Ilfracombe salutes a rugby legend

After 25 years of heart, guts and pride, Ilfracombe rugby legend Jay O’Beirne has finally hung up the boots.

His first words, as always from a man and player known for his humility, was to show his gratitude for the tributes paid to an outstanding career.

“I would like to thank everyone at Ilfracombe Rugby Club, it was very special to be given a lifetime membership, and I think the last time the club provided a recognition like that was 20 years ago,” said Jay.

“It is very much appreciated and all the people behind the scenes have made this club move forward. Being called a legend is a bit overwhelming and I’m very grateful to everyone.”

There was a lovely symmetry to O’Beirne’s final game, playing against Torrington, the club he started his Ilfracombe journey with a quarter of a century ago, and another sign of the rugby strength in North Devon.

“It was a really good game to finish my playing career, the whole day was a surprise to me and nice to finish against Torrington, the team I played in my first game 25 years ago,” he said.

“When I first started with Ilfracombe, I had just joined the Army and kept coming back on the weekends to play for the club. I never dreamt I would stay with Ilfracombe for 25 years.

“We have the same old clubhouse but there has obviously been a turnover of players down the years, a combination of experience and young players coming through.

“Unfortunately, we have gone down to just one senior team at the moment, but the club has grown with the youth section, and we now have around 40 players signed on this season.

“North Devon has always been a thriving region for rugby and all the local clubs contribute to that. It was worrying for a lot of clubs through the Covid period and great to see things returning to how it was before.”

While the rough and tumble of being out on the pitch might now be a thing of the past for O’Beirne, his future involvement at Ilfracombe is guaranteed.

“I’ve committed to another year as Head Coach and the next steps will be largely dependent on future changes in the league structure,” he said. “I know a few teams are looking at their options and we are in the grey area of staying in the Merit League or moving up a level.

“My job will be to carry on preparing the team for matches and hopefully bringing more success. We are playing good rugby, so we have to choose on whether to consolidate where we are or take the next step against stronger teams.

“Ilfracombe is quite a big football town, so we are competing in one sense, and always a challenge to attract the better players to come to us.

“We obviously have Barnstaple, Bideford and South Molton playing at a higher level but Ilfracombe has a lot to offer, and we have always done a good job with recruitment.”

Alongside recruitment and first-team duties, Jay is a massive advocate for the development of young talent at Ilfracombe RFC, with the long-term dream of establishing a Colts outfit for the club.

“As well as being Head Coach for the first-team, I am heavily involved in the youth section and it is so important to the future of Ilfracombe Rugby Club that we continue to develop young players,” added Jay.

“I can’t remember the last time we had a Colts team, not in my time at the club, but we currently have an U15s team and they are the next generation. We’ve been fighting to build our next group of players for 25 years and coaching the youth is massive for a club like us. They are the players who will keep us going in the years to come.”

Congratulations to Jay O’Beirne on a wonderful rugby career.