Energia AIL Division 1A · Energia Park · Saturday 31st October 2026

Full time: Old Wesley FC 17 – 26 St Mary’s College RFC

Preamble

When entering this venerable and totemic stadium, our minds recalled our sadly departed Great, JB Sweeney, for it clearly represented what he stood for in rugby, brave battles and great victories and near misses and sad losses. For here is where young lads learned the hard lessons of life and sport; where he and all school rugby players aspired to play and prosper. The place now refurbished and improved has still the aura and redolence of half-forgotten days. Those days of liniment and of winter muddy pitches and the spring pain of rock-like surfaces; of “old soldiers never dying” and echoes of anthems sung and screamed. JB would have also savoured the memories of great club, Bective battles and Wesley warriors he faced there.

Our gracious host, Wayne Sheridan, President of Old Wesley FC, generously facilitated the plangent minute’s silences before the senior AIL match and the J1 league match to honour the memory of our JB. That J1 match was another high quality ding-dong battle, with some super scores; ending with Wesley victors, 35-31.

The lunch was also an expression of all that is good in club rugby society. Over 160 sat and ate a very pleasant meal, and mingled, Wesley and Marys in near equal spread. There were fine tributes by Wesley members to the memory of JB and to all the association between our clubs. Wayne spoke with wisdom, wit and generosity about the clubs’ shared histories and friendships. Our President, Stephen Shirley, also gave a fine and oft funny dissertation on similar matters and showed that he may soon be starring on the dinner circuit.

The game

After the minute’s silence, which was an inspiration to the players, the game began on a day that begged for rugby, with a mild 17 degrees, bright sun and lightest of winds.

The two teams were of the same disposition, to play with pace, fast recycling and variations. A feature was the high quality of the recondite defence from both teams. This indeed may have been why it resulted in such a tight match and low scores up to the last quarter. When it did open up in the second half there were some fine moves, highlighted by a wondrously effulgent break by super Skipper Deano, that cozened the Wesley defence and gave a try to highly effective and busy scrum-half Richie Fahy, in support on a fine vector. The set pieces too were pretty even. Old Wesley has a vaunted scrum this year, but got little joy from our eight, before and after replacements.

It is a real luxury, and one we have seldom had previously, to have two-plus sets of front rows of the highest quality. Head Coach Mark will have been pleased that the numbers of errors and penalties conceded were much reduced, in spite of conceding two separate yellow cards. He and DoR Alan will also be pleased at the quality of the overall squad that they have assembled over the past number of seasons.

One area Wesley had problems with today was their own lineout; twice in the first half they had kickable penalties they put to the corner to use their big maul, with both lineouts failing. These could have given valuable points to them. However, overall, they appear well equipped to challenge.

We can look at the match with great positivity. As well as an effective front row, the second row today was efficient, with Braemar impressive in the lineouts and carrying, and his partner, Daniel, equally so, and also enjoying a fine game in open play; he glides like an antelope. In our super-charged back row, it was good to see Michael Icely get a real opportunity, and when Mark Hernan came on, he once again showed his outstanding ability and his open-side credentials. Stephen McLoughlin showed his wide spectrum of skills. It needs no saying, Ronan at 6 and Dan at 8 were, as ever, pro-class stars. The defensive and work cover done by Rob and his honest overall contribution was notable.

Richie Fahy was delighted to get a run out, as was future star Paul Neary. Paul, who of course is a 10, is gaining experience in various positions to build into the pace and systems of AIL 1A. Meanwhile, Myles commands his zone, slices defences and enjoys sky walking and defence mesmerism. The team is fortunate in having a back three that is masterful, and all three, Leandro, Aaron and Ruairi, were excellent today.

What about inside centre, Mick O’Gara? Mick is the Keeper of the Gate. His quiet brilliance is sometimes not noticed; he is so fluent and efficient, one accepts it without comment. Today, it had to be noticed because he was just remarkably pancratic; nothing got by him. He carried relentlessly and he kicked as well as he always does. His cover was vital, when he saved many situations. He held up the ball over the line with absolute zirconic will and strength at a vital stage. It was an all-round performance that was admirable, and so he received the Manverton MoM Award. (See the photo below of Mick receiving the MoM Award from Mr Manverton himself, Jim Coffey.)

It is interesting to look at the tables. Our top three teams, AIL, J1s and U20 Premium, are all in fourth place on their respective tables, nicely poised to move up as the season progresses.

The scoring

From the kick-off it was Mk1 pace from both sides. Being an all-weather pitch gave some advantage to the home side, but Marys adapted well and speedily. It was, as previously noted, high paced but dominated by two outstanding defences, leading to fewer scoring opportunities. It was a half hour before a long-range penalty from the hosts broke the deadlock, 3-0.

It was 37 minutes when we took a penalty to the corner and, from the lineout, controlled the maul well for Richie Bergin to score; MOG converted, making it 3-7. It remained 3-7 to half time.

When the second half was six minutes old, Wesley scored a mauled try to bring the score to 10-7. On 50 minutes, running from deep, Marys broke fast and after a high-quality move scored in the corner through the impressive Richie Fahy, 10-14. Ten minutes later, Wesley were held up over the line by MOG. And then that brilliant break by Deano, and Richie again scoring in the corner, saw the score go to 10-19. Then ever-alert Ruairi picked off a Wesley pass near halfway and put on the turbo to leave all and score far out. MOG converted and it was 10-26. In extra time Wesley ran from near halfway to score wide out. Andrew Sparrow showed super pace and determination to almost snare the runner. It finished 17-26, with the visitors very pleased to glean five points.

Next week

This is the last of the tranche of three, and it is most important we do well. We entertain Young Munster, who are the Masked Stingers, for it is hard to know what team will arrive, this season so far. However, we do know that they always play extremely well against us, so expect their A team. We will be warned. Our side is now in top gear; we now need the support in top gear, so make sure to turn up and bring your rattles with you. Don’t throw them out of the pram; use them and your voice on high volume.

Marys-Marys-Marys! Do it for Deano.

St Mary’s team

15 R Shields, 14 A O’Sullivan, 13 M Carey, 12 M O’Gara, 11 L Ramirez, 10 C Dean (Capt.), 9 R Gilsenan, 8 D Goggin, 7 M Icely, 6 R Watters, 5 B Murray, 4 D Leane, 3 M McCormack, 2 R Bergin, 1 O Michel.

Replacements: 16 S McLoughlin, 17 T O’Reilly, 18 A Sparrow, 19 M Hernan, 20 R Fahy, 21 P Neary.

D O’Brien