Connect with us

URC

Where are they now?: Niall Ronan

Published

on

THEN – Niall earned 37 caps for Leinster over four seasons (2003-2007). 

NOW – The Managing Director of Titan Wellness is living in Meath with his wife Jaimie and two children Lily (6) and Felix (3).

Niall Ronan owes Leinster a debt of gratitude for how it prepared the flanker for the professional game.

In fairness, the Meathman was turned from a bundle of raw energy into a valuable commodity at Munster where he spent seven seasons, becoming a centurion and even grabbing four caps for his country.

“GAA has been my life. It was all I ever wanted. I would have played Meath U14s, U16s and two years at minor. At that point, my goal was to play for my county,” he says.

“Rugby didn’t really register with me. I played for Boyne Rugby, amalgamated from Drogheda and Delvin rugby clubs. It only hit my radar at 17 when I was called up for the Leinster Youths.

“To be honest, I didn’t know what the Leinster Youths were at the time,” he declares.

What caused such a drastic change of course, the dream shifting from Meath in Croke Park to Leinster at The RDS?

“The professionalism of rugby really opened my eyes to a career in which you could get paid to play and travel the world,” he says.

“A big turning point was when I got picked for Ireland to play in the U19 World Cup in Chile, a new experience.”

It was around then that Niall came into contact with Collie McEntee, the former Lansdowne and Leinster number eight, a fellow loose forward and Steve Aboud, an outside-the-box thinker with a drill sergeant attitude to discipline.

“The detail in the coaching was also an attraction. It was a lot better than it was in the GAA. I didn’t know where the journey would take me. But, I knew I wanted to go on it.

“Two years later, I went in blind. I would have known Brian O’Driscoll But, I didn’t know many of the players.

“When you are training with those international players, you soon get to know all about what they can do and you learn so much from the more experienced players.”

He was offered his first part-time contract with Leinster after impressing at the U21 World Cup, turning down a full-time deal to move West to Connacht.

In that first season, Australian Gary Ella came in as head coach. Niall ended up playing the last six or seven matches of the season due to injuries to Keith Gleeson and Shane Jennings, enough to earn Young Player of the Year. That was my highest moment there.

“It was a dream come true really. I was playing with a team of internationals. You had Felipe Contepomi, Gordon D’Arcy, Brian O’Driscoll, Shane Horgan, Denis Hickie and Girvan Dempsey.

In the forwards, there was Malcolm O’Kelly, Victor Costello, Eric Miller, who I would have looked up to then, Shane Byrne.”

A breakthrough season brought the promise of greater things to come. Afterall, the kid from nowhere had become a name on the lips of so many.

The lack of top-quality rugby in his early teenage years left the impression of a higher ceiling than many of those around him. It never really turned out that way for a multitude of reasons.

“In my time there, I had four different coaches in four seasons. You had Gary Ella. You Declan Kidney – he left early. You had Gerry Murphy in an interim role. You had Michael Cheika.

“I had Keith Gleeson and Shane Jennings ahead of me. I learned a lot during a frustrating four seasons. I feel a lot of gratitude towards Leinster for how they moulded me from a raw player to a professional.

“When a new coach comes in, he will have his opinion on the way he wants to play and the players in his squad. You have to build trust and sometimes change their opinion of what you can offer.

“When they go, someone else comes in. That happened every season I was there and it became harder to generate continuity, especially when there are internationals ahead of you in the queue. That is how it was. That is professional sport.”

“There was a lot of chopping and changing. It was challenging for me because I wasn’t at the same level I reached later on in my career at Munster.

“You have to accept the challenge and go about proving people wrong. That was the mindset for most of my career.”

He went on to nurture tremendous friendships with Kieran Potts, Simon Crawford, John Lyne and Gary Brown.

At the end of three years, Cheika shared the fact Ulster and Connacht were interested in his signature. He turned those down.

At the end of four years, Jennings had resigned with Leinster from Leicester Tigers. There was no contract on the table for Niall. There was no choice. He had to leave Leinster.

At 24, he had no interest in moving to the second tier in England. He was in limbo, seriously considering retiring from rugby.

Then, Declan Kidney came calling with a contract for Munster. Now, Niall had not been selected by Kidney in his short stint at Leinster. There was no guarantee of playing time.

“If you have a choice between retiring and playing for Munster, the top club in European Rugby at the time, what do you do? You sign for Munster.

“It turned into a dream come true in my sevens seasons there. My career went on an upward curve and I played four times for Ireland.”

In a strange way, Leinster had taken Niall on as a late bloomer, provided an apprenticeship, fast-tracked his talent, coached him up to be ready to produce his best at Munster.

“Leinster is a totally different place now to what it was then. I am sure the players would agree on that,” states Niall..

“There was dysfunction, coaches and players coming in and out. There was no chance to build anything.

“I would be the first to admit that the first four or five seasons of your career are the most important, in terms of getting where you want to get to whether it is playing international rugby or at the highest club level for a long time.

“My time was a great experience. I loved every minute of it. But, when you don’t play, you get frustrated.”

In 2014, Niall walked away from the game courtesy of a knee injury. He had been smart enough to complete a degree in Strength & Conditioning and all his coaching badges.

He set up his own company Titan Wellness, described on its’ website as “Ireland’s largest

fitness facilities management company and wellness service provider.”

He also returned to his first love, working for three years as head of S&C for Andy McEntee’s Meath senior footballers.

“What I took from rugby was how to be disciplined, how to work hard, how to communicate and collaborate with people,” he says.

“When I retired, I set up a company called Titan Wellness to provide workplace well-being solutions to corporates all over Ireland.

“That means we go into businesses to support them in creating a positive environment where productivity improves by having fitness classes or educational talks on sleep, nutrition or desktop massage to reward people for their work.

“It is the same as rugby where good feedback from a coach on how to work within a team helps to generate success.”

Images & Content from Leinster Rugby


URC

Squad Update | Munster Prepare For Cardiff At Thomond

Published

on

The Munster squad are preparing at the HPC ahead of Saturday night’s URC Round 13 clash against Cardiff at Thomond Park.

The game kicks off at 7.35pm with tickets from €20 available here.

In player news, Tadhg Beirne, Jack Crowley, Conor Murray, Calvin Nash and Peter O’Mahony have all returned to the HPC after helping Ireland to the 6 Nations title.

On the injury front, Academy back-row forward Ruadhán Quinn suffered a hand injury against Ospreys on Friday night and will be sidelined for a number of weeks.

Oli Jager and Fineen Wycherley have started their rehab following minor procedures for respective knee injuries.

Alex Nankivell is completing the RTP protocols and his availability will be determined later this week.

Simon Zebo was unavailable for the Ospreys game due to a low-grade hip injury and is due to return to training this week.

Continuing to rehab: Dave Kilcoyne (shoulder), Diarmuid Barron (foot), Roman Salanoa (knee), Jean Kleyn (knee/eye), Paddy Patterson (knee), Liam Coombes (shoulder), Patrick Campbell (shoulder).

There were 15 Munster players in AIL action at the weekend.

In Division 1A, Fionn Gibbons and Chris Moore helped Young Munster beat Dublin University with Gibbons among the tries.

Mark Donnelly lined out for Cork Constitution as they were beaten by Terenure College.

Kieran Ryan, Darragh McSweeney and Daniel Okeke couldn’t prevent Shannon falling to a defeat to City of Armagh.

In Division 1B, Colm Hogan, Jack Oliver, George Hadden, Max Clein, Cian Hurley and Jack Daly helped Garryowen to a win over Queen’s University. Hogan, Clein and Cronin were among the tries with Oliver kicking a conversion.

Scott Buckley and Andrew O’Mahony were in action for UCC as they lost to St Mary’s College.

Tickets

URC Round 13: Saturday, March 30

Munster v Cardiff Rugby, Thomond Park, 7.35pm; Buy tickets here

Women’s 6 Nations Round 3: Saturday, April 13

Ireland v Wales, Virgin Media Park, 4.45pm; Buy tickets here

URC Round 16: Saturday, May 11

Munster v Connacht, Thomond Park, 5.15pm; Buy tickets here

URC Round 18: Saturday, June 1

Munster v Ulster, Thomond Park, 5.15pm; Buy tickets here

Images & Content from Munster Rugby


Continue Reading

URC

Squad Update | Preparations Continue For Ospreys

Published

on

The Munster squad are continuing preparations ahead of Friday night’s URC Round 12 clash against Ospreys in Swansea (7.35pm).

On the injury front, there is good news for John Hodnett (finger), Jack O’Donoghue (knee) and Simon Zebo (knee) as they all return to training this week.

Oli Jager (knee) and Fineen Wycherley (knee) are both due to see specialists this week for possible surgery.

Alex Nankivell is following the return to play protocols following a head injury in training last week.

On the international front, Craig Casey and Jeremy Loughman have returned to the squad after Ireland’s 6 Nations triumph at the weekend.

Continuing to rehab: Dave Kilcoyne (shoulder), Diarmuid Barron (foot), Roman Salanoa (knee), Jean Kleyn (knee/eye), Paddy Patterson (knee), Liam Coombes (shoulder), Patrick Campbell (shoulder).

Tickets

URC Round 13: Saturday, March 30

Munster v Cardiff Rugby, Thomond Park, 7.35pm; Buy tickets here

Women’s 6 Nations Round 3: Saturday, April 13

Ireland v Wales, Virgin Media Park, 4.45pm; Buy tickets here

URC Round 16: Saturday, May 11

Munster v Connacht, Thomond Park, 5.15pm; Buy tickets here

URC Round 18: Saturday, June 1

Munster v Ulster, Thomond Park, 5.15pm; Buy tickets here

Images & Content from Munster Rugby


Continue Reading

URC

British & Irish Lion to join Glasgow Warriors

Published

on

Sutherland to join Glasgow Warriors

Glasgow Warriors can confirm that Scotland prop Rory Sutherland will join the club this summer.

The British and Irish Lion joins the Scotstoun-outfit from French side Oyonnax, making the move to Scotstoun on a two-year deal as Franco Smith’s squad continues to take shape.

The confirmation of the loose-head prop’s move to Glasgow also comes on the eve of his involvement in Saturday’s Guinness Six Nations clash with Ireland in Dublin, where he is in contention to win his 30th cap for Scotland, part of the match day squad.

The 31-year-old Sutherland will bring a dynamic ball-carrying presence to the Warriors in addition to a solid platform at the set-piece.

After making his debut for Edinburgh in 2014, the prop went on to make 91 appearances in the capital before a summer switch to Worcester Warriors in 2021.

A short-term stint with Ulster followed after Worcester’s demise in 2022, running out on 12 occasions for the Irish province.

Sutherland’s form for Scotland across the 2020 and 2021 campaigns saw him selected for the 2021 British and Irish Lions tour to South Africa, joining future Glasgow team-mate Zander Fagerson amongst the front-row options.

He became the first Scottish prop to represent the invitational squad since the late Tom Smith when selected for the first Test, playing just under an hour in the 22-17 victory over the Springboks.

Sutherland said: “The past couple of years have been tough since I had to leave Worcester. I’ve been at a few clubs and I haven’t had the consistency I’d have liked in my game. This move to Glasgow, and back to Scotland, offers me the chance to work on getting that back into my rugby.

“Glasgow is a really successful team, so to be offered the chance to come to Scotstoun is attractive for any player. For me, it allows me to come back home, and be closer to my family, which will work wonders for me.

“I’ve gotten close to some of the Glasgow players while in camp with Scotland and they talk highly of Franco and the culture in the club. I’m looking forward to that and getting back to the homeland!”

Head Coach Smith added: “We are pleased to be able to add a prop of Rory’s calibre to our squad ahead of next season.

“His qualities will make him a real asset to our playing group, as we continue to develop our strength in every position.

“We look forward to seeing him in action at Scotstoun over the next couple of seasons and we know that the Warrior Nation will welcome him to our club.”

Spread the word

Newsletter Sign-up

Sign up to our newsletter today to receive the latest updates, content and releases from Glasgow Warriors.

Sign-up

Content & Images from – Glasgow Rugby


Continue Reading
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

Trending