University of Galway RFC
| Full name | University of Galway Rugby Football Club | |
|---|---|---|
| Union | IRFU Connacht | |
| Nickname(s) | UG | |
| Founded | 1874 | |
| Region | Galway | |
| Ground(s) | Dangan (Capacity: N/A) | |
| Coach(es) | Colm Rigney, Christian Short and Bernie Kelly | |
| Captain(s) | Lawrence Jones | |
| League(s) | Connacht Rugby Junior League 1A | |
| 2023/24 | 6th | |
| ||
| Official website | ||
| nuigrugby | ||
University of Galway RFC is the rugby team of the University of Galway. Their colours are maroon and white.[1]
History
[edit]The rugby club was founded in 1874 at the time the university was named Queens College Galway, which makes it the oldest club in Connacht.[2] They played in the Bateman Cup competition many times and won their first Connacht Senior Cup in 1897. They have held this trophy aloft 34 times in all, more than any other club in the Connacht,[citation needed] and they have won the senior league 16 times. They won the Dudley Cup for the first time in 1905.
They have had many successes down through the years, but a real highlight was the 1962/63 season when they swept the boards — they won the Connacht Minor League and Minor Cup, the Connacht Junior League and Junior Cup, the Connacht Senior League and Senior Cup, the OLBC Sevens and the Blake Sevens.[3]
Many of their players have played for Irish universities international teams, and 10 have been capped for Ireland, several while playing for UCG. One of those, Ciaran Fitzgerald, Captained Ireland to a Triple Crown in 1982, and subsequently the 1983 British and Irish Lions tour to New Zealand.
Current status
[edit]Currently UG do not compete in the All-Ireland League, but they participate in Connacht Rugby competitions, and for 2023/2024 will field two teams at Junior League level (J1A & J2A).[4]
Their Under-20 team plays in the Irish Universities Conroy Cup[5] competing against UCC, UCD, QUB, TCD, DU, UL & Maynooth.
In League competition along with two other Connacht Clubs (Galwegians & Galway Corinthians) they compete in the Leinster Rugby JP Fanagan Under-20 League - in division Premier 3.[6]
They have also set up a Rugby Youth Academy in an attempt to help strengthen the club.[7]
Women's Rugby
[edit]The women's team was set up in the 2002–2003 season. Their first official game was in 2004 versus Sligo I.T. In the 2008/2009 season UG women won the Connacht League. In the 2012/2013 season UG contested the Colleges & Universities Sports Association of Ireland Div 1 College League Final against UL. In 2013/2014 and again in 2014/2015 UG won the Irish Universities Rugby Union Kay Bowen Intervarsity Cup.[citation needed]
Notable players
[edit]- Steve Cunningham
- Seamus Dennison — played for Munster in their historic 1978 defeat of the All Blacks at Thomond Park, executing a much heralded tackle against his opponents[8][9]
- Ciaran Fitzgerald — captained the British and Irish Lions and Connacht and won a Triple Crown while captaining Ireland
- Neville Furlong — scored the last try worth four points by an Irish player before a change in the game's rules
- Eamonn McGuire — played for Ireland[10][11]
- Mick Molloy — earned 27 caps for Ireland between 1966 and 1973
- Dickie Roche — played for Ireland, including when at university[12][13]
References
[edit]- ^ "UCG". Domestic.connachtrugby.ie. 27 September 2006. Retrieved 21 January 2010.
- ^ Advertiser, TOM kenny Galway. "UCG Rugby Club". Galway Advertiser.
- ^ Kenny, Tom (11 April 2013). "UCG Rugby Club". Galway Advertiser. Archived from the original on 8 August 2014.
- ^ "Connacht Rugby - Community Fixtures Results". Connacht Rugby.
- ^ "Queen's University Take 2021/22 Conroy Cup". Irish Rugby. 23 October 2021.
- ^ "Domestic Fixtures & Results". Leinster Rugby.
- ^ "Connacht Rugby - NUI Galway Launches Rugby Youth Academy". Connacht Rugby. 28 August 2011.
- ^ "Where are they now? Seamus Dennison (Abbeyfeale 1947)". Irish Independent. 7 December 2005. Retrieved 7 December 2005.
- ^ "WHERE ARE THEY NOW?". Sunday Independent. 21 October 2012. Retrieved 21 October 2012.
University in Galway was his next stop. He lined out for Connacht while there and also made the combined Universities team.
- ^ "Eamonn was a great sportsman". The Argus. 18 September 2013. Retrieved 18 September 2013.
- ^ "A rugby great who played for Connacht and country: Eamonn McGuire - Born: June 28th, 1939; Died: September 14th, 2013". The Irish Times. 30 November 2013. Archived from the original on 25 November 2018.
He studied engineering at University College Galway, where he won several Connacht Senior League and Cup titles. His sprinter's speed helped him to become a try scorer and after making a big impact playing for UCG he was chosen on the Combined Universities team, playing on the team that famously beat the touring South Africans.
- ^ "Dick Roche RIP". Connacht Rugby. Archived from the original on 17 November 2018.
From Woodford in Galway, Roche was one of the first Connacht-born players to represent Ireland in the 1950s and the first to do so while playing with a Connacht club. He attended Garbally College in Ballinasloe and represented both UCG and Galwegians RFC.
- ^ "The Galway man denied a very special place in international rugby history by a disallowed score". The Tuam Herald. 25 April 2012. Archived from the original on 1 February 2018.
Despite that, the West got international recognition as far back as Henry J. Anderson in 1903, followed in the next 60 years by the likes of Sligo-born Aengus McMorrow in 1951; the dynamic Dickie Roche from Woodford, Co. Galway, a student at U.C.G. when he was capped in 1955 and playing for Galwegians two years later when he was capped again...
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