Club Focus: Cashel RFC

9th January 2015 By Munster Rugby

The Tipperary town of Cashel is home to one of Munster’s leading rugby clubs with Cashel RFC competing in Division 2A of the All-Ireland League.

Thirteen years ago, the club finished bottom of Division Three of the Munster Junior League. Since then they have enjoyed an incredibly successful period that has seen them rise four divisions to join the third highest tier in Irish club rugby.

This progression led to Cashel first being awarded the Munster Junior Club of the Year in 2009 before they were crowned Senior Club of the Year in 2012.

The town has a rich rugby-playing tradition and the family-oriented Cashel RFC was founded in 1919. The club boasts top class playing facilities in Spafield with three full-size pitches, two training areas and six dressing rooms. A new clubhouse was opened in 2009 and there is also a large function room.

For a town of less than 5,000 people, Cashel has produced an extraordinary amount of professional rugby players. Munster’s Paddy Butler is the latest product with former Munster man Denis Fogarty now plying his trade in France. Denis Leamy, John Fogarty (brother of Denis) and Brendan O’Connor all hail from the town and began their playing careers at the club.

Former club president Peter Silke was one of the driving forces behind a recent book published on the history of Cashel RFC and he explains the secret to the club’s success.

“Over the 90s and the 00s, we put a huge emphasis on developing young players and we had a very good success rate in that,” says Silke. “That’s the backbone of our club, we have a very good underage structure and a lot of great players including the likes of Denis Leamy, Paddy Butler, the Fogarty brothers and Brendan O’Connor came through our underage system.”

The Cashel U-10s and U-12s at the All-Ireland mini festival last April

The focus on developing the youth structure at the club paid huge dividends as the players began to progress into the adult side.

“In 2001/02 we finished bottom of Division Three of the Munster Junior League and we were very nearly relegated to minor rugby,” Silke explains. “There was a huge effort put in to improve our position in Munster and our first target was to get out of Division Three and in 2002/3 we won the Division.

"The following year we were runners-up in Division Two and were promoted. We won Division One in 2008 and 2009 but both times we failed to gain promotion and in 2010/11 we won the whole thing and were promoted to the All-Ireland League.

“To put our rise into perspective, in 2003 we were trying to get out of Division Three of the Munster Junior League. That same season Ballymena won Division One of the All-Ireland League and last season we went to Ballymena and beat them 8-7!”

“We are very lucky to have an ambitious and hard working committee which provided the facilities to enable the club to progress and develop.

"We also had very good coaches over the years in John Ryan, Ned Tierney, Ray Egan, Kevin O'Dwyer, Ian Dunne and Brian Hickey – our current coach. And the club enjoys great support from local people and sponsors, which is very important,” he added.

The support of sponsors like Boru Stoves are very important to Cashel RFC

When most clubs turn senior, the focus is on consolidation and maintaining their place in the league but Cashel are unlike most clubs. The Tipperary side, led by captain Brendan O’Connor, enjoyed a record-breaking season in 2011 as they won every single league game securing back-to-back promotions to reach Division 2A.

They have remained in 2A since and currently lie in seventh place with five wins from their opening eight games this season. This season's Cashel squad and coaching team
This success has seen the playing numbers grow hugely at the club. In the men’s section, there are 60 adult players spread out over the three squads. There are 80 players in the youth section and 120 mini players. The club put a lot of work into the mini section with an emphasis on the kids having fun and hopefully developing a love and passion for rugby. Every year the U-12 squad are taken on their first rugby tour with this year’s crop making their way to London to play in a rugby blitz that will also feature London Irish.

The club also have a thriving ladies section which includes a senior team (in action against Clonmel below), an U-18 side competing in Munster competitions and a tag team for the younger girls. This section is relatively new but is improving all the time with numbers growing yearly.

The club is also boosted by the proximity of Rockwell College to Cashel, one of the province’s leading rugby schools.

“A lot of our players go to Rockwell which is a huge help to us,” says Silke. “We have a good link with the school and when our own players go there they get coached to a very high level and when they come back to us we benefit from the coaching they get.”

The club have enjoyed some truly memorable campaigns in recent years. They won nine trophies in 2009 and 2011 saw Cashel win the Munster Junior Cup for the first time and then complete a unique treble by winning the Division One League title and Munster Junior Clubs Challenge Cup.

Munster No. 8 Paddy Butler began his playing career in the club as an eight-year-old and he’s thrilled to see the success that Cashel are enjoying.

“There’s a lot of potential and a lot of promise in the club,” said Butler. “The numbers underage have increased an unbelievable amount in the last number of years and it just shows how well the club is doing.

“You get a big crowd up in Spafield and it’s good to support the local team and get to see all your friends playing. It’s a great place to be around and I’m delighted they’re going so well,” Butler added.