Tackling Education

Leinster Branch President of the IRFU, Des Lamont spoke about rugby’s development and Leinster Rugby as he helped to announce details of a new programme to promote rugby in disadvantaged schools.

DCU is at the centre of the new IRFU initiative – “Tackle Education”.

The programme, launched last Wednesday by the Leinster Branch of the IRFU, Unidare RFC of Finglas and DCU Rugby, gives schoolchildren the chance to try out tag rugby in a unique environment with the help of DCU’s top coaches.

“Tackle Education” encourages children to stay in school while learning the sport with a secondary aim of promoting rugby in disadvantaged communities.

In the fine settings of the 1838 Club DCU’s Rugby Development Officer, Jack Hanratty, explained how the programme worked to an audience of schoolkids from local Trinity Comprehensive and Patrician College. Also in attendance were a number of senior IRFU officials, including Des Lamont and the Heineken Cup won by Leinster last summer.

Jack Hanratty stated the programme’s ambition: “At the end of this programme we hope to have a game where two teams can face each other in the DCU Sportsgrounds. We want to give these kids an opportunity to use the best facilities here [in DCU], to try and forge a link between the two schools and hopefully at the end to have developed their skills.”

Leinster Branch President Des Lamont took the floor to say; “There’s a lot of you here who are new to rugby; rugby is one of the greatest games in the world - one of the only games in the world where every shape and every size can get involved.”

“It is also one of the games that Ireland can compete at the very highest level in the world. Here in Leinster we’ve got probably the best player in the world in Brian O’Driscoll as well as three or four of the next generation of great players - players like Luke Fitzgerald, Rob Kearney, Jamie Heaslip and Kevin McLoughlin.”

“They kept training all the time, it didn’t matter how much talent they had. Brian O’Driscoll didn’t really start playing serious rugby until he was 14 as he played Gaelic football and soccer. We’d say to you; play every game you can, try them all out. But ultimately, the more games you play the more sure I am you’ll come back to rugby.”

What does Des Lamont think of Leinster’s Heineken Cup win? “It’s a wonderful achievement for such a small country. Leinster have won it once, Munster have won it twice but we all saw what happened last week between Leinster and Munster.”