Tullamore the merrier as club doubles in size

We are now firmly in the grip of Six Nations fever, with a trip to Murrayfield in store for the Irish team this weekend.

Though there might be the odd worry that the current team’s cycle has peaked and a third straight title will be hard to achieve, by and large there are few concerns regarding the health of the game at the very top tier.

The hope in such a situation is that the elite level can bring benefits for those further down the chain. Thankfully, Tullamore RFC president Johnny Burns is able to report that there is a trickle-down effect as well as a trickle-up.

The day before Ireland clash with Scotland, Tullamore take on Monkstown in Division 2C of the Energia All-Ireland League at their Spollanstown home. Competing at the highest level of amateur domestic rugby is hard, but beyond the first team, Tullamore is emblematic of the growth in rugby as a whole.

As well as holding a multitude of roles on the committee, Johnny has been involved in coaching teams in the club. He was part of the set-up when they progressed from junior rugby to the AIL 11 years ago – as well as canvassing the schools in the area for new recruits.

In 19 years of undertaking the latter role, he has seen the number of the teams in Tullamore double.

“We wouldn’t have had any female involvement at that stage,” he says. “Now have two mini teams, under-14, under-16 and under-18 girls as well as the seniors.

“In boys’ rugby, we always had under-7 up to under-12 and then the youths was every second year – under-13, 15, and 17 – now it’s every year, up to under-18.

“We had four adult men’s teams last year, this year we have three. Most of that is due to emigration.”

The increase in numbers presents infrastructural challenges – more dressing rooms when the female side of the club was established, a quest to build more pitches – and fundraising and the seeking of grants are rarely off the to-do list.

The rising cost of electricity is no joke for an organisation using floodlights most nights of the week, but having them means that adult teams can play on a Friday night.

Location, location

While reaching the AIL is a feather in the cap of any provincial club, there are of course greater costs associated with that – though, as Johnny points out, location is a help in that regard.

“You look at the likes of Omagh or Midleton, they nearly have to stay overnight, the night before and the night of the match,” says Johnny.

“Obviously, their bus costs would be big too, so it’s an expensive business.

“We don’t have that as much, being in the midlands, but even so, going to Belfast, like we did recently, is a five-and-a-half-hour round-trip and a 12-hour day.”

Location can be something of a double-edged sword though, in terms of human resources. The rugby system means that juvenile players must choose between schools and club rugby but the only rugby-playing school nearby is Cistercian College, Roscrea. Johnny coached there for a decade, encompassing the historic Leinster Schools Senior Cup win of 2015. That means that there isn’t a huge drop-off in under-age numbers in Tullamore.

“That’s a particular difficulty for the city clubs. Not many of them would have an under-age structure.

“We have to produce from the ground up, from minis up, you get them in young and you’re hoping to keep them all together. The odd one will go away to a rugby-playing school but the bulk of them will go to school locally,” explains Johnny.

“On the flipside then, when those players get older, the city clubs in Galway, Limerick, Cork and Dublin have the benefit of having colleges and the clubs there are looking for players.

“We have no college locally that people will come to and then end up joining the club. We have players working in Dublin now that will travel down to play – you’re relying on a certain level of loyalty but you still have to make it as attractive as possible for them to want to do that.

“That means playing at as high a level as we can but also providing a good club atmosphere. We’re a community club at the end of the day”

That’s why the “trickle-up” is so important. Last November, Cormac Izuchukwu, now with Ulster, having begun in Tullamore made his senior debut for Ireland against Fiji. The club’s fingerprint can also be seen on players at senior, under-20 and sevens levels across both men’s and women’s Ireland teams.

“It helps when people see players who have gone through the club and gone on to be successful,” Johnny says. “They are all very good in coming back to us and giving back.

“Ireland and Leinster doing well has had a knock-on effect too, and then there’s a good relationship between the club and the schools in the area.

“I cover a total of 26 schools over the course of a season, going in and encouraging the students to give it a try.

“It’s grand when they’re minis, they’re playing a lot of sports and it’s generally just one day a week, but then they go up to under-16 and 17, they nearly have to make a decision, because it gets more serious and time-consuming.

“What you’re hoping for is to have the trickle effect both ways – the fact Ireland and Leinster are doing well helps to draw them in but they have to enjoy the experience in the club as well.”