The smoking priest fired up Crescent

Brendan Gallagher continues his series looking at rugby’s great schools

CRESCENT College in Limerick – now styled Crescent Comprehensive – lies in the heart of rugby territory and although lacking the playing numbers and resources of some other notable rugby schools in Munster their roll of honour is quietly impressive. And very eclectic.

They have spawned great Irish Lions like Paul and David Wallace and Gordon Wood, tough guy forwards like prop Peter Clohessy – who was a flanker at the school – and quicksilver scrum-halves such as Eoin Reddan.

They also nurtured a lifelong love of rugby for actor Richard Harris – who was a genuine rugby talent – and Terry Wogan who was a game trier and fringe First XV player at both Crescent and Belvedere College when he moved to Dublin in the last year of his education.

As with most rugby schools in Ireland, success is largely measured by championship wins in the Provincial schools’ championships and in that respect Crescent find themselves in an odd position.

They lag a long way behind the two Cork giants – Christian Brothers College (31 titles) and Presentation Brothers Cork (30) – and mighty Rockwell College in Tipperary are in third place on 26 – but Crescent College can claim bragging rights among all the schools in Limerick with 11 which counts for much.

The first of these, the ground breaker if you like, came during Harris’ first year in the team in 1947 when they caused a major stir by getting all the way to the final and then beating PBC. That year his brother Jimmy also played in the side.

The side was coached by a charismatic and hard driving young priest, the chain-smoking Father Gerry Guilane SJ who had arrived at the school early on during World War 2 and soon got the rugby up to scratch. Two years later, in 1949, Harris again featured in another Guilaneinspired fifteen, this time along- side another brother, Noel, and on this occasion they defeated Rockwell in the final. Guilane prized fitness above all things and was happy to foster an extremely mobile if smallish pack in which Harris a flanker by inclination, was persuaded to play lock.

Ireland ace: David Wallace

“He was cute as you like,” recalled Harris one day when we were discussing Munster rugby. “In big matches he would have ball boys dotted around mixing with the big touchline crowds.

One of their jobs was to soak the old-fashioned leather balls we had in those days in a bucket of water and when it came to the opposition having a lineout or a kick at goal the doctored balls would be thrown on and the good ball spirited away. When it was our turn, the dry ball came back into play. We had quite a system going.

“He was a true rugby fanatic but a clever coach and he was always off scouting the opposition – who is going to tell a priest to beggar off ! He was thoroughly committed to the community. Off the back of those two fine sides he founded the Old Crescent club, which was dedicated initially to the old boys of the school and went from strength to strength. I played there for a season and won my Munster U20 caps before TB put an end to my playing days.”

Harris’ family were very much involved in the Crescent, and indeed the Limerick, sporting story with his father becoming the first president of Old Crescent while his dad also founded the local tennis club.

Gordon Wood – who used to sit next to Harris in class – and Pat Berkey, who captained the 1947 team, were the undoubted stars of that era. Wood, father of future Ireland and Lions hooker Keith, won 29 Ireland caps at prop and played in two Tests for the Lions in New Zealand in 1959 while Berkey went on to win 12 Ireland caps at full-back between 1954 and 1958.

Crescent College won again in 1951, this time beating St Munchin’s, to make it a hat-trick for Father Guinane but that was the end of the golden period. There was a single one-off title in 1963 and then began a long 20- year wait until they tasted success again in 1983 when they again prevailed over PBC Cork.

Not for the first time or last, Crescent started the 1982-83 season slowly as they built towards the cup and they caused a major shock by beating favourites St Munchin’s in the semi-final. Crescent had a number of outstanding individuals that year who were always going to rise to the occasion. No.8 and skipper was Kelvin Leahy, who broke his leg in his one Ireland senior cap when they narrowly lost to New Zealand in 1992, while prop Len Dineen was a future Ireland schools and Munster captain.

That win heralded some decent years in the 1980s. With Dineen still in residence they reached the 1984 final and with No.8 Barry Walsh to the fore, along with flyhalf Nick Barry, the school garnered another title in 1986 when they beat CBC. Walsh was an athletic No.8 in the mode of Andy Ripley and starred for the Irish schools team, but preferred to concentrate on athletics and represent Ireland at the 1992 Olympics in the decathlon.

Quicksilver: Ireland scrum-half Eoin Reddan

Fringe player: Terry Wogan, back row far right, in the 1954 team

Then came the double years 1989 and 1990. Future Ireland and Lions prop Paul Wallace spearheaded the pack along with lock Shane Leahy – another of the Leahy rugby clan – while centre Alan Reddan, the older brother of future Ireland star Eoin, caused huge damage behind the scrum.

Spearhead: Paul Wallace led Crescent to back-to-back schools’ titles

Another notable season was 1994 when Crescent were not expected to take the title. The two Cork giants were more fancied, in particular PBC who were chasing their fourth straight title, while Crescent’s big Limerick rivals St Clements were fielding a monster pack that year, touted as the biggest ever seen in schoolboy rugby in Ireland.

The Crescent team was viewed as talented but coltish and a year young but as occasionally happens they seemed to mature and gel almost overnight on a tough half-term tour of Wales and thereafter were very dangerous outsiders.

They duly met St Clements in the quarter-final with a howling gale making conditions extremely difficult. St Clements bossed it up front but Crescent exploited the extreme elements much better and the game also lost what shape it had after a massive 20-man brawl which remains notorious to this day in Limerick circles.

Crescent progressed via a single try but here is where you need to understand the unique rugby dynamic in Limerick.

Crescent now had to start preparing for a semi-final against CBC and ultimately a final against PBC. And which school, and in particular their gruesome pack happily stepped forward to provide training opposition at a number of extra sessions organised by the Crescent coaches?

Well, St Clements of course.

It was absolutely the norm in Limerick for the schools to knock large lumps out of each other but when it came to playing the filth – as the mighty Cork duo were always known – it was all for one and one for all. St Clements would render every assistance.

Extra ‘voluntary’ cross country runs during the Christmas holidays – dubbed the Christmas pudding runs – also helped preparations. Voluntary in the sense that you were absolutely free to participate or not, but only those turning up would be considered for selection for the big games.

Wallace, playing scrum-half in those days, scored a clever try to help beat CBC down at their place and then a few weeks later, back at Thomond, tries from Shane O’Leary and Darragh Brehorn heralded an easier than expected win over PBC. To complete a notable Leahy hat-trick, youngest brother Ross was also a starter in this Crescent line-up.

More recently there was a mini golden age in 2013 and 2014 when they won back-to-back titles, beating Rockwell College 27-5 in the first final and Ardiscoil Ris 21-7 twelve months later. The latter, astonishingly, was the first all-Limerick final in the competition’s history and victory came in fine style with tries for skipper and No.8 Cormac Blake, full-back Dylan Sheehan and finally a clinching score for wing Jason O’Sullivan.