Rainey Have A New Marshall In Town
Ulster and Ireland centre Luke Marshall, who lined out against the Barbarians last week, is adding a new string to his bow as backs coach to Ulster Bank League Division 2B club Rainey Old Boys.
Rainey Old Boys have pulled of a real coup by recruiting Luke Marshall as their backs coach for next season. He will join up with director of rugby and head coach John Andrews, who moves up from assistant coach after Richard Boyd’s departure for Coleraine.
Capped six times by Ireland and with over 60 appearances in the white jersey of Ulster, Marshall is hoping to cut his coaching teeth with the Magherafelt club.
The 24-year-old made his Ulster debut from the bench against Munster in November 2010 and made his first start against the same province two months later with his first try coming against Cardiff in February 2011.
He represented Ireland at the Under-20 World Championship in 2011 and his first taste of the green shirt came in a non-capped game against Fiji in November 2012.
Marshall won the first of his six Ireland caps against Scotland at Murrayfield in the 2013 Six Nations Championship. He toured Argentina last summer with Ireland but injury and suspension has curtailed his opportunities with both province and country this season.
A former pupil at Ballymena Academy, he will team up with his old school coach Andrews (pictured above) at Rainey.
Andrews, in his first spell in charge at Hatrick Park as player/coach, memorably took Rainey from junior rugby to the Ulster Bank League in 2006.
Rainey won their first 12 league games before losing to Armagh, but a 53-3 win over Limavady clinched the league title. In the Round Robin series, they beat Westport 36-0 away, Youghal 34-0 and Monkstown 32-16 at home to win promotion to the senior ranks.
The Derry outfit also added the inaugural All-Ireland Junior Cup that season – after wins over Kanturk and Seapoint, Andrews’ charges beat Youghal 27-5 in the decider at Lansdowne Road.