All Ireland League Preview

The 34th season of the All Ireland League kicks off this weekend.

In the men’s division we see a staggering 15 teams from Munster taking part across the five divisions.

In the Women’s All Ireland League, Ennis brings the Munster contingent to three as they join current champions UL Bohemian and Ballincollig.

Men’s Division 1A:

Cork Constitution, the only team to never have been relegated out of Division 1A, had another successful season in the topflight.

They finished third in the table, recording 12 wins, one draw and five losses.

A finish within the top three earned them a place in the AIL semi-finals where a trip to Templeville Road to take on newly promoted side St Marys College awaited them.

A final score of 8-16 in favour of Con set them on the trajectory to win their second title in a row in the Aviva Stadium.

But it wasn’t to be this season as they were beaten by table toppers Clontarf in nail biting fashion with a score of 22-21.

The Cork side will head for the capital this weekend as they get their season underway against Lansdowne.

Young Munster held onto their mid table positioning last season finishing in seventh place with seven wins and 11 losses. They kick off this season with a trip up north to face Ballynahinch.

Nenagh Ormond joins the 1A ranks this season for the very first time. They finished last season in second place, just 13 points behind Dublin’s Old Belvedere, setting themselves up to take on Blackrock College and UCC in their play off finals.

They earned their promotion by defeating Blackrock College 25-17 and UCC 36-33. The Tipp natives will get their new season underway against Dublin side Old Belvedere in New Ormond Park.

Garryowen’s Oisin Cooke on the attack ©INPHO

Men’s Division 1B:

Garryowen will spend this season in 1B after finishing at the bottom of the 1A table last season, recording three wins and 15 losses. They’ll welcome UCC to Dooradoyle Saturday for their season opener.

Highfield will hope to improve on last season’s eight place finish as they gear up to face Queens in their first game of the season. They saw the 2024/25 season out with seven wins and 11 losses.

UCC will spend another season in 1B after just missing out on promotion. The college outfit were beaten 36-33 in a nail biting final against Tipperary’s Nenagh Ormond. They travel to Limerick this weekend to face Garryowen.

©INPHO

Men’s Division 2A:

Shannon find themselves in 2A this year after back-to-back relegations. The Limerick side finished 1B in 10th with 13 losses and only five wins to their name. They will welcome Cashel to Thomond Park this weekend,

They will now join Old Crescent, who have been in the division since 2018, and Cashel.

Old Crescent finished last season in seventh place with six wins, one draw and 11 losses. They will travel north to face Ballymena this Saturday.

Cashel will remain in 2A for another season after being beaten by Dublin University 18-16 in their promotion final. The Tipperary natives saw out the season in second place, just six points behind Instonians, with 14 wins and four losses. Thomond Park is the location for Cashel’s opener as they face Shannon.

Men’s Division 2B:

Annacotty’s UL Bohemian are the only Munster side in Division 2B having been relegated in the 2023/24 season.

The Limerick side finished sixth last season and will hope to better this in the coming months to work their way back to Division 1 glory.

They ended last season with a even nine wins to nine losses and a total of 48 points.

A trip to the midlands is on the cards for the weekend as they face Navan on Saturday.

Photo credit Dolphin RFC

Men’s Division 2C:

Five Munster teams will sit in Division 2C for this season with Thomond joining Dolphin, Clonmel, Midleton and Bruff.

Thomond, the back-to-back Division 1 Munster League champions, confirmed their return to All Ireland League rugby last spring as they overcame Omagh Academicals 23-15 in the promotion/relegation final. This will be the sides first time back in the top flight after a six year absence. Thomond welcome fellow promoted side Bective Rangers to Liam Fitzgerald Park to get their season underway.

Midleton had a very successful 2024/25 season as they finished second in the table, just one point behind table toppers Enniscorthy.
A second place finish saw the East Cork side earn themselves a spot in the promotion finals where they saw off Dolphin 18-17 before being pipped to the post by Skerries with a score of 32-26.

They welcome Bruff to Towns Park Saturday to kick start their AIL season.

Dolphin will remain in 2C for another season as the Musgrave Park based club lost out by just a point in their promotion semi-final. They finished in third last season just three points behind Midleton with 11 wins, two draws and six losses to their name.

The Cork side will head north this weekend to face Belfast Harlequins in their first clash of this season’s competition.

Clonmel found themselves mid table once again last season as they finished in sixth with 10 wins, one draw and seven losses. The Tipperary side will make the trip to Ard Gaoithe to take on Ballyclare in their opening round this Saturday.

While Bruff finished in eight last season with 29 points to their name from five wins and 13 losses. They will get this season’s campaign underway against fellow Munster side Midelton in Towns Park.

©INPHO

Women’s All Ireland League

In the women’s division, after just three short years of existence, Ennis RFC join the ranks.

An All Ireland Junior Cup win against Enniskillen guaranteed the team a spot for the very first time.

They’ll join back-to-back winners UL Bohemian who’ll be hoping to win the lucrative threepeat this year after defeating Railway Union two years in a row. They finished last season with 16 wins and two losses.

Ballincollig finished seventh last season. The Cork club will hope to better last season’s four wins, one draw and 13 losses going into this year’s competition and remain out of the drop zone.

This weekend will see titleholders Bohs take on Blackrock College in Dublin, Ballincollig welcome Galwegians to Tanner Park and Ennis make the trip to Tullow.