‘It’s Great To Come Full Circle’ – Bective Runs In The Blood For Gilsenan

More than two decades after first pulling on a Bective Rangers jersey as a child, the club captain now finds himself leading them back onto the national stage, seven years on from their last appearance, with this weekend’s trip to Clonmel looming as another test of how far they have come.

There is something quietly fitting about Gilsenan being at the centre of this moment. Bective is not simply a club he plays for, it is stitched into his life, his family, and his sense of where he belongs in the game.

From mini rugby through to his current captaincy role, from youthful tours abroad to promotion battles in the junior ranks, his story mirrors the Donnybrook club’s own journey back to senior status.

“Went to St. Michael’s for school, I did Business and Law in UCD, and then played for UCD for a bit, and then ended up in Bective, and here I am now,” he told IrishRugby.ie.

“I played my minis in Bective and then I actually played minis in Old Belvedere for a year or two as well, because most of my friends were there. It was all full circle back to Bective.”

That sense of coming full circle runs through everything about Gilsenan’s relationship with the club. Even his earliest memories are bound up in experiences that shaped not just his rugby education, but his love for the game itself.

Like many players studying and working, there was a point when rugby threatened to drift into the background. Leaving UCD, with the demands of adult life beginning to assert themselves, Gilsenan genuinely believed his playing days were nearing an end. It took a nudge from a familiar voice to pull him back in.

What followed was not just a return to rugby, but a deepening of an already strong connection. Bective was not simply a place to play, it was family, in the most literal sense.

The club’s history runs through Gilsenan’s own bloodline, a lineage that stretches back generations and adds a powerful emotional layer to his appointment as captain this season.

“I remember back from my mini days in Bective, we actually went on some great tours as well. We went to the Heineken Cup final in Cardiff between Munster and Biarritz (in 2006), and we went on trips to Belgium and other places as well. Great memories from then.

“So when I was actually leaving UCD, I was going to retire, to be honest. I thought my days were numbered, and then it was actually Bernard Jackman who got a few of us back into Bective and (I) haven’t looked back since. I think I’ve been back here five years now, give or take.

“And then my granny, my nana’s side, they all played for Bective. There was a guy called Gerry Hardy, he played internationally for Ireland, and there was a player called James Hardy. That’s kind of my granny’s side, so she’s had all my matches. She loved it when I came back to Bective.

“She hasn’t missed a match and she’s 91, so it’s great. It is great to come full circle. It’s in the family, so it makes it that much better as well.”

That sense of heritage makes last season’s success feel all the more significant. Winning Division 1A of the Leinster League, the Energia All-Ireland Junior Cup, and gaining promotion back to the Energia All-Ireland League did not arrive suddenly or easily.

It was the product of years of near misses, narrow defeats, and quiet rebuilding, with a core set of players refusing to let disappointment erode belief.

Those scars were shared ones. Finals lost, semi-finals slipped away, seasons ending just short of what the club craved most. Rather than breaking the group apart, those moments hardened it.

When promotion finally came, the release was overwhelming that day back in April at Cill Dara RFC. It was joy, yes, but also something deeper and more raw. Relief.

“Last year to be honest, it was incredible. From start to finish, it is only looking back at it now, we all do as a team, we’re kind of like, ‘Wow, it was a very special year’,” acknowledged Gilsenan.

“To be honest, what made it so much better, particularly on the promotion side of things, is that we had so many narrow defeats over the previous years.

“The group that got promoted last year, 90% of them have been playing together for the previous two or three years, where we lost in whatever it was, two finals, in the semi-final or whatever it was.

“And we were just constantly building up and thinking, ‘Jeez, this is never going to happen’, because the club has wanted it so badly for so long. So, to actually do it, looking back, honestly, it was some of the best days I’ve had over the course of my whole rugby career.

“Just the whole club was delighted, the players, it was a mixture of relief and, like thank God we did it, because the squad at the time was probably coming to an end of its age cycle, I’d say as well.”

The stakes felt enormous because the window was real. Another failure might have seen players drift away, momentum lost, and the rebuild would have to begin all over again. Another year where they got close but again disappointment followed.

The celebrations that followed were intense and honest, stripped of any sense of entitlement. Success had been earned the hard way.

“Very quickly, if you don’t get promoted, lads might stop or drop off, and then you’re back to square one. So that kind of squad itself had been building for the previous two or three years.

“Collectively, when we actually got promoted, and in the week afterwards and stuff like that, we had some amount of craic, and it was more relief more than anything else, because there was so much building up to that.

“We did feel like last year was the year, and we had so many heartaches the previous couple of years. It was very raw, the celebrations. It was genuine relief and delight, and it was a class week, to be honest.”

The experienced out-half/centre continued: “The Junior Cup and stuff like that as well, that’s kind of the icing on the cake when you look back, because the primary target was to get promoted.

“So winning the league and the All-Ireland Junior Cup, that was all icing on the cake. When you look back at it now, having won pretty much everything we could last year, it was a pretty special year.”

Stepping back into the Energia All-Ireland League always promised to bring fresh challenges, especially for a team with great history in the competition that had been in the wilderness for a number of years.

For Bective, the jump up to Division 2C rugby was both familiar and unknown, populated by teams they recognised and others they would have to learn quickly about.

“It was not a lot of difference, to be honest. At the time, it is hard to kind of know what the big standard difference would be, because obviously we had the likes of Monkstown who we’re now playing against again in 2C.

“We knew them well enough, and we kind of went toe-to-toe with them, and we saw how they got on last year. We probably thought that they were probably then the standard.”

What changed most sharply was not preparation, but environment. New grounds, longer journeys, unfamiliar opponents, but the style of rugby played by Bective never changed. There was quiet confidence.

Years of competitive performances against strong opposition had left Bective believing they belonged, and with six wins from their opening nine matches and Energia Park a fortress so far this season, they have settled back in like they never left.

You’re then playing teams for the first time, and it definitely takes a bit of adjusting because you just don’t know what to expect, and you don’t see so much through video.

“Then obviously the travel as well, like going down to these places, like Bruff, we’re going down to Clonmel on Saturday. Your Thomonds, your Dolphins, it definitely adds a dimension to it.

“But what gave us comfort as well, it’s like we lost to Instonians by three points only four years ago, and they’re at the top end of Division 1B now.

“The same with your Ballyclares, Monkstowns, we’ve gone toe-to-toe with them, Clogher Valley as well. And we saw them doing well in other leagues. So we were confident enough we could do well. It’s obviously a step up, and we’re third at the moment.”

In Division 2C, the margins are slim. Home form becomes currency, away wins precious. Ben Manion’s men have just one victory on the road to their name, arriving away to Dolphin in round 6.

Their other away games have resulted in varying losing margins, so getting results on their travels will be a clear goal for this second half of the regular season.

“What you find in 2C, and I’m sure other teams might say it as well, is that winning your home games is kind of the cornerstone of success.

“If you can win your home games, well you kind of have to win your home games to be honest, because it is very hard on the road.

“So, thankfully we’ve done that and we’ve nicked one away from home. If we can keep doing that, I think we’ll be in a good place at the end of the season.”

The Dubliners have made that principle count so far, keeping themselves at the business end of the table, and that context sharpens the significance of Saturday’s visit to recent table toppers Clonmel.

The teams’ first encounter in Donnybrook before Christmas was a classic. It swung back and forth until Bective struck late, winning 34-33 in what was a spellbinding affair that saw hooker Chris Hennessy help himself to four tries.

The rematch this weekend will contain elements of the unknown, travelling to Tipperary, the weather conditions, taking on a wounded animal looking for revenge. That narrow victory before Christmas now offers belief as much as it does danger.

“That was some match with Clonmel. It was like a yo-yo, we were ahead, they were ahead, we were ahead, and then pretty much a last-minute try for ourselves to win it thankfully.

“Because if we had lost that per se, and you’re facing into Clonmel away, it becomes a very daunting fixture. The fact that we got one up on them gives us a bit of confidence that we can go in there and do it again.

“But it is, as I said, it’s the away trips that are tough, particularly this time of year down in Clonmel. You can only imagine what it’s going to be like. We’re looking forward to it all the same.”

Beyond this season, change is already on the horizon, with the league’s restructuring altering the landscape. Promotion was on the agenda for Bective coming into this season. The aim still remains a top four finish, with the hope of a league title, as they prepare for a new-look Division 2B in 2026/27.

The shift has altered priorities, but not ambition. Bective have started as they mean to go on, and with the curtain raised once again this weekend after the Christmas break, they are hungry to build on their success, and claim some more results on the road.

For now, though, the focus remains immediate and grounded. One away trip, one performance, another chance to prove that Bective Rangers are not simply back in the Energia All-Ireland League, but ready to stay there and kick on.

At the centre of it all stands Matthew Gilsenan, a captain shaped by time, loyalty, and patience, leading the club he grew up with into a bright future they fought years to reach.

“From the outset, I broadly support what they’ve done in terms of the 2B North and South. It probably doesn’t affect Dublin teams as much, but you can understand it definitely from a North and South perspective in terms of that travel.

“So, it probably makes sense. It probably does take away from this season, it will be the one season that it probably does. I think that’s just probably more a fact more than anything else.

“But the fact that they’re doing the top four into the play-offs to win at least gives teams something to play for. It probably does change the dynamic of the team in terms of our priorities to get promoted.

“In my head, because it’s 2B North and South, you can almost look at it that we have been automatically promoted because next year then you’re playing for 2A.

“So from that point of view, it’s good, but it probably does take away from this season from motivation, slash what our goals were at the start of the season.

“But at least they have replaced it with the top four to try and win. That is our goal now, to try and get that home semi-final. Hopefully a home final as well, but I do think the amalgamation for next year is a good thing,” he added.

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