Peter Dooley helping to put Birr on the rugby map

Dooley, 26, is one of a dozen uncapped players in the Vodafone Series squad and is bidding to become Birr’s first rugby international.

Peter Dooley. Picture: INPHO/Ryan Byrne

It would be a stretch to call Birr a rugby hotbed but the Offaly hurling stronghold is developing a habit of producing up-and-coming front-rowers and if Peter Dooley becomes the town’s first international this summer, many more could follow.

Not that the Leinster loosehead is getting ahead of himself but a first call-up to the Ireland squad bodes well for a Test debut in the next couple of weeks as Andy Farrell’s men square up to Japan on July 3 and the USA a week later, both in front of supporters at Aviva Stadium.