IRFU Schoolgirls Sevens Screening

Congratulations to Katie McGowan, Caoimhe Guerin, Lisa Callan, Rebekah Hayden, Kelly Walsh and Sorcha Kampff who were all invited to take part in the IRFU Schoolgirls Sevens screening day.

Here come the girls!

It's a great recognition of their hardwork and their commitment to their favourite sport over the last few years.  It was a really tough day, with some intensive drills and exercises taking place, all under the watchful eye of Jenny Bagnall (Leinster Women's development officer).  The coaches assigned on the day were the Leinster Rugby coaching development staff, so not only were the girls being provided with the best guidance available, they were also being treated the same way as the boys would be.  As it should be.

It was a tough day, but ultimately really enjoyable.  The girls all had a blast, met up with some friends from other schools and clubs, and got a chance to show how good they are and how much they enjoy playing rugby.

Thanks to Kelly's mum, Anita, for taking the photos of the girls.

MATCH REPORT: Coláiste Chiaráin 5 St Mac Dara's Junior Boys 39

  So this is what getting through to a final feels like.  After getting so close, so often, over so many years, we've eventually done it.  This was our play-off match with Coláiste Chiaráin for a place in the South Dublin Cup finals that had been put-off and delayed for a couple of weeks.  We were very eager to play this one.

  The weather that had seemed so promising on Monday morning turned into a fairly heavy shower just as we kicked off and we had a greasy ball to contend with for most of the first half.  CC put us under massive pressure from the kick-off.  Charlie Clarke (lock) gathered the ball from their kick-off and carried strongly into contact, however they showed great intensity once the ball came out of the ruck, pushing us backwards and eventually forcing us into making some errors.  We conceded a scrum well inside our 22 just two minutes after play had started, but we managed to win it against the head.  Our front-row of Aaron MacDonagh (loosehead prop), Cillian Smith (hooker) and Billy Hamilton (tighthead prop) were well able to force their game on the scrum.  The play stayed in our 22 for another few minutes until we managed to break out.  So far a very nervous game, with CC really testing our defenses.  Our breakthrough came when we turned-over the ball from their throw-in to the lineout.  We moved the ball quickly from the right wing across to the left and Jake Carroll (outhalf)dotted down.  Unfortunately Jake hadn't given himself an easy angle for the conversion but ... wouldn't you know, he still managed it.  Well done Jake!  Two minutes later and the same ferocious right-to-left passing and huge pace from our backs put Dillon Ritchie (wing) in for another try.  No joy for Jake with this conversion unfortunately.  Hard luck Jake!  Two tries created from some great passing and some strong running, especially from Sean Redmond (inside centre) who played such a selfless game.
  12 - nil up, nine minutes played.  The game wasn't one-sided however and CC hadn't lost any of their attacking spirit however.  We conceded a penalty inside our half on 11 minutes, and CC decided to run it.  Jake Carroll put in a monstrous tackle and was soon joined by Andrew Hayden (flanker & captain) to complete the choke tackle.  The determination shown by the St Mac Dara's team was huge.  There was no way they were going to lose this game.  The determination resulted in massive pressure being put back on Colaiste Chiarain and the scores soon followed.  Jake Miller (scrum-half) crossed the line with 17 minutes played, while James Murphy (fullback) scored a minute later.  James' try was the result of some incredible carrying and off-loading by Mark and Andrew.  The forwards wanted to show that they had some skills too!
  CC came back at us, putting pressure on us and forcing us into some errors.  They put on a great attack from a scrum, but we could withstand it.  Eventually after we conceded another penalty they kicked deep for a lineout near our 22.  Andrew Hayden showed great confidence and agility to steal the ball and set up another blistering run.  This time we pushed up through the centre and Jonathan Kelly carried a couple of CC players across the line on his way to scoring.



  We made our way to the sideline at half-time ahead by 29 points to nil.  Most teams would feel very comfortable and confident at this point but our nerves were acting up.  We'd been here before too often.

 

  We were lined up and ready to go for the second half almost as soon as the whistle went to end the first.  Our determination to win was almost desperation to win and there was a reluctance to lose any momentum.  At this point Coláiste Chiaráin probably felt the game was gone from them however.  The first half had been very tough on them and they had lost some of their star players, including their hooker.  We restarted and attacked straight away.  The first minute was frenetic, with an awesome take from Jake Carroll, a monster tackle from CC forcing us to knock-on, another scrum won by us against the head, and Jem Cairns (wing) scoring.  Two minutes later and we won another tighthead scrum.  CC didn't give up though and had a great break through the centre with strong support runners.  Single-handedly though Sean Redmond put in an awesome tackle to stop the runner and drive him backwards.  Textbook try-saving tackle.

  Our subs started to come on and to help maintain our winning momentum.  The Hamiltons swapped, although Billy would go back on later to prop down with Dylan.  "Trevor" Browne and Bryan MacDonagh were able replacements for Mark and Luke, while Eoin Flood and Ben Daly were able to continue the great work they'd put in on the wing throughout the year.  Jem made way too, but not before putting in what turned out to be our last score of the game.  Coláiste Chiaráin did get one back in the final minute of the match, but it ended 39 points to five.

  It's a cliché to say that "forwards win games; backs just decide by how much", but ours was a game where every try was scored by a back, who got clean, fast ball, due to dominance in the scrum and the lineout.  It's a cliché, but it was certainly true of this game.  Backs and forwards working together, relying on each other, succeeding together.  Well done lads.

 

  PS - Great to have some parents travel along to offer us support, and also great to see William Kelly drag himself from his sick-bed (he had flu or pneumonia or something; none of us were paying attention to him) to cheer on the team.  It was great to meet Trevor's parents too.  For some reason they insist on calling him Jason though; what a funny nickname!

MATCH REPORT: TCS 12 St Mac Dara's Junior Boys 32, South Dublin Cup Play-Offs.

  A crisp spring Friday afternoon in Tymon Park.  Perfect for some rugby, and a great way to start off the weekend. 
  TCS kicked off, but Luke Hill (lock) gathered well and carried for a couple of steps before going to ground and setting the ball up perfectly for his team-mates.  Mark Renaghan (flanker) thought he was the fullback when the ball came to him and went on a crazy forty metre dash up the middle of the field dragging two or three TCS lads with him.  Charlie Clarke (lock) rucked very strongly, securing the ball for us.  Eventually though TCS had a lineout just on their 22.  Andrew Hayden (flanker) turned the ball over and carried for the line.  We recycled through a few phases until with four minutes on the clock Jake Miller (scrumhalf) crossed the line for our first score.  A good start.
  Jake Carroll (outhalf) bounced the ball off the post taking the conversion (couldn't have done it if he'd meant to!) but no problem.  We were ahead and there were still 56 minutes to play.  Aaron MacDonagh (loosehead prop) gathered the restart kick from TCS and burst ahead.  Once again Mark Renaghan went on a huge break.  Shortly after we spilled the ball and the teacher from TCS ref awarded a scrum to TCS.  We put in a huge shove on the scrum, anchored by Billy Hamilton (tighthead prop), with Aaron holding up the other side and Dylan Hamilton (hooker) helping win the ball against the head.  In the ruck that followed the ref felt we held on to the ball and awarded TCS a penalty.  They took it quickly but fumbled it forward a couple of phases later, giving us another scrum.  Considering how strong our scrum was, we would have been happy to pack down for the whole afternoon.  Okay, so the backs would have been bored, but who cares about them?
  TCS contested very strongly in the rucks following the scrum and forced a turnover.  With nine minutes gone they made their first visit to our half.  It would prove to be a worthwhile visit however as they made a fantastic break and got a great try.  They successfully converted it too, taking them into the lead.  Jake Miller kicked off for us and Jake Carroll somehow managed to get right underneath it twenty metres into the TCS half.  A brilliantly organised piece of play.  A couple of phases later Andrew Hayden (flanker) placed the ball down for us.  Try awarded.
  The rest of the second half went by really quickly, with a couple of scrums and penalties being awarded against us.  We weathered the storm and soaked up the pressure being put on us by TCS, getting a scrum and a penalty of our own to redress the balance.  On 22 minutes TCS had another penalty and took it quickly, putting massive pressure on us.  Mark and his twin, Luke Alford (number 8 & captain), put in a great defense, holding the ball carrier up and forcing him backwards.  From here we put the pressure back on TCS, giving Andrew Hayden another chance to score.  This time the conversion was good.  Half-time, and we were ahead 17 points to 7.
  The first few minutes of the second half were all about set-pieces and dominance there.  We conceded a penalty, they put into the lineout but we stole it.  Two minutes later the same scenario played out.  No matter what they threw at us we were able to absorb it.  Eventually we decided to throw Mark at them.  Another massive break from the forward and this time he didn't stop until he had put the ball down.  Two minutes later and the backs decided that they wanted to play too, with Eoin Flood (left wing) scoring what seemed like a perfect try, but there was a foot in touch on the way in, Sean Redmond (inside centre) was on the end of some quick ball on the other wing and scored.  TCS got a consolation try shortly after, but they still had to endure relentless pressure from St Mac Dara's.  We began to bring on some of our replacements and the fresh legs helped keep the pressure on.  Nathan Devitt had put in a great show as full back, Cillian Smith ensured the scrum remained as strong and stable as it had been and William Kelly added great pace in his now preferred position of outside-centre, Brian Mac Mahon played a great part as a replacement flanker when Mark finally moved into the backs after playing like one for the whole match and one of the highlights of the match was seeing Trevor (Jason Browne) forming a choke tackle with Mark and Andrew after a TCS lineout.
  We finished up winning 32 points to 12, but more important than the scoreline was the great spirit and enthusiasm shown by the lads, in what was an extremely physical match.  Well done to all involved.  Thanks as well to Tallaght Community School for hosting us and to Peter for filling in as referee.

Da Numbaz.
Tries. St Mac Dara's 6 (1), TCS 2 (1)
Possession. St Mac Dara's 43 minutes. 73%. TCS 17m. 27%.
Territory. St Mac Dara's 70%. TCS 30%.

Line-Outs. St Mac Dara's 6 (5) TCS 7 (6)
Scrums. St Mac Dara's 4 (4) TCS 6 (3)
Penalties conceded. St Mac Dara's 7. TCS 5.

MATCH REPORT: Girl's Tag League, Leinster Finals.

  Leinster Rugby had organised a tag rugby league over winter to try to encourage as many schools as possible to get involved in rugby.  We would have prefered full contact rugby, but nonetheless we were happy to have some matches to play.  We were heading to the finals in Donnybrook as Dublin Champions and very confident of getting through the play-offs and into the final.  Wasn't to be though, was it?  Still though, we had a great day, gave it our all and played as a team.  You couldn't ask for more.

The girls.

  We had four matches to play to qualify for the finals out of our group, with the first one against the Sacred Heart team from Tullamore.  To say the pitch was a swamp isn't going too far, but we were happy enough just to be out and playing.  Katie led her team out and helped us into an early lead, with Jojo receiving a fantastic pass from Sinead Aspell to cross the line.  SH came back at us fast, and thanks to some, perhaps, maybe, ever-so-slightly offside play they scored.  Katie had a chat to the ref and asked him to ensure players remained onside and that they were playing tag rugby, and not basketball.  That made a difference (for about five seconds) and soon we were trailing 2 - 3.  Roisín got us back close to them with another try but fater that we couldn't get across for another score.  Despite Lisa scooping the ball up after they had knocked it on and breaking for the line with no opposition players near us and being called back for the scrum.  TWICE!  Our place in the final was gone, more-or-less, but we were now playing for pride, and with a bit of temper too.
  The next game was against Ardscoil na Trionoide in Athy, and we had a chance to give starts to a few more players.  Anna Sherlock put on a great defensive display, single-handedly shoring up the right wing, and forcing the turnover.  Katie got the first of her tries shortly after.  We did notice that this ref (Maurice Logue, aka Ms Brady's crush) was calling people for offside, insisting that tags be handed back and that he could count to six.  The difference a competent and fair ref makes is huge.  Katie got a brace in this match, as did Roisín, while Anna, Claire and Jojo crossed the line.  Even Lisa got one, showing that the old veteran of St Mac Dara's Girls Rugby still has it.  She's our BOD basically!  8 - 5, and some pride restored.

"Who's Joe Schmidt?" Roisín Tisdall, 12.53 pm, 27 March 2014.

We'd a bit of a break then so that Joe Schmidt could introduce himself to Roisín and compliment Jess on her tackling ability - in a tag match!  Joe had a lot of kind words to say to everyone there, and then reassured us he'd be out to see us in a couple of weeks.  Back to our match and tries from Kelly Walsh and Anna Sherlock helped to seal up the win, 7 - 4 to us.  Saragh and Vickie put in great displays in this game, forcing a couple of turnovers which we pounced on.  With one match to go we followed Joe Schmidt's lead and emptied the bench, ensuring that everyone had a game and got the chance to play on the day. 
  We had another tough game against Ardee and they romped into an early lead by two tries.  We came back, with some great scores from Holly and Katie, while Sinead got possibly the score of the tournament.  Ardee pushed again though, getting two quick scores.  Claire Harrington then had a dazzling thirty seconds on the ball, getting two tries thanks to some amazing dancing feet along the touchline from Jess, and securing us the draw.
  Seeing Sacred Heart Tullamore in the final, and indeed winning it through, did have us saying lots of "what-if"s and "but if he had"s, but we can only accept responsibility for what we did and didn't do.  We conceded trys that we shouldn't have, we were slow to start off and get into a rhythm, we got angry with each other at the start, but we finished extremely well.  It was a great day out, we got to play four games, only lost one, and had a lot of fun together.  That's why people play sports, that's why teams come together. Well done girls.

"We should probably stop saying the word 'bomb' in the airport" - Paris Tour 2014 Part 3

  Our last morning in Paris.  The weekend had gone by so ridiculously quickly.  Almost everyone enjoyed their breakfast again this morning; Dylan - or was it Billy? - would have preferred a fry, but Trevor was happy out.  Crepes, croissants, pains au chocolat, we ate them all, showing how cultured we are.  Quick head count, bags on bus, another head count and off we went to Disneyland.
  The students were told to go and enjoy themselves, to make the most of their eight hours in the theme parks.  Unfortunately the young people of Paris, who were on mid-term break for two weeks (TWO weeks!), had the same idea and the queues got pretty long pretty quickly.  Some students coped with this by strolling though the fastpass gates without a care in the world, while others were used as surrogate children holding places for their "parents", aka the teachers.  At one stage the three teachers, with their eight children keeping a place for them, were able to get right up to the front of the queue for Big Thunder Mountain.  Thanks kids!
  Six-thirty came and the counting started again.  28 off the bus, 28 into the park and 28 back onto the bus.  The bus trip was short, but this meant we had loads of time to find Jonathan Kelly's missing phone (it was in his pocket), and that we would have loads of time to kill in the airport, get a bite to eat, do some last minute shopping, and so on.  But no, it couldn't be that easy, could it.
  Cue a forty minute argument with the French check-in staff about whether or not our kit-bag was a golf-bag and who would pay for the extra three kilos in it.  Those three kilos were no problem for Aer Lingus leaving Dublin Airport so we couldn't see how they would be a problem on the way back.  We settled it when we opened the kit-bag and started to remove three kilos of mud-stained and disgusting jerseys saying we would wear them onto the plane rather than pay a single cent of an excess baggage charge.  Thankfully they didn't call our bluff and they didn't relish explaining to the Aer Lingus cabin crew how and why they let us on with mud dripping off of us.
  All that fun meant however that we had very little time left and so we had to go straight to security.  No real problems this time, although it was suggested by one of the students that we stop talking about someone "using the 'F-bomb'" while we were in the airport!  No argument there.  The reality that we were on our way home and the trip was over did start to set in however.
  It was a great trip, and great trips like these aren't made by the destination, or the activities.  They're made by the students.  One last time, from one to twenty eight, and with thanks to all of them;
Jason, Jojo, Dylan, Sarah, Billy, Saragh, Sorcha, Chloe, Luke, Cliona, Vickie, Caoimhe, Eva, Sinead, William, Holly, Mark, Laura, Anna B, Cillian, James, Kelly, Jem, Anna S, Claire, Jonathan,  Roisin and Lisa.  Thanks everyone for a great trip to France!

"That's What Makes You Beautiful" - Paris Tour 2014 Part 2

  If Friday was about makeup, fancy cars, glitz and glamour, then Saturday was about mud and guts.  What do you expect though; this is a rugby tour after all!

  Breakfast was devoured by everyone that morning, with lots of note-comparing and discussion on what were pancakes and what were crepes, where the fruit was, which juice was the nicest and how similar the 5me arrondissement of Paris is to Dublin 11 ("I'm tellin' ya miss - exactly like Ballymun").  After breakfast gear was sorted out and argued about, while the number 28 was counted over and over.  We had a training session this morning and we were heading to Parc Heller d'Antony, some twenty kilometres outside of Paris centre to train with the coaches of AntonyMetro92 - one of the academies for Racing Metro 92.  The drive brought us to a really nice outskirt of Paris and to one of the prettiest parks you could visit.  Even if the pitches were essentially mudbaths.

  Our coaches, Michel, Frank and Laurent, were extremely generous and helpful.  Our session was due to take an hour and a half; we ended up spending over two hours on the pitches with them!  They gave us a brief talk on the history of their club, its connection with Racing Metro 92, their club philosophy and what they expected of all players on their pitches.  All this was explained in French too, so our trip had an educational bonus!  The drills were fast, fun, and mucky, followed by a very mucky game.  The coaches got involved too, and there was a lot of fun banter about the upcoming Six Nations clash between France and Ireland, and about players on various teams.  The coaches were big fans of Leinster rugby, and of Brian O'Driscoll.  They even christened one of our players "Brian" due to how fast he was (even if he did get chased down by a 52 year old frenchman who ripped the ball from him in a tackle).

Muck, mud, rugby. A perfect combination.

  The session was over too fast, but we had a snack in the clubhouse, accompanied by more banter and craic.  Time to get back to the hotel, change, shower, count to 28, and head to Stade Yves Manoir for the Racing Metro 92 versus Castres Olympique game.
  We were glad, in ways, that Jonathan Sexton wouldn't be playing that night, but also a bit disappointed that we wouldn't get to see him.  We'd have to 'settle' for ROG.  We got dropped directly to the door by our bus and went in past the friendly security guards - who would be shortly replaced by the stereotypically rude and obnoxious Parisian security guards.  Our seats were located, and the green flags were deployed.  There would be no mistaking where we were from!

"Ballymun RFC on tour miss!"

  We would like to apologise to that anonymous Frenchman who complained in a very vocal and French way when Ms Haverty offered to swap seats with him so that he wouldn't be stuck in the middle of some screaming Irish kids.  We're sure that his hearing has almost returned to normal at this stage, and we do think that the frequent but accidental blocking of his view by flag-waving Irish teenagers was completely unintentional. We don't really remember the result (it was an atrocious and classless game of rugby) but we do remember Ms Brady engaging in diplomatic negotiations with the security guards which got us onto the pitch at the end where we got to mingle with the teams.  Most of them were unknown to us, but others like Jamie Roberts and Richie Gray we knew and had some craic with - something along the lines of "na, na, na naa na!"
  The highlight of the night came outside the dressing rooms when we were waiting for ROG.  Mike Phillips (Welsh scrum-half, yellow-carded during our 6 Nations game in the Aviva, twitter spat with Niall Horan, &c., &c.) was on his way and Ms Brady suggested that we sing a One Direction song to him.  He took it well, we had a laugh, Jamie Roberts (his Welsh team-mate) recorded it and the results can be seen here.  The video went viral a week after we came back, being mentioned on the Irish Independent website, the English Daily Mirror, Rugby Banter Pages, Ultimate Rugby (owned by BOD no less), Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Youtube and probably loads of other things that only the cool kids know about.  Fame, folks. Fame.

ROG, our friend, at the back.

  Back to the hotel, with one very Parisian bus-driver, and some grub.  Some of the girls went into the hotel restaurant, where the chef gave Sinead Aspell a feed of potatoes for free!  Our friend in the take away couldn't believe his luck, again, when a horde of famished teenagers helped double his profits for the month!
  Another great day, done.  With a trip to Disneyland to look forward to ("so we're off to Funderland tomorrow, aren't we miss?") and then the trek back to Ireland.

Ballymun RFC on Tour - Paris Tour 2014 Part 1

   Friday 28 February, 4.45 AM (AM!) and the alarm goes off. Some students were awake long before now. Some probably hadn't even slept. The short trip to the airport had begun, and five months of waiting had come to an end. St Mac Dara's RUGBY Tour to Paris was on!
   We met in the airport departures area and that's when the constant counting began. 28 was the magic number and everyone would have to stay still until that number was reached, over and over again. 29 was okay, but 27 would lead to mass panic! We had loads of time to say tearful goodbyes to mums and dads, or grunts and lazy-waves for the senior students, get some food, take one last trip to the loo, grab a cup of tea or coffee - or so we thought. Security had other plans for us, and especially for William Kelly, who almost had to be strip-searched. He claims it was because he was too gorgeous, and not because of the scaldy head on him. Either way we were last onto the plane, with the ground staff threatening us with lines - "I must not delay the flight to Paris ..."

Quiet and subdued students after getting up so early.

   One wobbly flight later we touched down in Charles de Gaulle airport. We counted to 28 (at least four times) and then hopped onto our bus to Paris city centre. Something about the Parisian boulevards and fin-de-siecle architcture reminded Cillian Smith of Ballymun. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but he spent most of the weekend pointing this out to Ms Brady. 

  Friday was about basking in Paris, accompanied by constantly checking watches and reminding ourselves what classes we were missing.  We had a great tour of the city by bus, checking out everything from the Arc de Triomphe to Notre Dame, and all that could be seen in between.  Our tour guide told us little facts and stories about what we were seeing, helping to bring it to life.  Every statue of a man on horseback ("fellas on horses - just like in Ballymun miss") was discussed and explained, every building, parc and glory.  The bus tour was over too soon, but we had some free time that afternoon and we planned on going back into the city ourselves.

We've stayed in worse hotels I suppose ...

  We hopped off the bus and began checking into the hotel - it was still before our official check-in so all we could do was drop off our bags.  We grabbed lunch in our nearest McDonald's ("as if we were in Ballymun miss") and then walked all of ten minutes so we could see the Eifel Tower.  Our hotel was in a really perfect location for Paris - a short walk from the Champ de Mars and on to the Trocadero and the Champs Elysses.  We spent almost five hours just strolling around Paris, enjoying the sights, and getting a bit of shopping done.  The girls, especially, loved shopping on the Champs in some make-up shop called "Sephora" or something, while the lads enjoyed looking at the cars.


"Totally looks like Ballymun miss, I'm tellin' ya."

  It was close on seven that evening when we got back to the hotel, with blistered and tired feet, still very excited and happy to be in Paris on a Friday evening while everyone else in school was stuck in Dublin ... or Wicklow!  We got to check in to all of our rooms, grab showers, unpack, locate boots, count to 28, look for something to eat.  The guy in the take-away across from the hotel must have thought it was St Patrick's weekend with the amount of Irish that came through his door that night!  We didn't quite make it back to the Eifel Tower that night to see it lit up, but at that stage everyone was wrecked and ready for sleep.  28 were counted, over and over, and eventually everyone conked out.
  Day one done. Loads more to do.