Limerick is famous for its proud rugby tradition. From the early 1900’s to the present day, intense rivalries on the pitch have led to great stories and friendships off it. As part of his series on the seven senior All Ireland League rugby clubs based in Limerick, Daragh Frawley turns his attention to Division 2B side, Old Crescent RFC.
“WE played Garryowen in the AIL first division during the 96/97 season in Rosbrien and there were more than 3,000 people at the game.
“I remember we gave away a penalty in the last minute at a ruck and Killian Keane kicked the winner for them.
“Yeah, we might have lost the game but the occasion, to have that many people in Rosbrien, was unreal. The sad thing is we probably won’t see that again”.
Those are the words of Old Crescent club stalwarts Timmy Duggan and Frank Larkin, who have been integral parts of the Rosbrien club for nearly three decades.
Founded in September 1947, Frank Larkin, who is the club PRO, traces the origins of Old Crescent RFC to the Crescent College team that won the Munster Schools Senior Cup for the first time that year.
“In 1975, the Club purchased the school playing fields in Rosbrien from the Jesuit Community and, in the early 1980’s, it was decided to move permanently to Rosbrien.
In the 33 years or thereabouts since they made the move to Rosbrien, Old Crescent has come a long, long way.
Above: Liam Brown in action for Old Crescent v Dolphin in the 2003 AIB league Division 2 final in Lansdowne Road (Picture credit, Sportsfile)
Setting Out The Stall
The club won its maiden senior competition in 1977 by winning the Charity cup, a much bigger competition back then than it is now.
And when the All Ireland League came about in the early 90’s, Old Crescent went the roundabout way of making the cut.
At the club since 1986, Timmy Duggan recalls the roundabout route to the AIL.
“We had won a couple of charity cups but when the AIL came to be, we weren’t a part of it immediately.
“In the first year of qualifying, we finished third in the qualifiers. In the second year, we finished last which meant we didn’t get in to the division.
“We were two years trying, and in 1992 we won the Munster senior league and got promoted to division two beating NIFC, Clontarf and Galwegians in the round robin system.
From there Crescent went about sustaining their AIL status in Division two, and in 95/96 they went the entire season unbeaten to lift the title.
“We consolidated our All Ireland status over the next three seasons and in 1995/96 under the captaincy of Diarmuid Reddan and the coaching team of Larry Greene, Jed O’Dwyer and John Hogan, we won the AIL Division Two title going undefeated in the league campaign.
“We played two seasons in Division One but were relegated to Division Two in 1997/98 in dramatic circumstances at Tom Clifford Park against Young Munster.
A penalty try from a scrum in the last minute condemned them to defeat and relegation from the top flight.
“We returned to Division One in 1999/2000 but on this occasion only lasted one season before being relegated again.
Since then, Old Crescent have been up and down the divisions and, from Duggan’s point of view, the the club took their eye off the ball to a certain extent around the turn of the millennium which cost them on the pitch.
He says they’ve learned from those mistakes and are beginning to reap the rewards of building from within the club structures.
Crescent’s All Black
Throughout the Limerick Post’s AIL series there have been a few remarkable stories, but New Zealand’s Ian Jones playing for Old Crescent during the 92/93 season may just be the best of all.
“It’s a funny story actually, recalls Duggan.
“Tom Cooney was Vice President of the club at the time and had a pal in New Zealand who was ‘in the know’.
“Calls were made and the next thing was that Ian Jones was on his way over to us.
Above: Ian Jones went on to win 79 caps for New Zealand (Picture credit, Getty images)
He arrived during the 92/93 season and was a huge addition both in terms of playing and coaching. He had an excellent knowledge of the rules of the game and helped bring on a lot of the younger guys at the time.
“He went back to New Zealand the season after to play with the All Blacks but travelled and played with the Barbarians, and was back in Limerick for a weekend during the season.
“While in town, he played with our third team against Thomond in the cup. We were cruising at half time and he came off the bench for the second half.
“It was their president’s dinner the night before and we were 20 points up, so it must have been that they had no interest or something, but when Jones came on Thomond raised the bar.
“He did nothing and we actually ended up losing the game. The Thomond lads were asking for his autograph coming off the pitch!
Going Forward
With the club having what can be described as a healthy relationship with the neighbouring Crescent College Comprehensive, Duggan, Larkin and club stalwart Anthony O’Dwyer believe the future of the club will come from the revamped underage structures.
‘We have 300 kids training underage from under 7’s up to under 18’s and we determined to maintain what we have and build towards the senior side.
‘Its great to see them play with the school but we hope they will come back and play with us after school, beginning at under 20 level.
‘We’re not in the mix to have Munster guys at the minute in Division 2B, but we have players of our own who are most certainly good enough.
‘Larry Hanly, for example, is a top player. He was the highest scoring player across the five leagues last season.
‘With the lads on the schools team, we have suffered the consequences in more recent times with guys moving on, but we’re putting structures in place to enable the guys play with us when they leave school.
‘We’re fielding seniors, seconds, thirds and 20’s, and all the way down at underage. We mightn’t be winning in all areas but we aren’t giving walkovers. We are building toward the collective and that starts at underage.
When the conversation turns to the lack of playing numbers in the wider game, both Duggan and Larkin are worried at the perceived lack of interest in the AIL from the younger generations.
“We had 34 senior players last year and we’re hoping to have 40 this year, which is fantastic.
“But a lot of guys just come from school and they are giving up the game. They are in UL or LIT and they might not be the elite players but the drop-off rate is alarming.
“Kids nowadays don’t really understand it, the slagging that we’d have with our mates about days gone by in the AIL.
“There needs to be a big club emphasis in Limerick and they should get rid of the B&I cup and spread the players out among the senior clubs.
“Munster came from the AIL and will continue to do so, so it needs to be looked after.
Above: Old Crescent captain Cathal O’Reilly with some half time words for his players last season (Picture credit, Keith Wiseman)
A winning season
Last season saw Old Crescent take division 2C by storm and, after being promoted to division 2B, the aim is to continue to build towards another strong league campaign.
“We have a nucleus of guys that are young that came from the under 20 setup and then you have the seasoned campaigners in Brendan Guilfoyle and Brian Tuohy who bring their experience to the table.
“With Joe Nix, Eugene McGovern and Brian Tuohy in the coaching staff, coupled with Tommy Pratt as Chairman of Rugby we feel we are in a good place.
“We are also doubling the size of our grounds from 11 to 22 acres, and we’ve laid out a fourth pitch, so we’re preparing for the future both on and off the field.
Highs and Lows
There have been memorable moments and, for both Duggan and Larkin, winning the division two title in 1996 is up there with the best.
“Going undefeated was special that year, and it always puts a smile on our faces talking about it. We’ve had a great time here and hopefully there’s more to come.
“The Pig n’ Porter festival which was started by the thirds team has grown into something we’re proud of and people associate that with Old Crescent which is fantastic.
Taking the good with the bad, both pinpoint the first relegation from Division 1 and Senior Cup final defeats as days they’d rather forget.
“We reached the Munster Senior Cup Final in 2005 and 2009 and were very unlucky to go down to strong Cork Constitution sides on both occasions.
Above: Old Crescent’s Eoin Reddan in action for Ireland (Picture Credit, INPHO)
Palm Trees up North
There have been many characters throughout Old Crescent’s past, and Butch O’Donovan was a real club legend according to both Duggan and Larkin.
Recalling a tale of a trip up North for an annual fixture against Dungannon, O’Donovan was in the form of his life.
“We had an annual fixture home and away against Dungannon and it was always a great occasion.
“However in 1970/71, the committee advised people not to travel due to the troubles in the North.
“So we drove to Dundalk to stay the night and then got a bus over border the following day.
“Shortly after getting over the border, we were stopped at a British checkpoint, and one of their officers got on the bus with a rifle.
“Butch was in the back row with a newspaper open wide and the officer used the tip of the rifle to lower the paper to grab his attention.
“Where are ya from? Said the officer, to which O’Donovan replies ‘Limerick’.
“You’re a long way from home aren’t ya?” the officer said.
“There was dead silence on the bus at this stage and butch sat up and looked out the windows inquisitively and said, “I don’t see any f*&king palm trees around here officer!”
“It turns out that your man was Fijian and was brought in to work for the British police in the North!
“We had a good laugh but Butch was lucky to get away with that one.
“He was a great clubman and we still have the O’Donovan cup between Garryowen and Crescent in his memory.
Being an Old Crescent man
For both Duggan and Larkin being a Crescent man is all about the friendship.
“It’s the friendship built up over the years and the camaraderie.
“I have friends here that I made for life and I wouldn’t have them if I wasn’t involved in the club.
“There are generations of families in this club and its great to see that. It’s not just here, it’s in other clubs as well. I have friends in other clubs and the talking and slagging still goes on about the good old days after games. It really is magic.
