Aidan Corbett
Dungarvan Rugby Club have been making strides in recent years.
The club have received numerous call ups at Provincial level whilst Tomás Crotty has been called up for Ireland under 18s duty for two test matches in Treviso, Italy, later this month.
Thomas Ahern and Aoibheann McGrath have progressed from the club to representing Munster at Senior level with Tadhg Flavin, Calum Tutty and Richie Whelan with Munster 18s along with Crotty. Jonathan Tutty has linked in with the Munster 17s whilst Caitriona Conroy is with the Munster 17s as well.
17 December 2023; Tom Ahern of Munster on his way to scoring his side's second try during the Investec Champions Cup Pool 3 Round 2 match between Exeter Chiefs and Munster at Sandy Park in Exeter, England. Photo by Brendan Moran/Sportsfile
The club officials believe these call ups have a massive impact in the community and give something for the younger players to strive towards. Asked what do they put getting the recognition down to, Youths Officer Simon Stanley responded:
"It's a 10-year overnight success and it's the good work that's been done here over the previous committees that have brought in a lot of players particularly at minis level and they naturally flow to the youths. That gives us more opportunity for numbers to be more successful and give us an opportunity to get called up for Munster as well."
The Youths officer at the club acknowledged that Munster Rugby have provided support and that Waterford and Munster rugby can only benefit from this development across various clubs across the county and province.
Senior Team Manager Cillian Corkery believes the lack of traditional rugby schools in the county is a reason as to why rugby hasn't grown as quickly in the most eastern county of Munster but believes that Waterford is potentially the strongest club county in Munster right now.
The club is currently catering to over 350 members with more than 200 being players starting at under 7s. The club believe these figures are only going to rise.
"It's about growing numbers and the only way to grow numbers is to make sure the players are enjoying it. We don't have to travel too far and we keep the parents happy which is obviously important," Minis Officer, David Burke said.
Women's Officer Rachel O'Connell believes that having female coaches is a big factor behind the recent success of the female program at the club.
"Having a mixture of male and female coaches gives confidence to the kids and to their parents that they are going to feel comfortable here, that they're going to make friends here and the friendships are a huge part of girls rugby without a doubt because it makes them happier here at the club and makes them want to be here every week," she said.
The Director of Rugby acknowledged the work done by previous directors to get the club to where it is today. Noting the work done by Alex Brown, Mike Daly and Mossie Keith.
The club have ambitions to progress from their current Munster Junior League Division Three status to the All Ireland League.
"We want to be at least in Division One and pushing towards the AIL at a minimum and once we get to that level which I hope will be in the next few years we'll see about progressing from there but that's the absolute aim of the coaching team and the seniors and the club as a whole for the men's side of it. The ladies side want to produce a proper senior team with a stream of players coming through that again will be pushing in the next few years towards being an AIL club," Corkery stated.
Asked where he wishes to see the club progress, McMahon said:
"I think there's realistic clubs that have gone before us. Clonmel were in a very similar situation to where this club is and they've gone on to senior and have managed to stay senior so it's super realistic for us to think if we get our foundation right, if we get our pathways right and we have a continuous feed of players both in the men's and the women's side that we can compete at a senior level."
For the latest Waterford News and Sport, tune into WLR News on the hour and download the WLR App for news on demand.
