2 weeks ago 
’Learn to Perform’’ is a one day event brought to you by Connacht Rugby and Official Fuel Partner and Schools Cup Sponsor Top Oil for school players aged 16-18 and their coaches across the province.
The content on the day will be delivered by Connacht Rugby senior professional staff members and will be packed with helpful and practical tips to improve your game. Areas covered on the day will be:
Strength and Conditioning: Get game ready through strength and conditioning
Nutrition: Its importance to your performance
Match Analysis: Assess your game to gain an edge
Tackle Your Feelings: Deal with pressure on and off the field
Venue: Clubhouse Marque at the Sportsground, College Road, Galway
Date: Wednesday Feb 19th
Start Time: 10am sharp
Finish Time: 2pm
Lunch will also be included. Please note there is limited availability so the sooner you register in the link below, the better.
The Top Oil 2020 Connacht Schools Cups continue tomorrow with six week in all across four cups at Senior and Junior level.
The sole Senior A Cup comes from Pool 2 where Marist College play host to Sligo Grammar. With both sides already through to the semi-finals, this tie will determine who tops the pool and faces the runners-up in Pool 1.
It’s a big day in the Junior A Cup with two games that could have big ramifications on the make-up of the knockout stages. In Pool 1 Garbally College face Sligo Grammar, with Sligo knowing a win sends them into the semi-finals. With Marist (6 points) sitting between Sligo (9) and Garbally (5), they’ll also be eagerly awaiting the result from Garbally before their meeting with the reigning champions next week.
Things are slightly less complicated in Pool 2 where Summerhill take on St. Muiredach’s in a winner-takes-all final pool game. The victors will seal a runners-up spot behind CBS Roscommon and are guaranteed a place in the last four.
In the B ranks there’s one game at Senior level with St. Pauls Oughterard facing The Bish. Victory for the Bish will send them to the semi-finals while St. Pauls need a win to keep their qualification hopes alive.
Lastly there’s two games in the Junior B Cup with Pres Headford taking on Pres Athenry in Pool 1, and St. Geralds Castlebar facing Rice College in Pool 3.
TOP OIL 2020 CONNACHT SCHOOLS CUP FIXTURES (WEDNESDAY 5 FEBRUARY)
Junior A Cup
Garbally College v Sligo Grammar
Summerhill v St. Muiredachs
Junior B Cup
Presentation Headford v Presentation Athenry
St. Geralds Castlebar v Rice College
TOP OIL 2020 CONNACHT SCHOOLS CUP FIXTURES (THURSDAY 6 FEBRUARY)
Senior B Cup
St. Pauls Oughterard v The Bish
TOP OIL 2020 CONNACHT SCHOOLS CUP FIXTURES (FRIDAY 7 FEBRUARY)
Senior A Cup
Marist College v Sligo Grammar
Marist College and Sligo Grammar will join last year’s finalists Garbally College and CBS Roscommon in the semi-finals of the 2020 Top Oil Connacht Schools Senior A Cup.
With most of the pools games now played, the four sides have booked their place in the knockout stages with a game to spare at the expense of Summerhill and Colaiste Iognaid, and all that’s left to decide now is who will play who in the semi-finals.
The Junior A Cup has so far proven to be a much tighter affair with only one team so far assured of their place in the semi-finals.
CBS Roscommon are safely through after picking up a perfect 15 points from 15, meaning it’s a straight shootout between Summerhill and St. Muiredachs next week to decide who qualifies as runners-up in Pool 2.
In Pool 1 The Bish have exited the competition after three defeats, and one of Sligo Grammar, Marist and Garbally will join them. Sligo have 2 wins from 2 so far so they’ll be guaranteed a knock-out place if they defeat Garbally next week. If they do so the following week’s game between the reigning champions and Marist will decide who moves on to the semi-finals.
In the Senior B Cup it’s still relatively early days with Presentation Athenry in Pool 3 the only team so far guaranteed a semi-finals spot, while St. Muiredachs in Pool 2 will join them if they can overcome Presentation Headford.
Meanwhile we know 3 of the 4 semi-finalists in the Senior C division, with Colaiste Bhaile Chlair, Gortnor Abbey and Foxford all moving on to the next stage. The remaining spot goes to the victors of next month’s Pool 3 game between Gallen and Clifden CS.
The Junior B ranks have seen Colaiste Einde and Athlone CC qualify for the semi-finals, and Gallen CS can also look forward to the knock-outs if they can finish Pool 1 with a 100% record and defeat Pres Headford. The remaining semi-final place goes to the best runner-up from Pools 1 and 3 and so there’s still plenty to play for here.
Lastly the Junior C Cup pool stages have already given us our four semi-finalists. Sancta Maria College, Colaiste Chiaran, St Marys Ballygar and Enniscrone all come through their respective pools to move on the knockouts.
Another year of Top Oil Connacht Schools Cup action gets going this week with 22 games across Senior and Junior Level.
The majority of those games take place on Wednesday, with seven games on Thursday and just the one tomorrow to get things going. That one sees St Pauls Oughterard face The Bish in the Senior B Cup.
All of this week’s fixtures are as follows:
WEDNESDAY 15TH JANUARY 2020
Top Oil Senior A Cup Pool 2
1245: Sligo Grammar v Colaiste Iognaid @ Sligo Grammar
Top Oil Senior B Cup Pool 1
1200: St Jarlaths College v Colaiste Einde @ Tuam RFC
Top Oil Senior B Cup Pool 2
1230: St Muiredachs v Scoil Chuimsiteach Chiarain @ Ballina RFC
Top Oil Senior B Cup Pool 3
1200: HRC Mountbellew v Pres Athenry @ Monivea RFC
Top Oil Senior C Cup Pool 2
1115: Abbey CC v St Tiernans Crossmolina @ Carrick RFC
Top Oil Junior A Cup Pool 2
1200: St Muiredachs v Colaiste Iognaid @ Ballina RFC
Top Oil Junior B Cup Pool 1
1200: Gallen CS v Calasanctius Oranmore @ Ferbane
Top Oil Junior B Cup Pool 3
1230: Athlone CC v Colaiste Bhaile Chlair @ Athlone CC
Top Oil Junior C Cup Pool 1
1200: Scoil Chuimsiteach Chiarain v Sancta Maria College @ An Cheathru Rua
Top Oil Junior C Cup Pool 2
1200: Achill v Gortnor Abbey @ Westport RFC
Top Oil Junior C Cup Pool 3
1200: St Marys Ballygar v Swinford @ Creggs RFC
THURSDAY 16TH JANUARY 2020
Top Oil Senior A Cup Pool 1
1400: Garbally College v CBS Roscommon @ Ballinasloe RFC
Top Oil Senior C Cup Pool 1
1130: Sancta Maria College v Gortnor Abbey @ Westport RFC
Top Oil Junior C Cup Pool 4
1145: Enniscrone v Clifden CS @ Ballina RFC
Top Oil Junior B Cup Pool 1
1200: Pres Headford v Pres Athenry @ Corrib RFC
Top Oil Junior A Cup Pool 1
1230: The Bish v Sligo Grammar @ Newcastle-Galway
1200: Marist College v Garbally College @ Marist College
Top Oil Junior B Cup Pool 2
1200: Colaiste Einde v St Pauls Oughterard @ Colaiste Einde Salthill
A historic quadruple header of Schools League finals will take place tomorrow at Creggs RFC.
Following recent weather conditions the decision has been taken to play four league finals together on the same day at the new 4G pitch on the Galway/Roscommon border.
The Senior A League final between Garbally College and Sligo Grammer will take place at at 3.15pm, and that will be followed by the Junior A decider between Garbally and CBS Roscommon at 5.15pm.
Before those two games the focus is on the Junior C and Senior C Leagues. First up is the Junior C Plate final between Gort CS and St. Mary’s Ballygar at 11.15am, and then at 1.15pm it’s the Senior C decider between Gort CS and Gallen CS.
Meanwhile Creggs will also play host to today’s Junior C Final and Senior C Plate Final. Rice College face SCC An Ceathru Rua in the Junior final at 11.30, then in the Senior decider Abbey CC take on Sancta Maria College at 2pm.
Confirmation of the kick-off times and teams involved is below. Best of luck to all 8 squads on what’s set to be a cracking day!
11.15am: Gort CS vs St. Marys Ballygar (Junior C League Plate Final)
1.15pm: Gort CS vs Gallen CS (Senior C League Final)
3.15pm: Garbally College vs Sligo Grammar (Senior A League Final)
5.15pm: Garbally College vs CBS Roscommon (Junior A League Final)
Connacht Rugby and Galway City Council are delighted to announce the appointment of Craig Hansberry as Regional Development Officer (Galway City) for Connacht Rugby.
Hansberry is originally from Killererin outside Tuam, Co. Galway and was most recently a Connacht Club & Community Rugby Officer. He is also a regular rugby player for Corinthians RFC.
This new RDO role will see Hansberry work alongside Galway City Council to provide rugby coaching and sessions to primary and secondary schools and clubs across Galway City.
Joe Gorham, Head of Domestic Rugby at Connacht Rugby says:
“The continued development of rugby in Galway City is a key objective in the Club & Community Strategic Plan. We are delighted to welcome Craig to the team after his excellent work as a CCRO and look forward to seeing more rugby balls in the hands of as many students and players as possible in the months and years ahead. We’re also delighted to work in conjunction with Galway City Council to make this possible”
Gary McMahon, Head of Corporate Services & Community at Galway City Council says:
“Galway City Council is committed to the development of increased participation in sport and active recreation across the range of communities, schools and clubs in the city. We look forward to working closely with Connacht Rugby and with Craig in particular to enhance and deepen the participation in rugby at grassroots level. Go n’éirí leis an obair!”
To contact Craig regarding a visit to a school or club, follow him on his Facebook page at facebook.com/CraigHansberryRDO or email [email protected]
The Connacht U18 and U19s squads have been named for their respective Interprovincial Championships which begin this weekend.
For the second year running the U18s will be based at the University of Limerick for over a week where the competition will be run off. Their opening game comes this Saturday against Ulster (k/o 3pm) before they face Leinster on Wednesday 21st August (k/o 5pm). They complete their campaign with a meeting with Munster on Sunday 25th August at the same venue (k/o 3pm).
The U19s go into their interpros with the bulk of the squad winning the U18 Interprovincial Championship at UL 12 months earlier, and they begin their series away to Munster this Friday at Thomond Park (k/o 4pm). Their one and only home game comes on Wednesday 21st August when the team host Leinster at The Sportsground (k/o 2.30pm), and their final game against Ulster on Sunday 25th August will be played at the neutral venue of NUIM Barnhall (k/o 1.30pm).
CONNACHT U18s 2019
Joe Agbo (Galwegians RFC / The Bish)
Fiachna Barrett (Ballina RFC / St. Brendans Bellmullet)
Blain Barry (Connemara RFC / Cistercian College)
Micheal Broaders (Sligo RFC / Summer Hill College)
John Claffey (Ballinasloe RFC / Garbally College)
Eddie Coyle (Sligo RFC / Sligo Grammer)
John Devine (Ballinasloe RFC / Garbally College)
Matthew Devine (Ballinasloe RFC / Garbally College)
Kieran Egan (Buccaneers RFC / Marist College)
Ruairi Fallon (Buccaneers RFC / Marist College)
Deema Feehan (Buccaneers RFC / Gallen CS)
Sam Fogerty (Buccaneers RFC / Marist College)
Shea Hennessy (Monivea RFC / Garbally College)
Darragh Kennedy (Galwegians RFC / Clifden CS)
Kolo Kiripati (Buccaneers RFC / Marist College)
Mark Mitchell (Buccaneers RFC / Garbally College)
Conal Muldoon (Westport RFC / Rice College)
Adam Nash (Buccaneers RFC / Roscrea Community College)
Declan O’Loughlin (Corinthians RFC / Colaiste Cholmcille)
Kacper Palamarzcuk (Westport RFC / SlIgo Grammer) (C)
Mark Purcell (Creggs RFC / Roscommon CBS)
Zak Rather (Galwegians RFC / Colaiste na Coiribe)
Andrew Sherlock (Galwegians RFC / Colaiste Iognaid)
Tom Shine (Buccaneers RFC / Marist College)
Jack Tucker (Creggs RFC / Roscommon CBS)
Harry West (Ballina RFC / Kings Hospital)
U18 INTERPROVINCIAL CHAMPIONSHIP FIXTURES
Connacht U18s v Ulster U18s Clubs, University of Limerick (17 August, 3pm)
Connacht U18s v Leinster U18s Clubs, University of Limerick (21 August, 5pm)
Connacht U18s v Munster U18s Clubs, University of Limerick (25 August, 3pm)
CONNACHT U19s 2019
Harry Ballsiger (Buccaneers RFC)
Donnacha Byrne (Sligo RFC)
Hubert Costello (Corinthians RFC)
Eoin DeBuitlear (Corinthians RFC)
Alan Duffy (Ballina RFC)
Matthew Earley (Sligo RFC)
Martin Fallon (Buccaneers RFC)
Tom Farrell (Creggs RFC)
Cathal Fleming (Monivea RFC)
Cathal Forde (Corinthians RFC)
Hubert Gilvarry (Sligo RFC)
Paddy Grehan (Ballinasloe RFC)
Daragh Hanrahan (Corinthians RFC)
Aodha Hession (Creggs RFC)
Luke Hogge (Sligo RFC)
Caolan Hopkins (Ballina RFC)
Shane Jennings (Ballinasloe RFC)
Jack Keegan (Creggs RFC)
Diarmuid Kilcommins (Corinthians RFC)
Lasha Laoshvili (Buccaneers RFC)
Rory McCleane (Corinthians RFC)
Diarmuid McCormack (Corinthians RFC)
Oisin McCormack (Ballinasloe RFC)
Leo McFarlane (Buccaneers RFC)
Gavin Meagher (Roscrea RFC)
Niall Murphy (Galwegians RFC)
Daragh Murray (Buccaneers RFC)
Evan O’Boyle (Galwegians RFC)
Conal O’Griofa (Corinthians RFC)
Conor O’Shaughnessy (Galwegians RFC)
Daniel Reddan (Galwegians RFC)
Cian Treacy (Ballinasloe RFC)
Will Whelan (Sligo RFC)
U19 INTERPROVINCIAL CHAMPIONSHIP FIXTURES
Munster U19s v Connacht U19s, Thomond Park (16 August, 4pm)
Connacht U19s v Leinster U19s, The Sportsground (21 August, 2.30pm)
Ulster U19s v Connacht U19s, NUIM Barnhall (25 August, 1.30pm)
Connacht Rugby are currently accepting applications for four voluntary positions on its Schools and Youth Committees.
These positions are the Chair and Secretary of both committees ahead of the 2019/20 season, with a Term of Office for an initial three-year period. There is also an opportunity to seek a second term of three years based on terms & conditions set out by Connacht Rugby’s Governance & Nominations Committee.
Click on the links below for descriptions of each of the four roles:
Role Description – Chair Schools Rugby Committee
Role Description – Chair Youth Rugby Committee
Role Description – Secretary Schools Rugby Committee
Role Description – Secretary Youth Rugby Committee
To apply for any of the above positions please email the Connacht Rugby Governance and Nominations Committee at [email protected] before Friday 14th June 2019.
Last Saturday the Top Oil / Irish Independent Connacht Schools Team of the Season were officially presented with their jerseys and introduced to the Connacht crowd at half-time of the Guinness PRO14 clash with Cardiff Blues.
The 15 players were picked by a panel of judges for their performances in this season’s Senior A Schools Cup, which was won by Garbally College who defeated CBS Roscommon in the decider.
1 Cian Ó Scanláin – SCC Carraroe
2 Eoin de Buitléar – SCC Carraroe
3 Jack Tucker – CBS Roscommon
4 Jack Schooler – Marist Athlone
5 Paddy Grehan – Garbally
6 Jack Keegan – CBS Roscommon
7 Oisin McCormack – Garbally
8 Mark Mitchell – Garbally
9 Aodha Hession – CBS Roscommon
10 Cathal Forde – Colaiste Iognaid (The Jes)
11 Shea Hennessy – Garbally
12 Mark Purcell – CBS Roscommon
13 Shane Jennings – Garbally
14 Stephen Mannion – Garbally
15 Hubert Gilvarry – Sligo Grammar
St. Jarlath’s Tuam enjoyed one of their best rugby playing days at The Sportsground by claiming the Top Oil Junior Development Schools Cup.
The win came just a few hours after the school also won the Senior Emerging Cup, capping off a unique double for the school which is historically known for its gaelic games prowess.
The sides exchanged three times in a frantic opening 20 minutes. Jarlath’s took the lead after just 4 minutes after a converted try from Carl Ward before Athenry responded through Luke White Martyn 10 minutes later with Kelvin Langan adding the extras. Barely 3 minutes had passed before Ross Fahy restored Jarlath’s lead to bring it to 14-7. Kelvin Langan then kicked his first penalty of the day to make 14-10 to Jarlath’s at the break.
The Tuam side regain their 7 point lead with a penalty, and the win was effectively secured when Ross Fahy crossed over for his second try with 5 minutes to go. Luke Whyte Martin then crossed over for his 2nd for Athenry, but the score came past the 60 minute mark with referee Joe O’Donnell blowing his full-time whistle straight after.
