Club Focus: Old Christians

Old Christians is the only comprehensive rugby club in the northside of Cork City and caters for rugby players from U-7 in the mini rugby section up to three teams at adult level- two male and one female side.

Formed in 1955, it is an all-inclusive club welcoming members from all areas and promoting rugby in the ever expanding Glanmire, Mayfield, Ballyvolane and northside area.

The J1 side play in Division 1 of the Munster Junior League with a J2 team competing in Section B of the Munster Junior 2 league.

Though founded over 50 years ago to cater for the ex-pupils of Christians Brothers College, there is no requirement to have attended CBC to be a member. In fact, the current club bears little resemblance to the club that spent its early days in Carrigmore.

Saturday mornings are the busiest and most exciting mornings of the week with the minis in action starting from U-7s all the way through to U-12s. Kevin Coughlan, father of former Munster player James Coughlan, is one of the founders of the Old Christians mini setup that now caters for over 170 registered players.
Some of the Old Christians minis at training

The ethos of mini rugby at the club is to foster and develop young players. Boys and girls of all abilities are taught the game of rugby in a safe, non-competitive, enjoyable environment with inclusion and participation encouraged.
The underage section is a very strong part of the club’s foundations and is a constant feeder into the adult sides.

In the past, this section has produced many a star at Munster and Irish level. James Coughlan, now at French side Pau, Munster Academy player Rory Burke, UCC club captain David O’Connell and former Irish internationals David Corkery and Donal Lenihan to mention a few. There are currently 110 players in the underage section between the U-13s and the U-18s.

The newest section of the club started this season as the Old Christians Girls team was launched last month under the guidance of Claire O’Brien. Irish internationals Fiona Hayes and Heather O’Brien helped out on the open day and the young girls had plenty of fun as they learned new skills.The numbers for the team are growing steadily with 19 players already involved.

Some twenty odd years ago, the club moved to Rathcooney, via Kilcully, and settled into what was then a rural location. With the changing educational and social patterns, the flow of players from CBC dried up, but the new location has delivered a huge catchment area to the club.

With an area covering Glanmire, White's Cross, Rathcooney and Glenville now adding to the club’s traditional areas in Cork City – Mayfield, Ballyvolane and Blackpool. The playing numbers have grown to the extent that Old Christians have had to expand their facilities rapidly to cater for the demand.

The club now boasts three full size pitches, one floodlit to match-standard, plus floodlit training areas. A gym is now up-and-running, a large hall, six dressing rooms and a function area with bar facilities for after-match and club functions. A floodlit sand pit training area is one of the latest additions with further expansion on the cards with an all-weather all-purpose playing pitch in the early stages of planning.

The U-14s get set for a line-out against Cork Con

Matthew Marnell is the club’s Director of Rugby and stalwart who keeps the show on the road along with minis’ Director of Rugby, Conor O’Connell, and the many volunteers.

The Women's Committee is an integral part of the club and their everlasting energy and drive keeps the club afloat with their fundraising.

Although last season wasn’t very fruitful in terms of trophies in the cabinet, the J1 team battled their way to a creditable sixth-placed finish in Division 1 of the Munster Junior League. That was no mean feat considering that between the first, second and U-20 teams – the club lost 29 players through retirement, emigration and transfers.

On the Cup front, the Munster Junior Challenge Cup campaign ended at the semi-final stage with Old Christians losing a very tight fixture to the competition’s eventual winners Kanturk.

It was also a difficult year for the J2s but it was very refreshing to see the number of U-19s and 20s that stepped up to the mark and donned the jersey, cutting their teeth at the higher level.

This season sees the J1s sitting comfortably in mid-table after two wins out of their first five fixtures although they won’t be repeating last year’s semi-final appearance in the Junior Challenge Cup after last weekend’s loss to Skibbereen.

This weekend will see another action-packed weekend of rugby for all ages in Rathcooney with membership open to all – whether you have played before or are a complete novice.