MARCUS CAVAROLI
THE year 2009 will always be a special one in the hearts of rugby fans thanks to Ireland’s dramatic Six Nations Grand Slam - their first in more than half a century.
But that spring was also extra special for supporters of the oval ball game in Drogheda as local club Boyne captured their first-ever Provincial Towns Cup, beating Tullamore 27-21 in what was arguably the best-ever final in a competition that dates back to 1888.
It was certainly the highest scoring, and lo and behold that record was broken again 12 months later as Boyne piled more misery on the Offaly men with an awesome repeat success - 32-25.
Tullamore got their revenge in 2011 in one of the semi-finals but still couldn’t win the trophy as Dundalk came up trumps, yet that year was also a historic one for Boyne as they captured their maiden Leinster League title and earned automatic promotion to the All-Ireland League.
It was an unprecedented success story for rugby in the town, Delvin had won the Towns Cup once, in 1962, before merging with Drogheda RFC to form Boyne in the 1990s, but otherwise major silverware had proved elusive. So did they do it?
Well, Boyne had brought some good players over from New Zealand before, but the player/coach they secured in 2008 turned out to be a game-changer in every respect.
Craig McGrath had played at a high level back home in Auckland and had won four caps for the
Maori All Blacks, he’d gone on to play Heineken Cup rugby for Italian club Viadana, and at the still relatively young age of 34 he was looking for his first coaching job.
Taking up the story in an interview with the Drogheda Independent this week, McGrath - now back coaching in Auckland - recalled: ‘We were in Italy in 2008 and the club I was at wanted us to extend our stay, but only for another year, and we were after some stability - if you can ever have that in sport - as we had just had [son] Justin in November 2007 and I knew I wanted to coach.
‘So when a two-year opportunity came up at Boyne we took that chance to try a new country and also begin coaching and see if I was any good at it and liked it.
‘It was a massive change from the sun to the rain and a change of culture, and the food was a lot different. [Wife] Kirst and I both love our food, so it was a bit of a shock. What made up for it was the people and the friendliness and how welcoming they were.
‘We moved straight into Drogheda. Our first home was close to the rugby club, but we then moved out to Grange Rath. I moved over for two weeks by myself initially to get us set up and also allow me to focus on the new job.
‘Once Kirst and Justin arrived it did take some time for us to settle in. There was plenty to do at the rugby club and with an eightmonth-old and a new country we had our hands full - but it was very exciting.’
McGrath wasted no time in wielding his influence in Boyne. He proved an excellent scrum half on the field, but it was his coaching skills and attention to detail which were the key factors in taking the club to the next level.
‘Off the field I think we just brought some structure into the place,’ he said. ‘ We did little things properly - eg trainings on time and not running over time. We put some food on for the boys every Thursday, we looked the part on and off the field.
‘Rugby wise we got some players who hadn’t enjoyed the years before to start to enjoy it again. We implemented a simple game plan too that was a bit a of a shift from what they were use to, which meant getting fitter and using the ball more rather than hiding it up the forward’s jumper.
‘As a management we tried to instil a confidence with the players and we just grew from that.
‘We had a real mixture of personalities in the dressing-room, as most rugby teams do, but I really did enjoy training Tuesday and Thursday. We worked hard and enjoyed each other’s company. No one in the team was bigger than the team and no one was exempt from getting some craic thrown their way and that’s what I loved about it. Definitely not the case in some dressing-rooms I’ve been in.’
Success came thick and fast. That maiden Towns Cup win against Tullamore in Ashbourne, the successful defence of the trophy 12 months later and then the Leinster League title and promotion to the AIL. Which was the sweetest?
‘Most definitely the first Towns Cup,’ McGrath reflected. ‘I don’t think we could have played much better that day - a real team effort. Niall Kerbey, Bevan Duffy and Adam Sherrard played well, but the pack laid the foundation. They got stuck into the Tullamore pack, which allowed the backs to finish.
‘I’ve been lucky enough to win a few things in my career, but I’ll never forget that day - grown men crying, older members from the club saying they never thought they’d see the day when the club won a Towns Cup.
‘The reception back at the club that night was outstanding and I’m happy to have played my part in the club’s first Towns Cup.’
McGrath certainly doesn’t wish to take most of the plaudits for Boyne’s glory years, even though they wouldn’t have happened without him, and instead he believes that a brilliant team on and off the field helped delivered all that cherished silverware.
‘It was a collective effort, that’s for sure,’ he maintained.
‘I was lucky enough to come into an environment where I had a good support crew around me and a committee that was driven to get the club back into the top four of the Leinster League.
‘People Like John Sheridan - Director of Rugby at the time - President Paul Carlos, Vice President Jim Tallon, sponsors like the late Jack Doran and great club men like Seamie Briscoe and Jim
Walker. Then Robert Doran and Ian O’Reilly moved into the Director of Rugby role and we were all aligned with where we saw the club going.
‘Johnny was excellent. He gave me a great insight into the club without over-stepping the mark into the actual rugby - he left us to that. Paul, a true gentlemen who backed everything we were doing and never really wanted for the spotlight, was happy in the background.
‘Jim was the same - although my phone bill did increase with Jim! - but he was passionate and only wanted for the club to be successful. It was never about him.
‘On the rugby side of things we had a good bunch, seasoned players mixed in with some young blood, but we also had a good management crew who all got on well and we definitely had a lot of craic off the field.
‘Finbar Murphy and Mick Quinn initially, then Derek Carolan, as managers were the heart of the