Mayo rugby clubs are ready to kick off the new league campaigns.

After taking a look at the Connacht Junior 1A representatives from Mayo, we bring you up to speed about the other clubs from the county, competing in the J1B and J1C league.

BALLINROBE RFC

They came very close to a promotion last season. Ballinrobe had an away match to Ballinasloe and a win on that final day of the season would have granted them a return to the Junior 1A League. But the Galway men proved too strong and ran out winners.

A couple of changes, but not a huge overhaul for the Mayo boys: “I said a couple of times last year, we have a lot of lads there that have serious rugby IQ”, says Damien Burke, their head coach: “And last year was the first year that a lot of lads played together, so I'd be hoping this year that we can bring it on from last year, that they have an extra year under their belt together.”

And they had a lot of young guys in the packs last campaign, so these lads have a year under their belt, which could stand to them already.

To prepare for the new season, in a highly competitive J1B League, Ballinrobe put a special focus on team play, explains Burke: “What I mean by that is mainly how we played around the park and worked on our defensive line. We've been working hard on set piece. We like to press defence, if it's possible. You have to know when to press up, and if you're down in numbers, you can't press up, because you get caught out on the outside edges.”

A lesson, Ballinrobe will have learnt, as Burke points out referencing the Cup semi-final against Creggs last year, where it really showed them to what level they have to get defensively, because Creggs threatened Ballinrobe on the outside channels nearly all the time.

And also on the plus side, many core players are still available, as in fly-half Dylan Keane, and his brothers Paul and Daniel, or Liam Lynch and Jack O'Toole.

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WESTPORT RFC

In a competitive J1B League, Westport are just another team to keep an eye out for. The 'Bulls' showed already, what they're ma

They beat Castlebar, from a league above, in the Cawley Cup Quarter-final. And then in the semi-final, they faced Creggs in Carraholly, a team from J1A as well.

Westport had the visitors from Galway on the brink of defeat, until the famous last seconds. The clock went red, as they say, and Creggs scored a try to equalise and dump Westport out of the cup in extra-time.

The Mayo men have certainly shown that they're up for the physical challenge, testifies Pat Staunton, backs coach of the team: “We as a coaching team were very happy, with the general kind of commitment overall. And the effort, the determination, the work rate, all that.”

Like always, there have been changes during the summer, but Staunton believes, that in total there has been a net gain of quality for the squad. A couple of former players have been reactivated, coming back from Australia or other clubs.

Last year, Westport tried to bounce straight back after they were relegated from the J1A League and the team made it to the promotion round, called Top 4 but ended up eventually in third place. Naturally, as the ultimate prize eluded them last season, the 'Bulls' are chomping at the bit now.

They will have to improve their game management, reduce the amount of wrong decisions, as Pat Staunton explains: “These games are so marginal, for example that game against Craig's came down to one play at the end don't want the wrong decisions to pile up. You can tolerate one or two, but you don't need to be making bad decisions all the time.”

BALLYHAUNIS RFC

They just about avoided the drop last year. After a difficult regular season when Ballyhaunis lost all seven matches, on a points difference of -214, the team finally pulled off some results to stay in the Junior 1B league.

The successful effort to avoid the drop might have a bit to do with the team's coach Rowan Gouws to come back out of retirement and tog out as scrum-half.

The 30-year-old is a former professional rugby player from South Africa. Gouws played for Sharks, Eastern Province Elephants and Southern Kings, before playing in the US for a couple of years.

“I think the bug still is in me and I'm still young”, Gouws surmises when speaking to The Mayo News ahead of the season start. “So professionally I'm retired but, for some reason, I just wanted to play a few more games. I guess, I'm just not ready to give it up in that sense.”

Assistant coach Gabriel Gallagher helps out especially at matches. While Gouws is in the thick of it on the pitch, Gallagher can watch from the sideline and make decisions.

“He plays a big role with just managing the team and doing the subs and he's got the experience of who he can sub in and who not and who plays at the better position”, Gouws acknowledges.

Ballyhaunis have started strongly which is being noticed around league circles. The team has certainly improved.

In the Curley Cup, they won all three of their group matches, and in the semi-final they made light work of Corinthians 3XV, beating them 43-10 away to book a ticket for the final.

A turnaround of fortunes for Ballyhaunis which means, the league will only be even more competitive than last year, with three Mayo teams pushing for success.

CLAREMORRIS RFC

A league further down in the J1C league the Claremorris Colts are going into the campaign with a new face on the side line. Doron McHugh has taken over the reins to lift the team to new heights.

McHugh had a successful playing career mainly with Galwegians winning Junior Cups, promotions, Senior League titles. Previously, the Cong native was head coach of OLBC and assistant coach at Castlebar RFC.

"I'm very happy to start with Claremorris,” McHugh says: “I find they have a great attitude and determination. Numbers have been great in every session so far, and there are new faces nearly every session. And the young players are really stepping up, the likes of Michael Foody, Joe and Conor Prendergast, Lee McKinney, all these young lads are running just straight out of school, a lot of them, and they're showing a mature attitude.”

Last season Claremorris only won two out of seven matches in the round robin phase. But in the bottom 4 afterwards, which serve as relegation play-offs, the Colts found their stride and won all three matches to stay up.

This year Claremorris are confident to hit the ground running right from the start. To help Doron McHugh on this mission, he brought on Brian Murphy as assistant coach with him.

“As a prop myself, I wouldn't have a wealth of knowledge of the 9-15 positions. It's great for us to have someone who can cover those bases.”

Coaching wise, Doron sees a main task in getting rugby knowledge into the lads, to play heads up rugby and read the game, in defence and attack. Claremorris can bank on a strong forward pack with a powerful scrum.

Early signs suggest, Claremorris are better prepared than last season, as they have reached the Curley Cup Plate final, beating Ballina 2XV two times along the way.

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