‘It’s fantastic to be back out playing matches’ – UCD’s Energia Community Series Preview
Energia All-Ireland League Division 1A, University College Dublin Rugby Football Club, Belfield, Co. Dublin 25/1/2020 UCD vs Cork Constitution UCD’s James Tarant celebrates scoring a try Mandatory Cedit ©INPHO/Bryan Keane
Rugby at college level is known for its energy and enthusiasm, but there’s a particular pep in the step of UCD RFC as they prepare for their first outing in the Energia Community Series.
“It’s fantastic to be back out playing matches,” says Head Coach Kevin Croke. “To have a nice sunny day, have a game get played, have some good tries scored in it – this is probably a more energetic and more giddy version of our first day back training when the lads were just happy to see each other.”
Speaking after a recent Leinster Senior Cup win over St. Mary’s College RFC, Croke says it’s been an uncertain time for rugby.
“The process over the last while has just been about trying to get lads back out on the pitch safely and there’s been a bit of a worry in terms of the length of the break that we had and what people were able to do.
It’s been a pretty gradual process trying to get guys back out training. What we’ve been doing is just taking it week by week.
I think players are just loving being back playing a sport that they like.”
You can hear more from the Head Coach in the above video.
The full series of video previews this week is:
Monday Sept 21 – UCD RFC
Tuesday Sept 22 – Banbridge RFC
Wednesday Sept 23 – Ballina RFC
Thursday Sept 24 – Garryowen FC
Friday Sept 25 – Bangor RFC
Saturday Sept 26 – St. Mary’s College RFC