University College Dublin
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some facilities . This is also very convenient for student players trying to balance their rugby and academic commitments .
NOTABLE ( RECENT ) FORMER PLAYERS INCLUDE Brian O ’ Driscoll ( Leinster , Ireland , Lions captain ) Paddy Wallace ( Ulster , Ireland ) Ciaran Scally ( Leinster , Ireland ) Rob Kearney ( Leinster , Ireland , Lions ) Sean O ’ Brien ( Leinster , Ireland ) Kevin McLaughlin ( Leinster , Ireland ) Fergus McFadden ( Leinster , Ireland ) Rhys Ruddock ( Leinster , Ireland ) Dave Hewitt ( New Zealand )
Community Club
We are active within the university community and try to be as visible and accessible as we can to the students . We are a little different in that we only current or former students of the university are eligible to play for UCD RFC . The addition of student tag has helped to widen the reach of the club to the student population . Facilities
One of the attractions of playing for the university club is the quality of facilities we have available . We are very fortunate to have an all-weather pitch and grass three quality pitch available for training and matches . There are also three gyms available to players for off pitch training .
Ladies rugby
We have a lady ’ s team that competes in a student rugby league . The team comprises of students that play solely for UCD as well as students who also play with non-student clubs at the weekend . The team has several players who play with the Leinster ladies senior team and the Irish ladies 7s team .
Challenges / Ambitions
There are a lot of strong rugby clubs in Dublin . A challenge for UCD Rugby is to ensure that when players study in UCD they see the positive aspects of playing for a student club while in university . Added to this is the possibility of players graduating and leaving Dublin for work . As we cannot have an influence on where the graduates go to , planning for player departures is important .
The club is ambitious to remain competitive in Division 1a of the Ulster
Bank League . Added to this is continuing the support we can offer to students regarding their academic commitments .
Article provided by Bobby Byrne , Director of Rugby
“ I ’ ve been involved with UCD for a number of years and have thoroughly enjoyed being a part of the set-up here . I ’ ve built some great friendships whilst I ’ ve been here and it is always good to see players progress and break through into the Ireland national side ’ s set up .
With a number of our players moving on to the next level we have a high turnover of players here which can be challenging but everyone is pleased for them and celebrates their success . UCD is a great place for players to improve their game as well as offering them an opportunity to develop professionally and achieve academic success .
UCD has built a strong set up here with some fantastic staff supported by high quality facilities . Added to this is a superb social side boosted by the tours that the players can go on both abroad and locally .
Whilst we have a superb record of success in regards to players going on to play representative rugby , we are fully committed to providing rugby for everyone with an interest in the game . Everyone involved is passionate about rugby and playing it the game the right way , providing superb opportunities for our students in regard to education and rugby development .”
President Paul Keenan
18 Issue 69