Major development project under way at New Ross Rugby Club

The club was originally established in 1936 by Paddy Fleming, who was the sole driving force behind the initiative. He coached teams, organised matches, arranged buses and dealt with any other issues that arose in the club.

The first ever New Ross RFC training ground was located at Talbot Hall. Rounding up players was made especially difficult, thanks to Rule 27 of the GAA, but with the help of the local soccer club and army players from the local WW2 Battalion based at Bawn James, the club managed to field a men's 15s team each week. Once players navigated their way around the complicated rules, the club reached great heights during the war, reaching the Semi – Final of the Towns Cup of two occasions.

Sadly, New Ross reached a rocky road when the war ended, as the army departed Bawn James. The club fell apart, as there were very little youth players coming up and too many gaps to fill in the adult panels.

However, in September 1970, rugby was revived in New Ross by Dr. Mick Lucey, Brendan O'Keeffe and Fr. Jack McCabe. After a first general meeting in November, Barry Foley was elected the club's first ever president. Despite having garnered interest from locals and former players, the club still had no training grounds. Training first took place in Wally Gannon's stubble field and the Five Counties Hotel carpark, before purchasing 4.2 acres at Southknock for £4,200 at the end of the season.

Initially, the club planned to sell half of the plot to build houses, but an implosion in playing numbers prevented this and made way for the development of a second pitch. The club pavilion was opened in 1974 and since then, the club was only grown from strength to strength.

New Ross has two junior men's teams playing in Leinster League 2A and Leinster Seconds League 2A. They won out Division 2B in 2022 after beating Birr in the final. The women's team was established first in 2001 and competed in AIL Division 2 before splitting up in 2016.

The team was restarted in 2018, won Division 4 in 2020 and completed the double of Leinster League Division 3 and the Paul Cusack Cup in 2023. They are now currently contesting in Leinster League Division 1. New Ross has numerous youth teams ranging from U13 to U18.5, all competing in Leinster League, South East League and Cup competitions. The effort and expertise put into the squads by volunteering coaches pays off, with a slew of silverware won by youth teams last year.

New Ross also have numerous under age players making representative South East, Leinster and Ireland squads. The club has minis teams (U7 to U12) training and playing blitzes throughout the year.

The Dunbrody Warriors is a disability – friendly tag team created in 2015 in partnership with Cumas. The team have had great success in rugby festivals across the country, playing teams from home and abroad.

The opportunities to play rugby that are provided by the club to children and teens fuels their dare to dream of being the next Irish rugby star, and they have the perfect local role model to follow, Tadgh Furlong. Tadgh began playing in New Ross at the age of 5.

His father, James Furlong, was a stalwart of the front row and a popular figure in the club. Tadgh soon made a name for himself, with his crunching tackles, powerful carries and sheer dominance in scrums. Unlike most Irish rugby players now, Tadgh made his way up the ranks through the club system, which is arguably more difficult. In a Six Nations match against France last season, only 5 out of 19 players in the match – day panel who were educated in Ireland came through the club system.

After finishing his time in Good Counsel College, Tadgh was picked up by the Leinster Academy. He represented Leinster and Ireland at U20 level and featured in the U20 World Cup. He made his senior debut for Leinster in 2013 against the Dragons, getting the ball rolling for his fabulous 78 Irish caps.

Today in New Ross RFC, a major construction project is under way. They plan to add four new women's dressing rooms to the existing building, as well as new shower and toilet facilities, a gym above the dressing rooms and a 3G all – weather pitch to replace the bottom pitch. It is proposed that the extension of the dressing rooms be completed by summer 2025. It will be financed through grants and fundraising schemes.

As well as extending facilities, New Ross are also looking to expand team numbers. If you, or anyone you know are interested in joining rugby, you can contact Conor Kehoe for Youth rugby on 0879944387, Niall O' Callaghan on 085 1103747 or David Crowdle at Further information can be found on www.nrrfc.ie or on the New Ross RFC Facebook or Instagram pages.

Jane Bolger is a TY student at St Mary's Secondary School in New Ross and a player with the club.