Reilly Aims For the Blue of Leinster

HE'S a six foot redhead, glad in green, the leader of his pack and he has a big year of rugby ahead of him - and he's not Paul O'Connell. While Dave Reilly will have one eye on his idol and the World Cup this autumn, he'll have plenty of action to concentrate on himself, both on and off the pitch. The 17 year old River Valley native completed his Leaving Cert in June and is set to take his next steps on the educational front as well as on the rugby pitches with Swords Rugby Club.

A final trial with the Leinster Youth team last season capped a memorable season for Reilly and with pre-season training already underway down at ALSAA, he's raring to go. 'It's our first season playing under-18s, so it'll be new for the whole team,' he explained. 'We'll have a strong side and we're already working on our fitness.'

Reilly began his rugby career with Malahide as an eight year old and gave up the sport in his teens to concentrate on his Junior Cert. His interest was rekindled with the advent of youth rugby in his home town two years ago. 'I went to school in Colaiste Choilm and I heard there was a rugby team starting up in Swords so I joined the under-16 team,' Reilly continued. 'It's grand, I've plenty of mates from school up there and the facilities are really good. The training sessions are good too and I've learned a lot from the coaches.'

A renowned GAA and soccer school, Colaiste Choilm have provided the bulk of Swords youth players as, along with St Finian's Community College and Fingal Community College, the local schools have been bitten by the rugby bug. 'I played a couple of games for the school too. When I was younger, people in school used to asked me what I was doing playing rugby. It's getting bigger all the time now in Swords, especially in the schools.'

Comfortable in the front or back row, Reilly finished last season as the under-16s top try scorer, with two caps for the North-East representative side and the experience of a Leinster trial under his belt.'I played prop for the North-Easts and we beat the North Midlands and lost to the Metro side. Then all the development sides played against each other in a trial and the Leinster side was picked from there. 'My trial wasn't the greatest, I didn't play that well and I was a bit nervous.'

Looking to the World Cup - which kicks off around the time Reilly hopes to start a course in Product Design in DIT - the young number 8 is confident that O'Connell and his other hero, David Wallace, will do well. 'The World Cup should be good. I hope Ireland win it and I reckon they'll get to the semis.' As for his own playing ambitions, Reilly is aiming for another solid season with Swords and another chance at the blue of Leinster. 'I hope we do well in the league and I'm hoping to get another Leinster trial. My ambition would be to represent Leinster.' Determined words from a top prospect.