Blue collar, blue chip Roscrea eye upset

THEIR name bears that of a town in Munster, and they are referred to as a Tipperary school; yet their premises is located over the border in Offaly and they play their rugby in Leinster.

But there’s no hint of an identity crisis at Cistercian College Roscrea.

“We pride ourselves on being a country school,” says Brendan McKeogh, the head gamesmaster who oversees a rich tapestry of sport in the school. “Generally, the lads here are from villages and small towns around the country.

“Rugby was in trouble in the school a couple of years ago, so one of the points we highlighted was getting in local coaches. Alan (Tynan, assistant coach) is from Roscrea, and John (Lillis, head coach) is from Thurles. We don’t try to be something we’re not. We’re proud of being a country school, and representing country people.”

An all-boys boarding school set in beautiful grounds less than a couple of miles inside the Offaly border, Cistercian Roscrea has long been known for the individuals it gave to Irish society — its alumni includes former politicians Brian Cowen, Jim Glennon and Dick Spring, current Irish rugby international Gavin Duffy and Wexford footballer Redmond Barry.

In 2011, however, Roscrea are all about the collective. Despite punching above their weight, success has eluded their senior team in the Powerade Leinster Senior Schools Cup; Duffy was in a side beaten by Blackrock College in 1999, and while they have been regular semi-finalists over the years, you have to go back to 1941 for a previous final appearance.

They’re back at the final hurdle this year though, and will lock horns with Clongowes Wood of Clane, Co Kildare at the RDS this afternoon — a remarkable achievement for a school of just 240 boys, where hurling has equal billing.

The appearance in the decider of a school from outside the big six — Terenure, Blackrock, St Mary’s, St Michael’s, Clongowes and Belvedere — is big news in Leinster. Aside from Roscrea’s 1999 showing, Newbridge College (1995) are the only other school to break the mould, while this year’s final pairing is the first not to feature a Dublin school since 1941.

Back in 1998, Spring said it was his greatest wish to see Roscrea come up trumps in Leinster before the end of the 20th century. It didn’t happen for them though, and things got steadily worse during the early years of the 21st century; three consecutive first-round exits in a row suggested all was not right.

These days, however, the school boasts a remarkable 95% participation rate amongst its pupils in rugby. McKeogh admits they’ve arrived at this juncture ahead of schedule, having put the wheels in motion to become a top-four side around four years ago, but coach John Lillis reveals that ambition abounds nowadays. “I’ve never come across a squad with such dedication and interest in what they’re trying to achieve,” he explains. “At the start of the year, they said to us that their goal was to win the senior cup. That’s a fair statement to make.”

Single-mindedness and independence are the 2011 vintage’s hallmarks according to Lillis, who recounts a speech made to the side by their Ireland U19 centre Shane Layden prior to their first-round encounter with Castleknock, which they won 16-3.

“Shane made a great statement before that match. He said: ‘Remember one thing; all these boys go home to their parents at 4 o’clock, but we’re here for three weeks at a time, and we’ve to stand on our own two feet’.

“That’s a mouthful… but it just shows you how mentally strong these boys are. A couple of years ago, they were beaten in the semi-finals of the Leinster Junior Cup by Clongowes. A lot of boys are holding that, and they’ve been bringing that forward for every match this year.”

ASSISTANT coach Alan Tynan appreciates that the underdogs tag has worked in Roscrea’s favour thus far, having also seen off the challenges of Terenure and St Gerard’s.

“Clongowes are going to be favourites, which probably suits us, all the pressure’s going to be on them. The big schools have the tradition and the history, we’re trying to make our own bit of history this time.

“After the St Gerard’s game I went up to Colin Moloney, our number eight who has been outstanding for us this year, and in and around the joy and the elation that was going on, he was sitting down with his head in his hands. His attitude was, ‘Yeah, we won, but we could have been a lot better’.

“They deserve to win something. You don’t always get what you deserve in sport but they’ve got the right attitude and that’ll stand to them.”

Everything checks out on the mental side of things then, but have they got the raw materials to down defending champions Clongowes, who have justified their favourites tag at every juncture thus far? Lillis reckons their greatest strength, and source of pride, comes from a defence which has shipped just two tries in three games.

“We’re under no illusions as to what we’re facing, but we’re not afraid of anybody,” he says. “The one thing these fellas won’t understand when they meet us is our ferocity and our controlled aggression in the tackle area. That has been a huge plus for us so far. That has been our hallmark all year. All the lads bring a certain thing to the team. We don’t single out anyone as heroes, because they all carry their fair share of work.”

This corner of north Tipperary still has the scent of sporting success at schools level fresh in its nostrils; barely a fortnight ago, Roscrea VS claimed a second Munster Vocational Schools Senior A hurling title in three years.

With their pupils coming from across Connacht, Munster and Leinster, Cistercians might not have as obvious a local link, but McKeogh says they have also captured the imagination of the locals.

“I don’t think we even realise it at times, but the school has quite a lot of support,” he says. “Because a lot of the boys aren’t from the locality, there can sometimes be a drift between ourselves and the local area. But we’ve seen it around with the last couple of games, we’ve a lot of support.”

That sentiment is echoed by local boys Lillis — who points out that should Roscrea prevail today and Rockwell College reign supreme in the Munster decider, a unique Tipperary double will have been achieved — and Tynan.

“There’s lots of people from Roscrea who have been asking me for tickets,” says Tynan. “With a private school you wouldn’t normally get it. There is going to be quite a lot of support coming up from the town; I guess that’s because there are local guys involved, which is great.

“We’ve done really well to get this far. It’s about keeping level-headed now. We’ve to go up believing that we can win this.”