Ulster’s Flannery Added To Ballyclare Coaching Team
Ballyclare Men's head coach Mike Orchin-McKeever will be assisted by Aaron Playfair and Ulster Emerging Ireland player Jake Flannery
Ulster’s Jake Flannery has been brought into Ballyclare’s senior Men’s coaching team, as they aim to build on a successful first season as a senior club.
Ballyclare mounted a strong challenge for promotion on their debut in Energia All-Ireland League Men’s Division 2C, finishing fourth in the table before losing to Skerries in April’s play-offs.
Mike Orchin-McKeever’s men also won Ulster Rugby Premiership Division 2, and with assistant coach Ricky Lutton recently stepping down, there is a coaching revamp at the Cloughan for the 2025/26 campaign.
Approaching his tenth year in the head coach position, Orchin-McKeever will be supported by Aaron Playfair, who is moving into a player-coach role, and Ulster and Emerging Ireland out-half Flannery, who turns 26 on Saturday.
The trio are reunited after first working together at Ballyclare High School three years ago, shortly after Flannery’s move north from Munster to Ulster. The Tipperary native has played 20 times for the Ulstermen, but his third season with the province was disrupted by injuries.
The Flannery name is well known in All-Ireland League circles, with Jake having lined out for both Shannon and Ballynahinch, and his siblings, Alan and Kate, also impressing in Cashel and UL Bohemian colours respectively, the latter winning back-to-back Women’s Division titles.
Looking forward to having a coaching input at Ballyclare RFC, Jake said: “I enjoy Mike’s blend of enthusiasm and competitive drive in rugby.
“I believe we see the game in a similar way, where we enjoy free-flowing attacking rugby which has been a strength of Ballyclare for the last few seasons. I look forward to becoming a part of that and adding to it.”
Ballyclare were the top scorers in Division 2C this past season, racking up 567 points and pocketing a dozen bonus points in the process. Captain Joel McBride and Josh Cowan led the way with 14 and 9 tries respectively, while goal-kicker Matthew McDowell finished with 166 points.
Flanker Playfair made 13 starts during their maiden Division 2C campaign, and in his job as a Regional Development Officer at Ulster Rugby, he works closely with Ulster age-grade squads, including as an assistant coach with the Under-18 Clubs team last year.
Speaking about his own coaching experience, he commented: “Pretty much since I’ve left school in 2017, having went back into school as a volunteer coach with Dean Jones for a season.
“I then stuck around and had three, four seasons of working very closely with Mike as his 1st XV assistant at BHS. Since then we have shared a lot of ideas in coaching in our separate roles, which has been very good.
“I’ve learned a lot and think we complement each other very well, so I am really looking forward to linking up again with Mike and Jake at the club.”
With trips to Malahide and promoted duo Bective Rangers and Thomond added to their Division 2C intinerary for the new season, Orchin-McKeever believes this coaching group can get further improvements out of an ambitious Ballyclare squad.
“The three of us will have a lot of fun, bounce ideas off each other, be open to challenge each other and essentially co-coach on a pitch to improve the level of player and squad performance,” he explained.
“Aaron will look at set piece and ‘on the ball’ efforts, while Jake will focus on our ‘off the ball’ options and kick plays.”