Gavin D'Arcy, Ashbourne coach; Phil Hogan, Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government; Eamonn Sinnott, general manager, Intel Ireland, and Shea Gallagher, president, Ashbourne RFC.

Ashbourne Rugby Club welcome Intel grant

Published: Thu 8 Sep 2011, 9:30 AM

Last updated: Thu 8 Sep 2011, 4:01 PM

Under the Intel Matching Grant programme, Ashbourne Rugby Club received a cheque honouring the efforts of one its senior coaching team, Gavin D'Arcy, for his ongoing commitment to the club and the community in a voluntary manner. avin has been with the rugby club for a number of years working with the youth coaching team and is now part of the adult coaching section looking after the J2 side. Intel, his employer, have been very supportive of his efforts in the community and have rewarded him and the club at a ceremony recently. The club is working hard to convert this Nenagh native into a Leinster supporter but it has been difficult! CLUB NEWS Ashbourne RFC are up and running for the coming season and looking forward to a very busy weekend on 10th and 11th September. The club completed work on its all-weather 3G synthetic training area which gives the club a IRB-approved playing area. Adult training is back in full swing on Wednesday and Friday nights at 7pm and youth teams started back on last Sunday. New players are welcome and details and training times are on the club website at www.ashbournerugby.ie The club is fielding a under-21 team for the first time this season, so anybody interested in playing at this level should contact Scotty at (086) 379 5876. This weekend there is a country-wide All-Ireland Women's Blitz scheduled to kick off at 11.30am on Saturday at the club. The tournament will be capped off with Leinster Women's final game in this season's interprovincial season with a game against Connacht. This kicks off at 6pm. All are welcome and admission on the day is free. A big crowd is expected. Ashbourne are hoping that this event, combined with the Women's 6 Nations games scheduled for later in the season at the club, will generate interest in the re-establishment of women's rugby at Ashbourne. The club had a successful programme for many seasons and is looking forward to re-establishing a team. On Sunday, Ashbourne RFC is taking part in the Leinster Open Day 'Join Our Club' initiative. The club is opening its doors up to the local community and would encourage people at all age groups to become involved. The youths section will have their normal training at 11am and all are welcome. At 12.30pm, the club hopes to have tag rugby games up and running and welcomes all interested people to come and have a look around and meet with committee members and see what the club can do for them.