Gearóid Ryan picks up Munster Senior Cup medal

Twenty-one years after he started propping for Bruff RFC as a 13-year-old, Cratloe’s Gearóid Ryan picked up a Munster Senior Cup medal on January 2. Bruff beat Garryowen 23-19 to bring the senior cup home for the first time in the history of the club. Bruff beat Shannon and Cork Con in the earlier rounds.  
“It was a great win for a club who came up through the ranks and to beat the teams we did on the way to the final,” Gearóid, who runs the family business in Sixmilebridge, reflected.
“Years ago as team-mates we used to go and watch the senior cup final.
“It was something you’d only dream of. We used to regard the matches against the bigger clubs as a good training session when we played the likes of Cork Con,” he added.
Gearóid started playing for Bruff when the club heard that the then St Munchin’s pupil could prop and they were a man down in the front row.
“They were short of a prop and I was playing with the U-13 team in St Munchin’s. They were playing a semi-final against St Mary’s and they brought me on.
“We won that semi-final and went on to win most of the underage cups after that,” he recalled.
Playing for Bruff since 1989 has added to Gearóid’s sense of achievement in winning a senior cup medal.
“When you’re there so long it is great but it didn’t sink into me until we were back at the clubhouse and we saw what it meant to people who are supporting Bruff since the start.
“To us, it was just another game, where we had to give it all and try and win. But it’s not until you get back to the club and you see what it means to the older people, that’s when you know you’ve done something good,” he said.
Last Saturday, Gearóid and Bruff travelled to Dublin to play Lansdowne. The match was due to be played in the revamped Aviva Stadium but there was a last-minute change of venue. The home club won 30-18.
“They put us on in the Astroturf out the back. The Aviva was playable but I think it was a fast one pulled by Lansdowne.
“It’s the warm-up area that’s attached to the ground. The ball bounces completely differently on the Astroturf. I was crippled for two days after coming home from it. It didn’t suit me anyway, that’s for sure. Even though I scored a try,” Gearóid noted hastily.

Poor start to new year for St Senan’s

The new year has not started as well for St Senan’s as they would have wanted.
Despite playing some very good rugby in the two games so far, they have suffered two defeats, albeit at the hands of very strong opposition.
The first league match of the year was against table-toppers Cashel, who despite winning comprehensively had to fight hard for their victory.
This week, Senan’s travelled to Young Munster to compete for the Kiely Cup and once again they failed to convert some good rugby into scores.
This was disappointing for ­Senan’s as the Kiely Cup is a trophy that the late Cyril Kiely initiated for a ­competition between the two clubs to mark his connection to both.
This week, St Senan’s play host to Richmond, who are currently placed second in the league and they are looking forward to a big attendance of supporters as they attempt to get back to winning ways.
The match will kick off at 1pm and the earlier kick-off is because the Heineken Cup tie between Munster and Toulon will be live on TV at 3pm.
In Division 2, Ennis will travel to play Newport and the kick-off here will also be at 1pm.
In Division 3, Scariff make the long journey to Dingle in West Kerry to play Corca Dhuibhne at 1pm and the East Clare side will be hoping to maintain their unbeaten run in this competition.
Meanwhile, Kilrush have a free week this week.
Ennis, Scariff and Kilrush were all due to be in cup action last week but because of the inclement weather conditions, the games were cancelled.
All three clubs are awaiting news of the new dates for these games.