SRFC January 2017

Newsletter

January 2017

Shannon RFC Season 2016/17

Hi all, January didn’t show any sign of Congratulations to Darragh Kirwin! easing us into the new year slowly as we were kept busy with plenty of goings on off the pitch. The Christmas break seems to have brough about a renewed energy to the club and there is definitely a buzz around with lots of events happenening outside of rugby! As awlays we love to get submissions, so any news, stories, photos or historical facts that you think our members would be interested in; get in contact and let us know! E-mail any information to [email protected] Representitive Mentions Well done to Conor Fitzgerald and Adam Moloney who have made the final Irish We were delighted to hear that Under 8s Squad ahead of the u20s Six Nations! player Darragh Kirwan, was a winner in the Also to who was named on the recent Aldi Six Nations competition! Ireland u18s Schools Development Squad. As part of the competition Darragh went live It’s a massive achievement form all of the on air on 2fm and commentated on a try lads and we are delighted to have them scored by Ireland. Darragh commentated represent us on the international stage. on Simon Zebo’s try versus Italy to win the Grand Slam. The competition was run over All Ireland League Debuts five days and include ten contestants, the Congratulations to Ryan Healy and Ronan judges asked that the competitors convey Coffey on their first Senior AIL appearance. the realism of the try across the airwaves. Also to Tracey Collopy, Ellen Farrell and Darragh was crowned the winner on the Georgina Higgins who have made the fifth day bagging a trip to Rome for the transition from u18s to senior and all made Ireland v Italy match! Darragh and his their first appearances for the senior squad mam, Caroline, get a two-night stay in the over the course of the month. official team hotel in Rome where they will SRFC January 2017 be pampered as VIPs. Presentation to Ger Tucker

Darragh will also feature on the Kids Panel before, during and after one of the upcoming Six Nations games. He will go to Dublin to go live on TV as part of the new Kids Panel show. Darragh also received an Aldi 100-euro voucher. We would like to wish Darragh massive congratulations on winning such a fantastic prize! We are also seriously impressed with his commentating abilities and have him earmarked as one to watch in the future and looking forward to his commentary on RTE in the near future! Ger Tucker was recently presented with a Champ or Chimp lovely token from David Loughrey in Lansdwone RFC. David presented Ger with We are delighted to have launched our framed photos of Colm Tucker and Jean Champ or Chimp competition for 2017. It was launched a bit later this year but Pierre Rives, as well as signed match programmes from each Irish and French includes some exciting new changes! match played that season. It was a really Contact any committee member to acquire nice gesture and a fantastic piece of a form for this season competition or for any memorable for Ger. Find more photos here. further information and online entry forms are available on the Shannon Website here Thank You, Mary O’Donovan! U15s Girls Meet Padraig Harrington! We finally caught up with Mary O’Donovan at a pre-match meal and got the opportunity to present her with a bunch of flowers in thanks of her years of service on the gates of Shannon matches!

Our u15s girls team were lucky to grab a picture with Padraig Harrington when they travelled to St. Munchins for a recent match. While the result didn’t go the girl’s way on the day, they were delighted to meet Padraig who was very nice and had no problem getting into the photo with them!

SRFC January 2017

McCoy-Tucker Memorial Trophy Player Profile

The Shannon v Old Wesley match saw the launch of the McCoy-Tucker Memorial Name: Rebecca Casey trophy. In the above photo are David Pierce, President of Old Wesley, John Team: Shannon Ladies Leahy and Declan McCourt, Chief Executive of the OHM Group who donated Position: Scrum-Half the trophy. Doug McCoy and Colm Tucker Favorite Team: Shannon! both worked for Saab and were very close friends for years. Both Colm and Doug were All-time Favorite Player: presidents of their respective club in the same year. The trophy was awarded to Lee All-time favorite Shannon player: A Nicholas after the match, the trophy will be tossup between Adam Moloney and Jack played for on a perpetual basis between O’Donnell. both clubs. Favorite Musician: Ed Sheeran Find a video of the presentation here. What’s your nickname: Becky One word to describe you: Happy How would your team mates sum you up in one word: Emotional! As a child when you grew up you wanted to be a: Teacher If you could go to any sporting even in the world what would it be: The Rugby World Cup

SRFC January 2017

How did you get involved with Shannon: Clubhouse Corner In transition year, Ger Lawlor came out to school and I said I’d give it a go. We have a busy month ahead for our Clubhouse! On the 18th of February, we are When did you last score a try: In our first welcoming LIT who are hosting a mixed match against Richmond at the start of the IRFU 7-a-side tag rugby competition in aid season. of Pieta house. There will be entertainment afterwards provided by “Two and a Half Who’s your funniest team mate: Emma Men” and all are welcome to enter a team! Casey We are still hosting our pre-match meals for If you were stuck on a desert island with €20. The next one is this Friday night for the one of your team mates who would you Shannon v UL Bohs match. The usual pick: Tracey Collopy fantastic value is on offer, including a three- What does Shannon mean to you: course meal and match entry. Before our Shannon means a lot to me, I’ve made last match v Galwegians we had 100 guests some great friends through Shannon. at our pre-match meal. This was fantastic to see, many also came back into the club afterwards creating a fantastic buzz about the place. We look forward to welcoming Update on our Overseas Players! you all back again!! This week it’s an update from Ellie Brislane who left us at the start of the year to head to New Zealand. After playing a bit of Sevens in New Zealand, Ellie was delighted to be selected as one of four internationals to play with Waverly Rugby Club in Bondi, Australia. It’s an exciting opportunity for Ellie who will get fantastic experience with Waverly. She flies over to join them this week and we’re sure will send regular updates to let us know how she’s getting on!! Links for Reading! During the month, Cian Tracey conducted Andrew McNamara recently sat down with a an interview with Paddy Butler on his time reporter from the examiner and spoke in France and his thought process before candidly about the death of his move from Munster. It was an insightful and his contributions to our club. Also, and honest article from Paddy and we are included in the interview were Donal delighted to see him getting on so well in Lenihan, Brendan Moran and Len Dineen. France! Find the article here. It’s a very nice article and can be found here. SRFC January 2017

Club Pictures:

Our Happy Thirds after winning the James Smyth Memorial Cup v Abbeyfeale just after Christmas. Seamus Mulcahy pictures with his coaches, Sean was one of our u6s players of the week in January!

Our u13s are looking great in their new jersey’s kindly sponsored by the Oakwood Arms Hotel in Shannon!!