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Irish Times
17-05-2025
- Sport
- Irish Times
The inside story of how Terenure signed rugby great Carlos Spencer
It's not often that an All-Ireland League (AIL) coaching appointment goes global. Well, never actually. Better coaches may also have been hired in the past and will be in the future. But for sheer eye-popping audacity and shock value, nothing compares to Terenure College RFC announcing that Carlos Spencer has signed a three-year deal to be their next coach . It seems safe to presume that on first hearing or reading the news most people, not least in Terenure and in the Energia All-Ireland League, simply thought it was a joke or at the least they had to do a double take. As befits a rugby figure with such a cool name, like few other figures in the world game Carlos Spencer has always been synonymous with flair − much of it outrageous. Add in his acceleration and footwork, and Spencer was the epitome of a running outhalf, witness more than 100 tries in first-class rugby in New Zealand. READ MORE When the game turned professional in 1996, Spencer provided the game with some glitter. He played in the Blues' first Super Rugby match and he scored 608 points for them, helping them to win the inaugural 1996 title and retain it a year later, as well as reclaiming it in 2003. Spencer remains among the All Blacks' top-10 points scorers, with 383 in 44 Tests. He won two Tri-Nations and won two Ranfurly Shields and four NPCs with Auckland. He moved to Northampton, then Gloucester and finished in South Africa with the Lions there. There have been hobbies and business interests, as well as specialist and consultative roles in coaching working with the Lions, Sharks and Kings in South Africa from 2012 to 2016, Sanix in Japan for three years, two years with the Hurricanes and latterly with the Auckland women's team. Carlos Spencer leads the Haka before the 2003 Rugby World Cup semi-final between Australia and New Zealand in Sydney. Photograph: Nick Laham/Getty On foot of Seán Skehan stepping down after five hugely successful seasons as the club's head coach, Terenure had a 'reasonable number' of applications, according to Ian Morgan, a key figure in this story along with his friend Diego Menendez. Menendez helps to run a side called the Dublin Dogos, comprised mostly of Argentinians, who have been playing on Terenure's main pitch or all-weather one at Lakelands Park for the last three seasons. They hosted a barbecue in 2023, when Terenure won their breakthrough AIL title, as a fundraiser before the team's summer tour to Argentina. Named after the national dog of Argentina , the Dogos play in the Metro 10 and this season completed a league and cup double. Menendez is involved in a whiskey project called Cross Ten, which has enlisted outhalfs to help promote this brand in advance of its eventual release, including Spencer. Menendez mentioned to him that Terenure were looking for a new coach. Without any promises or a real expression of interest from Spencer, Menendez obtained his CV and rang Morgan, who is now the club's director of rugby. On foot of Menendez establishing contact, Morgan rang Spencer on the night of the AIL final, Sunday, April 27th, after watching that match in Lakelands Park with Terenure's Dr Bill Twomey, who had been one of the IRFU's 'services to rugby' medal recipients that day. Carlos Spencer speaks to reporters in November 2022 after being named Blues women's backs coach for Super Rugby Aupiki 2023. Photograph: Phil Walter/Getty 'He happened to answer and we had a chat,' Morgan told The Irish Times this week. 'He said, 'Well, I don't really know, but I'd be keen to go through the process' and from that we had another conversation.' Morgan is part of the Terenure Coaching Recruitment Group along with Will Moore, Des McCann, Podge O'Donnell, Stephen O'Neill, Frank Walsh, Mark Hamilton and Paul Barr, the club's performance director. That evening, Morgan texted their WhatsApp group: 'You're not going to believe it. I've just spoken to Carlos Spencer.' One or two sent back laughing emojis and coincidentally Moore and O'Donnell were actually watching a repeat of Spencer's celebrated performance for the Blues away to the Crusaders in February 2004 on Sky Sports. The Crusaders fans had never been shy of expressing their dislike for Spencer, who had helped the Blues beat their rivals in the 2003 final. Blues were leading 31-29 with a minute remaining, and Spencer received the ball on his own line. Commentator Tony Johnson exclaimed: 'He's not going to pass, is he?' Oh, yes, he did, with a long skip pass to Joe Rokocoko before Spencer finished off the pitch-length try, walked over to the corner of the in-goal with a posse of team-mates to touch down, landed the touchline conversion to deny the Crusaders a bonus point then gestured to the home crowd. The group interviewed four applicants on their final shortlist, and had two Zoom calls with Spencer. 'It became pretty apparent that Carlos was the guy for us,' Morgan says. 'The main reason he's coming here is to be a head coach. The timing is also right. His young lad [Payton] is on the Blues, his daughter [Asha] is doing her Leaving Cert this year, so she might come over in December for a gap year, and his wife [Jodene] is head of PE in a school, so the holidays work out well for her too.' 'He's an incredibly nice guy. Having some business interests here is a factor. He's involved in 'wellness' and nutrition, and now he really wants to give head coaching a crack again. That was the biggest draw for him.' When the news was announced to the squad, Morgan says, 'their faces dropped. There was sudden silence and a few seconds later they just broke out laughing and cheering'. Rival clubs will have speculated as to how much Terenure are paying Spencer. 'We've got the same coaching budget as last season and I would be of the opinion there are other coaches in the AIL being paid more,' Morgan says. The link with the school, and more than ever with the local community, is still umbilical, but providing an Argentinian team with a home and luring Spencer reflects how much more 'open' the club is nowadays. 'We've always helped out the Dogos when they wanted to have functions,' Morgan says. 'It's very difficult for a club or a team when you don't have a base. Diego's son is a member in Terenure and if our relationship with Diego wasn't as strong I don't think Carlos Spencer would be coming here.' Thanks to YouTube and social media, as well as television repeats, Spencer's name and his deeds still resonate. So, to Morgan's pleasant surprise, the news has generated excitement among Terenure's under-20s as well as the likes of Jordan Coghlan and Harrison Brewer, who will surely be more inclined to keep playing for another season or more. This won't harm recruitment either and Spencer's impending arrival will generate excitement for the AIL itself. Morgan, who won promotion as a player with Barnhall in 1997, reckons the AIL has never been better, not just in Division 1A but throughout the five divisions. 'The size of the divisions is perfect, and you could see that in the way the last weekends and the final play-offs went down to the wire.' Proof of 1A's unpredictability last season was that relegated Garryowen beat the champions Clontarf, while City of Armagh beat Terenure twice, but were also relegated. The Terenure team celebrate with the Division 1A trophy with supporters at Lakelands Park, Dublin, in May 2023. Photograph: Ben Brady/INPHO Having reached three successive finals, and winning their inaugural AIL title in 2023, Terenure fell away toward the end of last season. 'Seán [Skehan] was the best coach that Terenure College had for a long time. He brought us to a different level,' Morgan says. Skehan is now at Wanderers in a consultative role. Succeeding Skehan with Spencer also reflects how small the global community is, too, in Morgan's view. 'Are we lucky that Carlos Spencer is coming to Terenure? We are very lucky. Is he lucky to be coming to Terenure? Yes.' Spencer, himself, has said as much too. Morgan says: 'From speaking to Carlos, he's all about the players and the culture. He won't be shouting and roaring at fellas. I think it will be an expansive approach and more player-led and he will encourage guys to express themselves. Whether this takes us to the top four or keeps us in the division next season, we want performances to be good. 'I just think he's a great fit for us at this stage and I wouldn't take any other coach out there.' Mike Brewer, father of Harrison and a former All Blacks World Cup winner whose coaching career took in stints with Ireland and Leinster, perhaps put it best: 'TCRFC and Carlos Spencer. A perfect match.'
Irish Examiner
30-04-2025
- Sport
- Irish Examiner
Dream days for homegrown Nenagh Ormond as they make history for Tipperary rugby
There have been good days at Nenagh Ormond RFC down through its 141-year history but none have come close to the celebrations that broke out at New Ormond Park on Saturday as the club became Tipperary's first to reach Energia All Ireland League Division 1A. Twenty years after graduating from the junior ranks to senior status, Nenagh have completed back-to-back promotions to reach the height of Irish club rugby's pyramid, capping a stellar season which also saw them lift the Munster Senior Challenge Cup for the first time and their seconds lift Tipperary's Mansergh Cup. Promotion to the top flight was achieved in dramatic fashion on home soil. Nenagh had finished second in the league table behind champions Old Belvedere and then beaten third-placed Blackrock College RFC in the play-off semi-finals. That set up an all-Munster promotion play-off final with UCC and College were three minutes from victory and return to 1A when the hosts turned the tables. Speaking 24 hours later, after receiving an IRFU Service To Rugby award as one of 100 club volunteers invited to Aviva Stadium on Energia AIL finals day, Nenagh Ormond committee member and two-time former president Fergal Healy described the history-making moments for his club as they came from 33-24 down to complete a famous 36-33 victory. 'Three minutes to go, Nenagh get a penalty try under the posts,' Healy said. 'So now we're back to it within four points and the rest is history. 'We take a clean kick-off, there was a break right up the middle, two committed tackles and we score under the posts. Amazing. It's a great feeling. 'I was president during covid, I gave two terms and on both occasions we should have been relegated from 2B. Lucky enough, a few of us got together and we just saw what we had and we went from there and here we are today, 1A. "I remember when we went from Junior up to Senior (in 1985). We've had good days, won the Senior Cup for the first time ever also this year and our seconds have won the Mansergh Cup. Beaten in Senior Cup (final) three years ago by Young Munster but won the semi against them this year and beat Crescent in the final. So an amazing season." There was added pride for Healy, given one of his sons, John, was openside flanker in the team that secured promotion at the weekend. A younger son is former Munster and now Edinburgh and Scotland fly-half Ben Healy. The former president paid tribute to John and others for staying true to their roots and continuing to represent Nenagh in their 2A days when they could have been playing 1A. 'I'm a farmer myself, I'm in the heart of GAA, I've hurling all around me and yet most of that Nenagh team started playing their rugby around Nenagh. 'I'll mention my own son, John, I'll mention (centre) Willie Coffey, the two O'Flahertys (club captain Kevin, a lock, and No.8 John) all those lads could have played senior 1A when we were back down in 2B, 2A, and they decided they were playing their rugby in Nenagh and that has paid off. So, for those lads, yesterday's achievement for me means most of all. 'You'd have to attribute a lot of (the club's success) to our coaching staff. The nucleus of players we have there, they're homegrown lads, all from Nenagh. Okay, we are picking up fellas from Newcastle West or wherever, but when I wanted to play senior rugby I had to go to Limerick. Now they're coming out to Nenagh and we're doing a very good job, a very good committee, very good underage structure. We could be in Nenagh on a Sunday morning and have 130 kids. It's a dream, an absolute dream.'
Irish Examiner
29-04-2025
- Sport
- Irish Examiner
'We ran out of time but history doesn't lie': Cork Con know how hard it is to win back-to-back AIL titles
Cork Constitution's dream of landing back-to-back Energia All Ireland League titles may have come up agonisingly short but the Temple Hill club are committed to the idea the feat has not become impossible to achieve. Clontarf's 22-21 Division 1A final victory at Aviva Stadium last Sunday ended Cork Con's hopes of becoming the first team since Shannon in the mid-2000s to successfully retain the crown they had won 12 months earlier. It was also the third successive defeat of a defending champion in a league decider as the Dublin side regained the title they last enjoyed in 2022. The Castle Avenue club had lost the 2023 title to Terenure, who in turn had their reign ended by Constitution. Those three consecutive years of final heartache underline the size of the task of defending the AIL title and Cork Con defence coach Brian Scott said: 'Last year we felt the ecstasy of winning and you feel agony today. 'It's quite evident it's a hard thing to do, back-to-back, but I don't think it was from lack of trying, to be fair. It was a tight game and our lads gave it everything and we fought to the bitter end. In a way you feel like we ran out of time but history doesn't lie, I suppose, and it's showing us that it is hard to go back-to-back. 'But there is going to be someone else, there has to be and hopefully it's not next year and we get another chance at it, but someone else will definitely back it up at some stage.' Clontarf head coach Andy Wood empathised with the Cork Con contingent and said: 'We've been there on the other side too often to mention, but a huge amount of respect for Con, what they bring. 'They do bring it to a stage where it's going to be a one-score game, all the way through the season and it proved again. 'They scored last and it took a huge defensive set and then a great turnover from our supersub Oran Walsh, who came on and did a fantastic job. So a sort of microcosm of how our season's gone on.' Clontarf skipper and try-scoring hooker Dylan Donnellan also acknowledged how tough it had been to get over the line in a gripping encounter at the Aviva. 'It was one of those games that you really just need to manage your way through because as we saw, one point is what gets you out on the other side,' Donnellan said. 'There was never really any breathing space, even when we went eight points ahead, we were eight points ahead for two or three minutes and then it claws you back in again. 'So it is a tough game to manage and that speaks to the quality of Con, the quality of the AIL as a league and the quality of our team and what we could put out on the day.' Scott was optimistic there was plenty of rugby left in the Johnny Holland-coached Con squad, despite Sunday's agony. 'We definitely have some guys who won't be with us next year but the bulk of that team is there and hopefully we'll see more and more of them. 'They just continue to impress me from a coaching perspective. I really feel like this group probably struggled at times throughout the year and they just kept stepping up and being mature. The ownership that led to the growth to actually get us back here, like we lost to Lansdowne and Clontarf and people were writing us off going into the play-offs but there we are and we got a chance to defend it today. We just didn't get over the line unfortunately.'
