Roscrea RFC Seniors
The Roscrea RFC senior team travelled to Athboy RFC on Sunday December 8th for their final game of 2019. They arrived with an incredible 8 match winning streak sitting top of the division and unbeaten at the halfway mark of the season. Form is a precarious thing, hard to find and easy to lose. However, this Roscrea RFC senior team have produced some sensational performances this season on the back of good old-fashioned hard work on the training ground and commitment on the playing pitch. Head coach John Maher has galvanised his team and instilled a belief in them that as a collective they are greater than the sum of their parts. Against Athboy RFC on a score of 35 – 14, with tries from the excellent Stephen Carter, the indomitable Seamus Treacy and Roscrea flier Fergus Hannon along with 3 conversions from the ever reliable boot of Sam Quealy, Roscrea recorded their 9th win of the season which leaves them unbeaten and sitting top of the league for the Christmas break. Captain Ger Stone gave deserved praise to his team mates and signalled out a special mention for Delacey Byrne who had an excellent game on the wing in his first start in a rugby match and Phenyo Ketsitlile a native from Botswana and in Ireland as a guest seeking asylum who played superbly on his debut.
Roscrea RFC Boys U14s
Having played the majority of their games away this season it was a nice change for the Roscrea RFC u14s to welcome Longford RFC to Streamstown on Saturday December 7th for a 1:00pm kick off. Willie Hayes’s men are having a brilliant season so far having played 8 games and are unbeaten in all competitions. The recipe for success is always a hard thing to quantify and even more difficult to put into action. However, if you have the required talent, are prepared to work hard and are totally committed to the cause, then the ingredients are there! This is definitely the case with the Roscrea RFC boys u14s who under the guidance of experienced coach Willie Hayes have been moulded into one of the finest teams in their age group in the country. Against Longford RFC, whilst missing 5 of their most experienced players, the Roscrea RFC u14s were superb and in a display that demonstrated the influence of an uncompromising defence, the Roscrea Boys ran out 66 – 0 winners. Tries on the day were scored by Josh Loughnanne, James Ryan, Billy Hayes, Kevin Burke, Ciaran O’Shea 2, Harry loughnanne 2, Fionn Carney 2, Robert Lee 2. Tadhg White kicked 3 conversions. Next up for the Roscrea RFC Boys u14s is an end of season challenge match against neighbours Cistercian College.
Roscrea RFC Boys u13s
The Roscrea RFC boys u13s team welcomed De la salle Palmerstown to Streamstown on Sunday December 8th for a 12:00 kick off. Despite the conditions the Roscrea Boys put on a fantastic display of attacking rugby and were unmoveable in defence with every player making a significant impact. With tries from the extremely influential Captain Andrew Murray, the excellent Sean Stapleton and a hat trick from the unstoppable Declan Walsh, Roscrea ran out 31 – 0 winners. The ever-reliable Aaron Moloney kicked 3 conversions. Modern Rugby is a game where those who start on the side line are just as important and influential as those who wear 1 to 15 on their jerseys at the start of the game. This is where the Roscrea RFC u13s have made great strides in recent months, where making player changes invariably adds to the intensity and always keeps the performance levels at the required level. . But this was a collective victory gained on the training field where the Boy’s u13s have been training diligently with great dedication and endeavour. Leinster Rugby’s Damian McCabe was in attendance and was particularly impressed by the leadership displayed by the more experienced Roscrea Players. Head coach Michael Moloney thanked the visiting team for making the journey and wished them well for the rest of the season.
Roscrea RFC u18s
Dave Pearson’s men went into Sundays match against Coolmine RFC in excellent form having won all their previous matches this season. But all good things must inevitably come to an end and if you are to be beaten, its best to go down with a fight against excellent opposition. This was the case in Sundays Roscrea RFC u18s match against Coolmine RFC who were excellent from start to finish. Like all great teams, the Roscrea boys will learn more from a valiant defeat than any victory. Tries on the day were scored by David Ryan and Keilan Kelly with a conversion by Scott Pearson.
Roscrea RFC u15s
On Wednesday December 4th the Roscrea RFC u15s got their season up and running as they played their first game of the year in a challenge match against Mullingar RFC. Although they have only be training for a few weeks, they put in a strong performance with very positive phases of attack and defence. Their coaches were very pleased and look forward to developing their game further over the coming months.
Roscrea RFC Girls U10s and U12s
Girls rugby is having something of a revival at Roscrea RFC. Currently the girls u14s, the most senior girls’ team are playing in the leinster youths league marking a return to competitive girls’ rugby at the club. The under Girls 12s group have sufficient strength in numbers to field 2 teams, which is unusual enough for a countryside club to make it quite remarkable and thoroughly impressive. On Sunday December 8th the Roscrea girls welcomed Tullamore RFC, West Offaly Lions, Ballina Killaloe RFC and neighbours Birr RFC to Streamstown for a much-anticipated midlands Blitz. In what turned out to be an atrocious morning in terms of weather, the teams played with great positivity and despite the inclement conditions put on an excellent show of attacking rugby. Roscrea RFC girls rugby coordinator Ciara Maher thanked the visiting teams and paid particular tribute to Birr RFC and their coaches who played their first ever girls u12s blitz.
