Gerry Thornley: Corinthians find their path by putting faith in youth

All has changed, changed utterly in grassroots rugby. Few games on the opening day of the Energia All-Ireland League season last Saturday week illustrated this more than newly-promoted Corinthians’ trip to Ballymena. They come from different provinces and for much of the AIL’s 34-year history from different worlds.
Ballymena’s list of grandees includes Willie John McBride, Syd Millar and Trevor Ringland, among others. They were one of the initial nine clubs in the inaugural Division 1 when the AIL was formed in 1990-91.
Save for a two-year stay in Division 2, Ballymena remained a top-tier club until 2009 and were champions in 2003 when beating Clontarf in the final. They have oscillated between the second and third tiers ever since.
Corinthians have had their notable past players too, including Noel Mannion and Johnny O’Connor, and technically Mack Hansen is among their number too and has illuminated Corinthians Park with his off-field presence this season.
However, the Galway club began AIL life in Division 2 and lasted only one season before being relegated back to the Connacht Senior League. They rejoined an expanded AIL in Division 3 in 1993-94 but were relegated to Division 4 the following season.
The two clubs remained three and two divisions apart for 14 seasons before meeting for the first time in April 2011 in 1B (the second tier) when Corinthians beat Ballymena 29-27, although that didn’t stop the latter being promoted.
Like ships passing in the night, Corinthians moved a division above Ballymena in 2013-14 in 1B for one year only and the following season they rubbed shoulders a second time. Promoted Ballymena won 20-0 at Eaton Park in September 2014 and the sides drew in Corinthian Park the following December as Corinthians were relegated.
And that was it until last Saturday week, on foot of Corinthians winning promotion from 2B last season via the play-offs. But the novelty value of the fixture didn’t stop there.
The average age of the Corinthians match-day squad was 19 years and 11 months, yet they returned from Eaton Park with a 27-10 bonus-point win.
Last Saturday, an even younger Corinthians hosted Greystones, whose alumni include the late, great Paul McNaughton, as well as Tony Ward, Nick Popplewell and more.
Although Greystones soon became a Division 1 club after also starting life with Corinthians in Division 2 the two are familiar foes. Greystones won 2B a couple of seasons ago, with Corinthians second.
After a small lunch hosted by club president Roy Gibson in McHugh’s across the road, on a lovely sunny afternoon near Claregalway, props Billy Bohan, Fiachna Barrett, eye-catching 19-year-old flanker Max Flynn, classy outhalf Sean Naughton and left-winger James Nicholson (himself a Greystones lad) were all released from the Connacht academy and recalled.
Including centre John Devine, younger brother of scrumhalf Matthew, this quintet are also current or recent Irish under-20s, while replacement scrumhalf Tomás Farthing is another in the Connacht academy.
Conceivably one of the university clubs has fielded younger sides, but Corinthians’ youthful spirit is extraordinary for a club with no university affiliations.
Perhaps it’s the mature head on him, his leadership qualities seeing him become club captain in just his second season, but Mark Boyle stands out as the old man of the team. And he’s only 23.
The number eight was released by the Leinster academy and, after also being rejected by Connacht, he contemplated retiring as so many of his age do if denied a path into the professional game. But, living in Galway and working for Aviva, he is loving life and rugby more than ever.
His older brother Paul was a replacement in Connacht’s 36-30 comeback win over the Sharks later that night, which made for a long day in Galway for their fortunate Dublin-based dad “Pablo”.
Boyle hails the attention to detail of head coach Michael Harding as well as forwards coach Pat Cunningham and backs coach JJ Hanrahan. Harding will have a detailed breakdown of every player’s performance on their phones by 8pm on match night. Hanrahan, availing of his ACL injury to make his first foray into coaching, describes working with such talented young backs as “a dream”, while they must feel likewise given his knowledge.
As the watching ex-Corinthians and Connacht outhalf Ciaran Smyth puts it, making hay, and scoring tries, while the sun shines before the wet days of winter is imperative for this young side.
After a break from their own 22 by their Welsh centre Tom Waters (20), Barrett finished strongly inside four minutes. Naughton also converted their second try by 19-year-old lock Bryan Walsh, who has previously been donated size 16 boots by Connacht’s Pro12-winning lock Ally Muldownwey.
As well as a howitzer of a boot, Naughton is creator-in-chief, with his ability to take the ball to the line, passing range off both hands and cross kicks. Corinthians sealed a bonus point by half-time through Sean Fox and Flynn.
After a rally by Greystones and a try by centre Andrew Lynch, Corinthians finished strongly, with Naughton (20) and Fox (19) combining for full-back Orin Burke (19) to score before Charlie Leonard is driven over.
Corinthians’ 40-10 win leaves them in a four-way tie atop 2A alongside Barnhall, Instonians and Cashel. Early days, and they won’t always have their academy stardust. But what makes their success just as impressive is that last weekend they also fielded two under-20 sides. This is at a time when under-20 sides in Irish clubs are in alarming decline.
Their under-20s “firsts” beat their Blackrock counterparts 27-17 away on Sunday to seal promotion to the Leinster first division with two long-range tries by Walsh’s younger brother Sean, another Irish under-20 international, while their seconds beat Galwegians in the Connacht under-20 final. The driving force for this depth at under-20 level is largely attributed to the work of club stalwart John “Stack” Noone.
Founded in 1932, Corinthians appear to have found their niche.
[email protected]