Those of us of a certain vintage, will be saddened to note the passing of Nigel Pim.

Nigel would have propped with the club back in the end of the 80’s or early 90’s.

Nigel Pim.

Fenor, Waterford.

Thursday 14th of January 2021.

Peacefully in University Hospital Waterford. Sadly missed by his loving soul mate Jeni, his children Robert and Jordan, his Dad Alan and extended family.

May Nigel Rest in Peace

Donations in lieu of flowers would be appreciated to either Waterford Samaritans or the Irish Kidney Association. Thank you to the incredible staff at the hospital for all his care. Please stay home and stay safe.

A Celebration of Nigel’s life will take place at a later date.

Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam dílis.

As you are all aware by now we are in level 5 again. The IRFU have issued new guidelines for the current lock down. No training at any age group only individual training. No gatherings indoor or outdoor. No Matches. To that end the club and club grounds are closed.

Now what we can do….

Starting this Thursday the 7th at 7 pm one of our very own u13’s fitness coach Alan Walsh will be hosting a zoom fitness class for all U13’s to U18.5’s groups so we can all keep fit together while apart. The class will last for 45 minutes and will be going ahead every Thursday for the month of January, when hopefully we can return to training in pods.

Also during January our head coach Ken O’Connell is going to host a weekly chat with the Youth rugby coaches and discuss all things youth rugby and formulate a plan for developing youth rugby going forward.

And not to forget our minis, their coaches are going to be holding a meeting on zoom tonight, Tuesday 5th, at 8 pm when they will review mini rugby at the club and what they want to achieve at mini level going forward.

All very positive behind the scenes activities going on while we are apart, all happening on line, all so when we can get back together we can hit the ground running.

Finally the Old Christians committee would like to wish each and everyone of you a peaceful and prosperous new year, hopefully we see head way in getting control over this terrible virus. Stay safe, Wash your hands and Wear your mask.

Old Christians Chairman and Committee would like to wish all our wonderful volunteers, coaches, covid officers, parents and players a very Happy Christmas and a very very prosperous 2021.

As its been a very unusual year we are especially grateful for all our covid officers for keeping us safe and our covid safety officer Sabrina for keeping our covid officers trained.

We really appreciate our coaches for adhering to all the safety measures and keeping the club going during this very very difficult time.

To give our coaches and covid officers a well deserved break we will cease all club activities on the 19th December we will recommence training and hopefully matches not long after on the 4th Jan. Tfhere will be no St. Stephens day coaches v committee game this year it will be back in 2021.

We wish you all the best Christmas you can have under the circumstances and hope Santa brings lots to our amazing rhinos. Stay safe and we will see you back in the new year. Don’t forget to keep playing the club lotto it could be won by you.

Our first draw is quickly approaching if your not in you can’t win..

Who wouldn’t want 500 euro just in time for Christmas…

First draw Friday 4th, you have just 2 days and 5 hours left to play…

Draw will take place every Friday, Best of luck.

click on the link to get your ticket now, or tickets. Club Lotto

The death has occurred of Pat O’Sullivan
Glenthorn Drive, Dublin Hill, Cork / Mayfield, Cork

O’SULLIVAN (Glenthorn Drive, Dublin Hill & late of Iona Place, Mayfield) On November 29th, 2020, unexpectedly, at the Mercy University Hospital surrounded by his loving family. PAT (Stretch) (D.H.L), devoted husband to Hilary (née O’Sullivan) and loving Dad to Shauna and Daniel, son of the late John and Mary O’Sullivan (Iona Place). Sadly missed by his heartbroken wife, daughter, son, sister Deirdre (Healy), brother Sean, parents-in-law Terry & Eileen, brothers-in-law, sisters-in-law, nieces, nephews, relatives and a large circle of friends. Pat’s Requiem Mass will be live-streamed onhttps://www.blackpoolparish.com/st-olivers-live-stream/at 12.30pm on Wednesday, 2nd December 2020.

The Death has occurred of Fergus McNeill a club legend and all around great man. Some of the tributes and memories that have been shared about Fergie is what an inspiration he was to others coming up through the club. He was an around gentleman and a tough man on the pitch.

Fergus passed away after a short illness at cork university hospital, He will be sadly missed by his loving partner Angela, his children Ali and Aidan and his many other family members, Club members, ex team mates and the wider rugby community.

Rest in peace Fergus, If you would like to pass on your condolences to his family do so via RIP.ie and select the condolences

Funeral mass will take place on Monday under the current circumstances the funeral is private and will be live streamed at 12 noon.

Willie Schubert Munster Girls development Officer came up to Old Christians on 3rd of November to train our girls by all account it was a great session. The girls all enjoyed it and Willie was very impressed with their enthusiasm. They made good use of the Astro pitch on a wet soggy night for their non contact training session.

Thanks to Claire for all the lovely goodies and thanks to Majella for the photos from the nights training session.

Its all part of the 20×20 initiative to get more girls involved in sports.

We were greatly grieved to hear of the passing of Munster Development Officer John O’Neill, John passed away after a short Illness.

John was a great help and support to all coaches during his time in Munster and will be greatly missed.

O’Neill, from Waterford, played at outside centre in Munster’s 31-19 loss to Australia at Thomond Park in 1984, setting up the first try of the game with a kick through for Eddie O’Sullivan to score.

He joined the Munster Rugby development department in 2007 and held the role of Munster junior head coach for seven seasons.

“The proud Waterford man had a driving ambition to give back and grow and develop the game across the east of the province,” read a Munster Rugby statement.

He worked closely with the regional development squads and coached several of the current Munster squad including Jack O’Donoghue, Fineen Wycherley, Gavin Coombes, Liam Coombes, and academy players Tom Ahern and Eoin O’Connor. (Stephen Barry – Irish Examiner 10/11/2020)

Our deepest sympathies go to his family, friends and colleagues during this difficult time. If you would like to send condolences to his family please do so using this link.

Are you the parent of a daughter who is looking for a really fun sport and great friends. Look no further. We have an u18s girl team and are in the process of setting up a ladies team. To sustain both those we have assigned a girls junior coach, we just need the girls to come up and join.

From u6 to u12 boys and girls play rugby together they learn lots of new skills, passing, rucking and teamwork. They also learn to tackle, defend and about the rules of rugby. The kids love it. Their coaches work really hard to make sure they enjoy the Saturday sessions and learn lots.

From U13 up they play in dedicated teams.

That’s where you come in, in order to have a healthy supply for our new ladies team we need girls signing up and joining now. If your daughter would like to join up send me a message on facebook and I’ll put you in contact with her new coach.

Looking forward to hearing from you and welcoming you to Old Christians.