Thomas Ferreira has recently started his second season as coach of Tallaght's senior team. Last season was something of a baptism of fire for him.

Recently arrived in the country from his native South Africa, he had to juggle settling a young family with coaching a young team in only their second full season of senior rugby.

"It was tough, I had to learn about the players we had and they had to learn about me. We started off with a couple of matches that we really should have won but lost due to inexperience at the end," he said.

There followed a run of 10 straight defeats, including some big hammerings, and Ferreira was beginning to wonder when that elusive first win for the club would come.

However, that day came on an unseasonably sunny day in February when Tallaght finally won a match, beating Seapoint 30-12 at home.

"It was the monkey off our back and the positivity came flooding right back through the squad.

"In fact, it was so positive that we followed it up with our first ever away win the very next week when we beat St Mary's 19-11 in Templeville Road. We still finished bottom of the table, but the impact of the two wins set us up for this season.

"The club is now going from strength to strength and I have seen huge growth in only one year. We ran a strong recruitment campaign in Tallaght and we've had a great response from the local area. We have had nearly 50 players up to training so far this season. That is a massive step up from last year. It means we've been able to put together a squad with far more depth than last season.

"The buzz in training is fantastic as the new players have really increased the competition for places in the starting 15. In fairness to the players from last year, not one of them is saying, "I started last year so that spot is mine!" They've all accepted that they have to win their spot all over again which has led to much higher quality training sessions.

"It's going to be a tough season with the draw we've got. We're facing a lot of really established clubs like Terenure, Blackrock and Bective. If we manage a half-dozen wins or so, I'll be delighted as it will represent real progress from last season."

Tallaght's Leinster League J4 season got off to a flyer last Saturday when they beat St Mary's 31-8 in Templeville Road. For three of the try scorers, Colin Malone, Owen Tyrell and Mick O'Dea, the win was especially sweet as they are all ex-Mary's men. Gary Doyle scored the other try and out-half Danny Behan kicked five from five to complete the scoring.

"The backs scored most of the tries," said Ferreira "but it was really the pack that won us the match. They just dominated the play from start to finish and starved Mary's of the ball. It was so important for us to get a good start to the campaign because we saw the effect of a bad start last season."

There was further good news for the club as their under-18 team won their first pre-season match, beating the Liberty Saints 45-17.

Out-half Mark Phelan scored 15points and prop Paul O'Gornon bagged a brace of tries.

Coach Bryan Tyrrell was pleased with the win. "It was a good performance and great preparation for our first league match away to Suttonians this Saturday."

Future

For Ferreira, this was further proof of the club's healthy future.

"It's great to see the kids coming through. They're obviously vital to the growth of the club. The seniors have had a good start but we face a really tough test this Saturday at home to Terenure (kick-off at the Postal Club, Kiltipper, is at 3pm).

"They will give us a serious test, but if we can keep concentrating on our own play then we've got a real chance. We might suffer some close losses this season but it's all part of building a new club. Leave it a couple of seasons and we'll be knocking at the door."

At the rate that Tallaght are progressing, it might be even sooner than that.

p Tallaght Rugby Club are continually looking to recruit players to the senior and junior squads. For more information on joining, e-mail jimoconnor.tallaghtrugby@gmail.com