Ronan OโMahony and Damien Varley) were at a club dinner at an AIL game and all of them said theyโd prefer to play for their club, rather than be in the gym on a Saturday.โ
โLook at Munster โAโ who might play on a Tuesday in East Devon or in Exeter. Donโt get me wrong you want to play for Munster, Leinster or Connacht, but the provincial โAโ games, which they are investing in, against the clubs who are crying out for players at no cost to the provinces, and at a benefit to all those involved? Itโs a no-brainer,โ said Downes.
Honorary Club secretary Geraldine Morrissey is of a similar opinion and believes that the successes of Munster came from the AIL through Shannon, Young Munster and Garryowen, and stated the Munsterโs recent downturn is without doubt linked to the state of the AIL.
Finding a solution
According to Prendergast there are an enormous number of people around the country who have a very good knowledge of the game who arenโt consulted.
โThe solutions of the ills within the professional game donโt always come from within the professional coaching structure. We arenโt trying to take over or sound negative by any means but the Munster โAโ fixtures are meaningless.
โThere needs to be a much better connectivity between the academy and the clubs. Game time is paramount above all else in the development of a playerโ.
Going back to the time of Andy Leslie and the approach to rugby in New Zealand, Prendergast and Hayes say that Garryowen have looked at that over the years to learn from and instill into their game.
โThere is an awful lack of humility in the Irish game. I donโt know everything, but the obsession with winning cups in schools has made young guys deluded to the point where they discard the AIL. They donโt see rugby in the context that we saw it.
โI remember going up to Cratloe woods getting the s**t ran out of us as a 17-year old with guys of all shapes and sizes and that stood to us. There is a lack of connection at present.
โYoung guys need something to wear on their chest โ thatโs what won Heineken cups. Clubs up and down the country are struggling to field 20โs teams, seconds teams and thirds teams. Fellas need to learn their trade and the AIL is the perfect platform to do that.
โAmbition is one thing but the notion of going from school straight to inter provincial rugby in the majority of cases is absolutely ludicrousโ.
Pointing out that this is not an attack on Munster or the professional game, both Prendergast and Hayes acknowledged that the Munster branch are putting together a sub committee looking at schools and players, which will hopefully improve the club situation.
โWe are amateurs at the end of the day, but whether its integrating AIL teams into the B&I cup or pulling the โAโ teams out, there needs to be a solution.โ
The good olโ days.
Jeremy Staunton, Garryowen, is tackled by Cork Conโs John OโDriscoll during the AIB League Rugby Final in 1999, (Photo Credit: Sportsfile)
There have been many memorable days in the 132-year history of Garryowen RFC. Going round the table and seeing each individual relive the glory days really put into perspective how big the AIL once was.
โThe match in the early 90โs against Shannon in a sold out Thomond Park when Keith Wood and Brent Anderson were playing with us was special, recalls Hayes.
The Cork Con game too here in 1990 in the first year of the AIL, even though we lost was an amazing spectacle as there were 11,000 people packed into the groundโ.
A familiar theme of interviewing the Limerick clubs appears to be the legendary trips โup the Northโ for games.
Explaining it to the delight of the room, Geraldine Morrissey remembers a particular trip well.
โWe took a train to the North in the 93/94 season and shared it with Young Munster. We were playing Instonians and the Cookies were playing Bangor. Both teams had their work cut out but we ended up winning, and the Young Munsters match ended in a draw.
โOn the way back down from Belfast the train had a blue and white flag on the front on one side, and a black and amber flag on the other side. We stopped at an off license before the border and literally cleared it out.
โThe drink was flowing through all the carriages of supporters on the way back down from Belfast and when the customs man got on for the border check he didnโt even bother getting out his book. By the time the train got to Colbert station people were literally falling out of it!โ
Handbags in Kilfeacle
In one of his memories as a player, Prendergast remembers the time he was Captain of the Junior team in the mid 90โs.
โWe went out to Kilfeacle and there was a few scraps towards the end of the first half. At half time we were in the dressing room and I remember saying if thereโs any more digs โweโre all inโ.
โRichard Wallace was playing that day and he was like rubber, you couldnโt catch him. I pulled him aside and said โall this thing about the senior team, you can forget about the f**king senior team- this is your level.
โThe second half kicked off and there were more handbags near the touchline and Richie hit the deck.
โThen it properly kicked off because we thought he had gotten a dig but it turns out that Wallace actually got a shock off an electric fence!
โI told him after heโd never make it and 18 months later he goes on to wear the green of Ireland and then play for the Lions!โ
With all sport you take the good with the bad.
As Downes puts it, โyou have to lose one to win one, and we certainly did thatโ.
What stuck out most for the group were the early defeats on the biggest stage.
โWe lost two all Ireland finals to Con and Shannon in the early 90โs and they were devastating blows. We lost senior cup finals too, but we have won our fair share of silverware since then.
Paul Neville lifts the AIB Cup aloft in 2012 (Photo credit: Sportsfile)
As Limerick as it gets
One tale that is too good not to mention involves a certain Steve McIver and his first encounter with Limerick rugby folk.
โMcIver came down to play with Garryowen in the 90โs and he ended up working with Gerry OโMalley in insurance. He arrived down not having played in Limerick before and after a game the lads would go out on the piss and that was all well and good.
โMonday morning came around and he put on his suit, and had his briefcase in hand en route to work. After stopping off in Lily Martins, he buys the only Irish Times in the shop and puts it under his arm.
โComing out of the shop an elderly lady stares at him and asks, โare you young skiverโ? To which he replies, โYes madamโ. She continued, โThe skiver that plays with Garryowen?โ To which he replies, โyes madam, why?
To which she stated โI hear you canโt pass off your left!โ
Whatโs to come
Looking ahead to the new season, Captain Neil Cronin is excited after maintaining their division 1A status last season.
โLast year the target was staying in the division, and we narrowly missed out on the playoffs. From that context we held our status and were hoping to drive it on this yearโ
Cronin believes that the combination of new forwards coach Denis Leamy coupled with head coach Conan Doyle will bring a new edge to his team.
โConanโs experience playing and coaching will be very beneficial to the younger lads and Denis will be able to bring an edge to the pack which I think has been lacking in some cases in recent yearsโ.
Being a Garryowen Man
Taking everything into account from all five people in the interview it is clear that Garryowen RFC is a special place.
Dave Hayes summed it up perfectly:
โI joined here as an 18-year old, and 40 years down the line Iโm still here. Garryowen is my life and if you took me out of it I wouldnโt know what to do.
This is the community where I belong and I always want to see the club up there with the best, but if it goes the other way Iโll be there tooโ.
by Daragh Frawley
daragh@limerickpost.ie