Nenagh Ormond's bid for immediate bounceback gathers momentum

A view of a line out during Nenagh Ormond vs Old Belvedere. Pic: Dan Clohessy/Inpho

Nenagh Ormond’s bid to bounce straight back into Energia All Ireland League 1A is gathering momentum following a significant 31-21 home victory over promotion rivals Naas on Saturday.

After a chastening maiden appearance in the top flight last season, which saw Nenagh Ormond sent straight back down to the second tier, the Tipperary club has shown no signs of feeling sorry for itself and after a winning start away to Highfield, the Derek Corcoran-coached side backed it up by claiming top spot in 1B from the visitors with a bonus-point victory.

It is still early days in the AIL but this success against an equally ambitious club is confirmation that Nenagh have not let their disappointments in 1A linger.

“I suppose being a small country club, we're very much a family and a unit,” Nenagh Ormond director of rugby John Long said. “I think the boys enjoy playing with each other so much. We've the same backbone of that team for the last seven or eight years.

“Nobody went home sulking. They all just got ready for this season. They didn't really stop over the summer. They just stayed training and stayed tight together. They took it as an experience.

“They know what it is. They know now what 1A is and what it takes to compete up there.” 

They also know what it takes to get out of 1B from their 2024-25 promotion run, when a play-off victory over UCC secured their historic first taste of the elite division.

“Going into 1A for a club as small as Nenagh was historic, Long added. “It was a massive experience and we knew it was going to be a tough year. We knew the standard in 1A is high but nothing could prepare you for the professionalism of Division 1A rugby. It's a pro league and there's no other way of looking at it.

“You make four or five mistakes in any of the other divisions you get away with half of them. In 1A, you make four or five mistakes and it's four or five tries against you.

“But it's the same core of players there for us this season. They've been carrying the flag for a good few years now. It's great to keep that group together and to get two wins like this, in front of a home crowd this week, it's great.

“It'll wipe away those grisly Saturdays we had last year, coming off the pitch disappointed and seeing the disappointment in our supporters and families. Disappointment for us and not in us, you know?

“They stick with us every year. They never let us down, home and away. It's great to give them something to cheer about.” 

So important is that home support that the club moved Saturday’s game off their shiny new all-weather surface to the grass pitch nearer to the New Ormond Park clubhouse in order to tap into the noise from the full stand close to the touchline.

The decision worked a treat, an appreciative crowd witnessing tries in the opening 40 minutes from early replacement back Patrick Scully, Conor McMahon and Robbie Tynan. 

Those scores capped a dominant first half from the home side, who might have led by more than 17-7 at the interval but for a well-organised and determined Naas defence which twice held Nenagh up over their tryline.

A second try for Scully just after the break and second conversion of the game from fly-half Jonty Stewart gave Nenagh a 24-7 cushion and it was needed. 

Naas rallied with second-half tries from Donal Conroy and Muiris Cleary either side of the hour adding to Cormac King’s first-half score and with fly-half Daniel Ticklepenny kicking all three conversions it was at 24-21 and game on for the Kildare side.

Yet Nenagh had the character to dig deep under pressure and regain the initiative when it mattered, full-back Matthew Brice scoring the game-clinching try as his side countered off a lost Naas lineout. 

Stewart’s conversion made it 31-21 and his side showed defensive steel to twice thwart promising attacks deep into their left corner to deny the visitors losing bonus points.

That added to the sense of achievement for Nenagh and may well prove useful come the end of the season when head coach Corcoran feels his squad will be better equipped to make the leap to 1A, should the opportunity arise.

“We know what it takes up there now and we've put things in place that if we do go back up there again, we hope to be in a better position,” Corcoran said.

“It's the pinnacle of Irish rugby, being in 1A. There's a lot of very good teams up there with a lot of support. So, the goal is to go back up there, but when that comes, we'll take it.

“We're happy playing in 1B this year. It's a very competitive league, as we've just seen, a lot of very good teams. We just want to keep putting points on the board and see where we end up in April.”