Lawless aims to put Swords on the Map

By Shane Cassells (Fingal Independent)

WE want to put Swords on the map as a rugby town¹ are the defiant words of one of the true legends of Fingal¹s capital rugby team ­ Tony Lawless. Ambitious they might be but five years ago this same man took Swords (or Aer Lingus RFC as they were then) from the depths of Division 3 to the top flight of the Leinster League. But when Lawless departed the dark days returned and the airline side quickly plummeted back to the lower reaches of the league. However, there is a new sense of vigour around the ALSAA ground. Aer Lingus have become Swords RFC and Lawless is back as head coach. His aim ­ to make Swords one of the finest rugby teams in Leinster.

The gaffer is well aware of the rebuilding process facing him but relishes every moment of it and one extra bonus this season is the inclusion of Swords for the first time ever in the prestigious Towns Cup competition which gets underway in late February. This premier rugby cup competition ­ held among the top brass teams in Leinster ­ is something which holds mythical status in many rural towns across the province. But for teams like Swords it is a whole new experience and one which the coach feels can bring an extra dimension to their game.

It is great for the players and the club in general to be involved in the Towns Cup and we are very much looking forward to our opening match against Roscrea. We know that it will be a difficult test, especially considering that it is away from home. But the performances of the lads have been improving over the past two months and the fact that we operate in the Leinster League means we are au fait with the style of provincial towns rugby,¹ reflected Lawless.

Whilst talk of capturing this cup, which has been played for since 1892 may be a bit far fetched this season, the coach still has a couple of goals which he wants to see reached from their involvement in the competition. "The league season did not start well for us at all but our performances have become progressively better over the winter period. The training has become a lot more serious during the campaign then it was in the pre-season period.What I would be looking for is to see how far we have progressed in terms of ability and skill during the season and I will be using the Towns Cup to judge that. It really is the perfect bookend to the season after completing the league programme," explained Lawless.

There is no doubt that Roscrea will prove a difficult opening tie as they operate at a division above Swords and have a long and distinguished history in the cup. However, Lawless is confident that his charges can rise to the challenge and intensity of this famous competition. "I sat down with the players three weeks ago and we all agreed that we would be treating this competition with the utmost respect. It has the potential to galvanise even further the sense of community around this team and more importantly the club. We would be looking at premier teams like Skerries and the heights they have reached over the year and our goal would be to be playing them in both league and cup competitions in a few years," mused the coach.

The sense of passion and purpose which Lawless has about this team is evident after just a few moments in his company. He is not just focussed on
bringing Swords out of the depths of division three but also on growing the club beyond their previous boundaries. "We undertook an advertising campaign earlier in the year and that brought a lot of native Swords people into the club who before this would have associated us only with ALSAA. Our PRO is also working hard on getting news about the club out into the public domain through the newspapers and our website. A lot of the lads here at the club are playing well within themselves and my job as coach is to get the best out of them. It really is all about how you approach the game and the frame of mind you bring to a match. I am confident that we can achieve great things here at Swords and I am looking forward to the Towns Cup as the first step on that journey," concluded the boss.