Cashel rugby celebrating two huge announcements
Cashel rugby club are celebrating two huge announcements in recent weeks when two former players were appointed to coaching positions, first with the British and Irish Lions that will travel to Australia, and also with the Irish international team in their development tour games this Summer.
The first big news came at the end of March, when John Fogarty was announced as part of Andy Farrell’s backroom squad for the upcoming Lions tour. John played his schools rugby at the local rugby hothouse that is Rockwell College, before having a playing career that saw him line out at three of the four Irish provinces, Munster, Connacht and Leinster. He then reached the pinnacle of his Irish rugby career playing with the international team against the All Blacks in 2010.
Unfortunately, injury cut his playing career short, but he quickly moved into coaching where he was soon highly sought after as a forwards coach.
He worked with the Leinster squad during some of their most successful times in domestic and European rugby, before joining Andy Farrell working with the Irish squad who have had huge success in recent years. It was no surprise then, when Farrell invited him to join up with the Lions tour, so he will be keenly followed by everyone who loves rugby in Tipperary and beyond as the famed team take on the Wallabies down under over the summer months.
But with Farrell and his coaching team away, that opened up a place in the domestic management squad, who will take on their own development tour these coming months. Irish international and rugby legend Paul O’Connell will manage the team, and it was no surprise when he reached out to a former team mate Denis Leamy to come on board with him.
Leamy himself has huge status in the Irish game, both as a player and an upcoming coach, and will relish the challenge of leading the Irish forwards through games against Georgia and Portugal, as they look for the next group of Irish players to make the step up to full international level. Leamy has form with successful sides, leading his alma mater Rockwell College to schools success in recent years, and at Munster where he played successfully on winning Heineken Cup teams.
Both John and Denis would credit the start they got for people involved in Cashel rugby, and the club are delighted to see them carry on their early education to the highest levels of the game. We look forward to continued success in the future.