News

Instonians to make their return to the All-Ireland League

30th September 2022

The Belfast club lost their place in the AIL back in 2014 and their bid to return to senior rugby saw them go as far as the Round Robin series qualifiers on three occasions – 2015, 2018 and 2019.

It was in April of this year they were able to make the vital step forward of securing their promotion.

First, they wrapped up the Kukri Ulster Rugby Championship Division 1 title with a final-fixture decider against Clogher Valley, before eventually beating Bective Rangers in April's promotion play-off final.

Ahead of their return to AIL action, they've made an impressive start to the season in the Ulster Rugby Premiership Division 2. An opening-day trip to Bangor saw Instonians secure a remarkable 63-12 victory, before losing to Rainey OB.

However, they recovered from this defeat, winning consecutive away games against Omagh and Dungannon.

Director of Rugby Clem Boyd said, "Recent performances have been pleasing in allowing us to assess players for the first AIL game. We have used 28 players in the 4 games and from this will be able to field our strongest team based on performances to date.

"We also still have 8 senior players to add into this mix who have not been available through injury or availability and will become available over the coming weeks.

"Our attacking intent has been strong and if we can reduce individual errors will be able to keep pressure on opposition.

"Our game against Dungannon on the weekend showed good improvement from recent weeks and set piece was much better after our learnings and positional changes from Rainey a few weeks before."

Former Ulster prop Boyd also believes returning to All Ireland level will benefit the club's recruitment of top talent.

"It has been our aim to return to AIL rugby to be able to offer the players new challenges and open up the door to those players that want to play All Ireland rugby.

"In the past we have missed out on players coming to the club because of this and it is pleasing to see players returning and also new school-leavers joining too."

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">🟣 𝙏𝙚𝙖𝙢 𝙉𝙚𝙬𝙨<br><br>After 8 seasons away, here’s your Stones team to face <a href="https://twitter.com/TullamoreRFC?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@TullamoreRFC</a> in the All Ireland League 2C 👊<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/stones?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#stones</a> <br>🟣🟡⚫️ <a href="https://t.co/PIASRP0IbS">pic.twitter.com/PIASRP0IbS</a></p>— Instonians Rugby (@InstoniansRugby) <a href="https://twitter.com/InstoniansRugby/status/1575790301129900032?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 30, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Following Saturday's visit of Tullamore, Instonians travel to face Skerries, with upcoming journeys to Ballina and Sunday's Well.

Boyd said, "We expect each game to be tough and present different types of challenges. The players prepare for each session and game one at a time whilst focusing on what is in front of them, rather than the league as a whole.

"The management and coaching set up will facilitate this for them. Our first 3 away games will be on artificial surfaces and so we will look forward to that. We have trained on these artificial pitches and they suit our style of play."

Having spent several years away from this level, Instonians seem determined to make their mark and carry forward their good form from the opening weeks of the Premiership.

"Our aims for the season are to do the best we can individually and collectively. We have built a strong squad over the last few seasons and would hope to be competitive in every game.

"The players have set their goals individually and as a team and will take each game as it comes. The players have high expectations and if we continue to work hard towards our goals, we will have a good season."