Congratulations to our own Tim Schmidt, who has been selected for the Irish Men’s Sevens squad.

The squad travel to San Jose, California this weekend to take part in the inaugural Silicon Valley 7s, against some heavyweight opposition, with Samoa, Canada and England in Ireland’s group.

The whole club would like to wish Tim all the best! 

The Club is delighted to announce John Spencer and Shane Jennings as the guest speakers for Rala’s Christmas Lunch. 

John  Spencer (above) made his England debut at the age of 21 against Ireland at Lansdowne Road, Dublin, in February 1969. He went on to play 14 times for England, scoring 2 tries. He captained England in four internationals, and was selected for the 1971 British Lions tour to New Zealand, playing in ten matches on the tour. He also represented the Barbarians.
John was recently the tour manager for the British and Irish Lions on their 2017 tour to New Zealand.

Shane Jennings will be well known to all in Terenure, having faced and tormented us on many occasions from schoolboy to adult in the blue of St Mary’s. As a professional, Shane went on to win three Heineken Cups, three Pro12 titles, a Premiership title and a European Challenge Cup, as well as gaining international caps with Ireland. 

The Christmas Lunch will be held on Friday 1st December in the clubhouse, with some incredible items available for auction on the day. The star item this year is a beautiful 1.60 carat diamond ring, which is sure to generate plenty of interest! Set in 18k gold, this stunning piece has a value of €20,000. Keep an eye on the club website over the coming weeks for more lots. 

Tables for this brilliant event are available now, with tables of ten costing only €600 (€60 for a single seat). Places are limited, so if you are interested, please contact John Downing on 0866888507.

We have a busy schedule this week, with all but one of our adult sides in action.

The 4th XV kick the weekend off, welcoming Wanderers to Lakelands on Friday night. The lads are in a really competitive division, and need your support, so please come down and cheer them on – kickstart your weekend in style!

On Saturday, we have three games in Lakelands in a jam-packed day of rugby. The 1st XV face Buccaneers in a game that takes on added significance after last week’s defeat to Tarf. The Galway side may be struggling for results this season, but boast a talented squad and will come to Dublin eager to get their season going. The table-topping 3rds host Old Belvedere in Division 3, while the 5ths take on Coolmine as they look to continue their recent good form.

On Sunday, we have two cracking games in store, with the 2nds travelling to league leaders Lansdowne, and the U20s making the trip to Belfield to take on the mighty UCD in a fixture which never fails to excite. 

All our teams need our support, so make sure to wrap up warm and come out and roar them on!

Full fixtures

The 1st XV suffered their first defeat of the season last night, suffering a 29-17 loss in Castle Avenue. Last year’s runners up Clontarf were too strong on the night, with their aggressive defence and breakdown work suffocating the Terenure attack and forcing errors, which they were clinical in pouncing on.

An early Mark O’Neill penalty put us in front, before a prolonged period of pressure from the home side resulted in an unconverted try. Nure responded well, with another O’Neill penalty nudging us back in front at 6-5. However, another error gave Tarf possession, and Matt Darcy scythed through the middle to score under the posts and give them the lead again, 12-6. With their dander up, the home side kept the pressure on, and after several short carries, they ploughed over to make it 19-6. Again, Nure responded well from the kick off, with a fine lineout maul earning a penalty on the stroke of half time to cut the deficit to 19-9.

The second half saw the same pattern continue, with Nure enjoying more possession but yet unable to penetrate the blanket Clontarf defence. A midfield penalty was kicked to the corner, and the pack showed their mettle, with a huge maul shoving the Tarf eight almost 20m backwards and over the line for an unconverted try – 19-14 and game on. However, the home side settled quickly, winning a penalty and converting it to push the lead back to 22-14, and with Nure now chasing the game, errors crept into the game. Trying to play their way out of defence, the ball was spilled and Tarf pounced for the bonus point try, scooping the loose ball and shuttling under the posts to make it 29-14.

To their credit, Nure kept going, and after a concerted period of possession, forced a yellow card after a maul infringement close to the Tarf line. Keeping the pressure on, Nure attacked the Tarf line, and a very high tackle on Niall Lalor saw the home side reduced to 13 men, and O’Neill took the easy three points to make it 29-17. With time up, Nure attacked from deep looking for a losing bonus point, but couldn’t quite make the full length of the pitch, and Tarf took all five points.

With a few war wounds to nurse, Nure will start preparation for Buccaneers next Saturday hoping to get straight back to winning ways. In the meantime, make sure to take a look at Peter Thursfield and Philip Duke’s excellent photos from last night’s game. 

We had some great games last weekend, with some fantastic results along the way.

The 2nd XV kept up their unbeaten start to the season with a fantastic win over UCD on Sunday in Lakelands. The students were in second place in Division 1 before kick off, so the hard fought win was an excellent result for the lads. Check out Philip Duke’s photos from the game here. The 3rds were given a walkover against the Dublin Dogos, while the 4ths went down swinging against Naas, eventually losing 28-14 away from home.

The 5ths had a superb win to get their season going, beating Barnhall 17-5 away, while the 6th XV also got their season up and running with a stirring 32-23 win at home on Monday night against Tallaght.

The U20s played out yet another belter of a game against Lansdowne (surely one of the best value for money fixtures in the rugby calendar), with the opposition pipping us to the points, winning 25-20 in Lakelands. 

Meanwhile, the under 16/17  team has gone from strength to strength. This time 2 years ago we hardly had enough for a training session let alone field a team ! Well all that has changed. Thanks to Mike and Paul’s dedication we now have a very talented and determined group of players. We even have subs.
On Sunday last, we had a great win against DLSP, winning 43-14. The first half was close and it looked like it could go either way but that was all to change after inspirational talks from the coaches.The players were fired up and DLSP had no idea what hit them: 5 tries scored with some great kicking as well. We had great support as per usual from all the parents and it was super to see all the injured players making it down to support their team mates and wishing they were out there with them. We look forward to our next game on the 12th November.

On Sunday last 22nd October the Tigers were invited to take part in a Disability Tag Rugby blitz in Greystones RFC, and what a fantastic day was had by all – Players, Parents & Coaches alike!

The Tigers were so proud to wear their jerseys and show everyone how much they have learned at training every Sunday. It was time to step up and take on the opposition in two matches against the Greystones Seagulls and the Cill Dara Foxes.

All teams put on a great display with lots of line breaks and tries scored much to the delight of their parents and coaches. One Tiger was overheard at lunch in the clubhouse afterwards to say ‘ this is the best day of my life!’…. this was a very special day with some fantastic memories made.