Bective mourns passing of Noel McQuilkin
In the year 1992 the Bective Rangers Executive made a very positive and forward looking decision to begin the process of appointing a New Zealand coach.
As Director of Rugby, I was tasked with setting the process in motion in the hope we would have a suitable candidate appointed for the 1992/93 season. I was conscious that a number of overseas coaches had arrived in Ireland in the previous seasons, and not all of them had been successful.
During the 1991/92 season Bective had played Northampton who were coached by a New Zealander Glenn Ross. Glenn would later coach Connacht. He was very well respected in NZ and Northampton, and so with the help of Jon Raphael (former Bective and Northampton hooker), I contacted Glenn to get his advice on suitable candidates.
Glenn immediately mentioned Noel. He reckoned he would be ideal for Bective. I also contacted the New Zealand Rugby Union and they confirmed that Noel was a highly respected coach of King Country. With Noel as coach, King Country had been promoted to Division 1 of the NPC, which in itself was considered a remarkable achievement. Noel coached King Country through the seasons 1989, 1990, 1991,1992, 2000.
I contacted Noel in March 1992 and invited him to come to Dublin later that month for a few days, so that he could see our set-up and make a decision. Noel duly arrived on a Saturday and the first match he saw was the 2nd team winning a Metro Cup match on the back pitch. He was impressed with the performance. On the Sunday I brought Noel to see the 1st team play Greystones in Greystones and Noel saw at first hand that his coaching skills were badly needed.
Noel and his lovely wife Josie arrived in Ireland in September 1992 and so began four years with Noel as Head Coach at Bective. Kurt arrived later on that season and it was clear to all that Kurt was an exceptional player, going on to play for Leinster and Ireland. Kurt is also a very good coach and has been involved with Leinster and the IRFU in various coaching roles. Kurt is now Director of Rugby in Greystones RFC.
Noel immediately set to the task of putting in place the structures that would be needed to improve the performances of the Senior teams. His sessions were always well structured and everything was done at pace. His sessions were generally no more than 1 hour long with no breaks. Noel contended that if you wanted to play at pace you needed to train at pace.
Noel coached for four seasons in Bective, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995 and in the season 1993/94 the 1st team won Division 3 of the AIL and the team was promoted to Division 2. Many members will remember the epic promotion weekends in Sligo!!
Roly Meates, former Leinster and Ireland coach, considered Noel to be a coach of the highest order and admired the evident progress of the 1st team with Noel as coach. That in itself was praise indeed.
Noel was a lovely man and a man I admired very much. He was very good company. It was a brave decision to come to Ireland, uprooting from Te Kuiti for five years.
Noel died on June 3rd. May he rest in peace and may we all remember him with great fondness .
Louis Magee Snr.
