Old Wesley Rugby Football Club was founded in 1891 from the past pupils of Wesley College, Dublin. Since then it has become one of Leinster's most famous clubs. It plays in Division 1B of the All-Ireland League. The club won the Leinster Senior Cup in 1909 and 1985 as well as winning the AIL Division 2 title in 1989 and the AIL Division 2A title in 2015. They celebrated their Centenary year in 1991 with a match against a star-studded

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team featuring Internationals such as

Eric Rush Eric James Rush (born 11 February 1965 in Kaeo) is a New Zealand former rugby union footballer and rugby sevens legend, and now a supermarket owner. His New Zealand Sevens career began in 1988 and ran until past his 39th birthday in 2004. Ru ...

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and

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. They won the eleven-try match in dramatic fashion with a last minute drop-goal to win 37-36. Through the early 1990s they were one of the most successful teams in Leinster, reaching three cup finals and consistently playing in the 1st Division of the AIL League. Old Wesley RFC were relegated from Division 1 in 1997 and the early years of professionalism marked a tough period for the club. Old Wesley RFC were crowned AIL Division 3 Champions 2008/2009 following a 30 - 12 victory over Corinthians, gaining promotion to AIL Division 2. Old Wesley RFC won AIL Division 2A in the 2014/2015 season, gaining promotion to Division 1B.

Honours

Leinster Senior League Shield The Leinster Senior League Shield was a rugby competition in Ireland, involving lower-ranked senior rugby clubs in Leinster, i.e. clubs from Leinster competing in the lower divisions of the All-Ireland League. It ran from 2011-12 until 2015-16. Pr ...

**''Winners'': 2011-12: 1

Club Personnel

The current Club President is Nigel Poff and the Club Captain is Iain McGann. The head coach at the club is Morgan Lennon. The club runs 6 men's teams from the 1st XV to 5th XV, and an Under 20s team. Old Wesley RFC also has a full underage structure from u21s down to u6s, these teams train and play on a Sunday.

Underage Teams

The Old Wesley RFC U-20 Team won the Premiership 2 title in 2019 and also reached the final of the Purcell Cup Final. In addition the club runs a full mini & youth rugby section with teams from U-8 level to U-17 level.

Location

Based in Donnybrook, Dublin 4 on the banks of the Dodder River, Old Wesley RFC share their ground with

Bective Rangers Bective Rangers Football Club is a rugby union club in Dublin, Ireland founded in 1881. The Club is affiliated to the Leinster Branch of the Irish Rugby Football Union and play in Division 1A of the Leinster League. The club plays its games a ...

FC and the Leinster Branch of the IRFU. Until 2007 Old Wesley RFC played their junior matches at the Kilgobbin ground near Sandyford which they shared with

Lansdowne FC Lansdowne Football Club, also sometimes referred to as Lansdowne Rugby Football Club, is a rugby union team based in Dublin, Ireland. It was founded in 1872 by Henry Dunlop as the ''Irish Champion Athletic Club''. Its senior team currently plays ...

. A new ground at Ballycorus was officially opened on 25 November 2007.

Notable players

Notable players have included Internationals

Philip Orr Philip Andrew Orr (born 14 December 1950) is a former Irish international and British and Irish Lions Rugby Union loosehead prop. Orr was born in Dublin. Educated at The High School, Dublin and Trinity College Dublin, he played for Old Wesley ...

Eric Miller Eric, Erik, or Erick Miller may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Eric Miller (record producer) (c. 1941–2017), American record producer and Norman Granz's protégé *Eric Miller (photographer) (born 1951), South African photographer during and ...

Henry Hurley Henry Hurley is a retired Irish people, Irish rugby union loose-head prop-forward. Born in Doncaster, He played for Old Wesley RFC, Moseley RFC, Leinster Rugby, Leinster and Ireland national rugby union team, Ireland. He won 2 caps between 1995 an ...

, Chris Pim, Dave Bursey, Austen Carry, George Hamlet and Eric Campbell. Philip Orr also played on two Lions Tours to New Zealand in 1977 and South Africa in 1980. Previous first team out half David Smith is one of the top scorers in AIL history with over 1,000 points.

References

External links

Old Wesley RFC
{{Rugby union in Ireland Rugby clubs established in 1891 Irish rugby union teams Rugby union clubs in Dublin (city) Senior Irish rugby clubs (Leinster)