This coming season will mark the centenary of University College Dublin RFC…
The club will be organising a number of events throughout the season to celebrate this milestone. The celebrations kick off with the club’s first XV squad, led by Club Captain Andy Cummiskey, embarking on a tour to South Africa.
The 36 man strong group, including players, coaches and management will depart Dublin on 16th August and arrive in Cape Town on the 17th. There will not be much time to acclimatise, however, as the following day will see the squad play a training match with the University of Cape Town. In all the squad will play three matches with the two “Test Matches” coming against University of Western Cape on 23rd August in Stellonbosch and False Bay RFC on 27th August.
The tour will also serve as a pre-season training camp under the watchful gaze of Head Coach Bobby Byrne and Director of Rugby John McClean as the squad prepare to push for promotion from Division 2 of the AIB League.
However, it won’t be all hard work for the boys, as in between matches and the pre season slog, a number of trips to local points of interest, including Robben Island and Table Mountain, have been organised. In addition, the players and coaches will run a coaching clinic for local kids in a Cape Town township. The tour will be rounded off with a trip to Newlands to take in the Currie Cup clash between Western Province and the Free State Cheetahs.
The entire squad are very much looking forward to the trip, the club’s first major overseas tour since the 1985 tour to Australia. It is even rumoured that club chairman David Carrigy is composing a musical accompaniment to the Yerrawaddie for the vuvuzela in preparation for Collidge’s first victory on South African soil.
Updates on the progress of the tour will be available on www.ucdrugby.com
