Smurfit MBA Rugby Club

On Thursday 24th February, the students of UCD Smurfit finally went to the dogs.

As part of its fundraising campaign to send a team to the 2011 MBA Rugby World Championships, the UCD Smurfit Rugby Club organised an event at the Shelbourne Park Greyhound Stadium. This event was intended to provide our international classmates with an unique cultural experience whilst also facilitating a networking and teambuilding environment for the students from the different classes. And, from the Club’s perspective, this event succeeded on both fronts.

For all who have never intended a Shelbourne Park ‘night’, it involves watching eleven races where six greyhounds race each other whilst trying to catch an electric ‘hare’. Furthermore, just to add to the occasion, alcohol, food and gambling are also included for good measure. On the night, we had a reserved area on the restaurant level of the grand stand where we had a fantastic view of the track and a warm environment in which to socialise and network.

Greyhound Night with the Smurfit MBAs (Tham, Ruairi & Blonde)

From a fundraising perspective, the Club would sincerely like to thank its partners – CRH, O2 Ireland, Largo Foods and Mason, Hayes + Curran, without whose support, it would not have been possible. Furthermore, the sponsorship kindly provided by Smurfit Kappa added that extra bit of spice to the eight race in which Diarmuid O’Keefe won the €500 buster prize that was on offer.

Smurfit MBA Rugby Club presenting prize to Diarmuid O'Keeffe
Smurfit MBA Rugby Club presenting Smurfit-Kappa prize to Diarmuid O'Keeffe

Congratulations to Diarmuid and all involved in making this a memorable experience.


– Shane Horan, Smurfit MBA Rugby

Shane Horan Smurfit MBA Rugby (2nd left) presenting prize to race winner