Page 208 - Gonzaga at 60
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GONZAGA AT SIXTY: A WORK IN PROGRESS
Rugby in the Sixties
I always looked forward to returning to school each September because rugby was on the
agenda. Those who knew me in school, teachers and classmates alike, would bear witness to
the fact that it was not a hunger for learning. In the autumn from as young as I can remember,
in all probability when my uncle John Blaney gave me his internaional jersey when I was seven
years old, I used to smell rugby. The mud, the old round leather balls, their sitching done with
shoe laces.
My earliest recollecions are the two training pitches behind the senior school building.
Small fat posts with short uprights. Fr Harry Lawlor with his black trousers tucked into his rugby
socks and boots with leather studs, running round like a mad thing trying to hand-trip me at
every opportunity.
I remember Fr Kevin Laheen and Fr Joe Kelly refereeing. I believe they interpreted the
rules on a rather ad hoc basis. I remember some boys’ parents running onto the pitch and
remonstraing with opposiion players and the referee. I recall telling my mother that if she ever
did likewise I would run away.
I loved the rugby in Gonzaga. We had a mixture of coaches, but I must menion Fr Noel Barber,
and Fr Michael Shiel who went on to great things with Clongowes, and who incidentally presided
over my wedding ceremony. He came to Gonzaga from a Northern G.A.A. background. He had a lot
to learn but he did so very quickly, atending coaching courses in Mosney and other places.
Gonzaga was always in the ‘A’ secion (for some reason the Leinster Branch called the less
successful schools ‘Secion A’) and slowly made progress. Eventually, in the 1965/’66 season,
Gonzaga beat Marion College in the irst round. Believe it or not, this was the irst ime a Gonzaga
Senior Cup team had ever won a round at any level in this compeiion. The team, of which I was
lucky enough to be a member, then played Roscrea in the Secion A inal in Donnybrook and
qualiied for the ‘B’ secion. I can sill recall the thrill I felt at qualifying to play in Donnybrook.
It should be noted that this was something of an achievement considerin there were only
sixteen boys in Sixth Year at the ime, and this photograph has a large scatering of players,
including myself, who were sill only in Fourth Year.
Two years later, in the 1967/’68 season, when I was in Sixth Year, I was lucky enough to be
selected, along with James Sheehan, to play for Leinster Schools. In the same season Gonzaga
beat St Mary’s in the irst round – a huge feather in our cap – only to lose to Castleknock in
the next.
I like to think that the teams of 1966 to 1968 broke the mould; Gonzaga ceased being a
Cinderella rugby school and became a force to be reckoned with. They have gone from strength
GONZAGA AT SIXTY: A WORK IN PROGRESS
Rugby in the Sixties
I always looked forward to returning to school each September because rugby was on the
agenda. Those who knew me in school, teachers and classmates alike, would bear witness to
the fact that it was not a hunger for learning. In the autumn from as young as I can remember,
in all probability when my uncle John Blaney gave me his internaional jersey when I was seven
years old, I used to smell rugby. The mud, the old round leather balls, their sitching done with
shoe laces.
My earliest recollecions are the two training pitches behind the senior school building.
Small fat posts with short uprights. Fr Harry Lawlor with his black trousers tucked into his rugby
socks and boots with leather studs, running round like a mad thing trying to hand-trip me at
every opportunity.
I remember Fr Kevin Laheen and Fr Joe Kelly refereeing. I believe they interpreted the
rules on a rather ad hoc basis. I remember some boys’ parents running onto the pitch and
remonstraing with opposiion players and the referee. I recall telling my mother that if she ever
did likewise I would run away.
I loved the rugby in Gonzaga. We had a mixture of coaches, but I must menion Fr Noel Barber,
and Fr Michael Shiel who went on to great things with Clongowes, and who incidentally presided
over my wedding ceremony. He came to Gonzaga from a Northern G.A.A. background. He had a lot
to learn but he did so very quickly, atending coaching courses in Mosney and other places.
Gonzaga was always in the ‘A’ secion (for some reason the Leinster Branch called the less
successful schools ‘Secion A’) and slowly made progress. Eventually, in the 1965/’66 season,
Gonzaga beat Marion College in the irst round. Believe it or not, this was the irst ime a Gonzaga
Senior Cup team had ever won a round at any level in this compeiion. The team, of which I was
lucky enough to be a member, then played Roscrea in the Secion A inal in Donnybrook and
qualiied for the ‘B’ secion. I can sill recall the thrill I felt at qualifying to play in Donnybrook.
It should be noted that this was something of an achievement considerin there were only
sixteen boys in Sixth Year at the ime, and this photograph has a large scatering of players,
including myself, who were sill only in Fourth Year.
Two years later, in the 1967/’68 season, when I was in Sixth Year, I was lucky enough to be
selected, along with James Sheehan, to play for Leinster Schools. In the same season Gonzaga
beat St Mary’s in the irst round – a huge feather in our cap – only to lose to Castleknock in
the next.
I like to think that the teams of 1966 to 1968 broke the mould; Gonzaga ceased being a
Cinderella rugby school and became a force to be reckoned with. They have gone from strength
