Moving Forward and Making History!
On Tuesday 17th November2015,
nineteen of our girls took a huge step forward in Villiers’ history books being
the first female rugby representatives for the school. Captained by Della
Daly, a travelling senior squad of 15 senior girls and five juniors made their
anticipated debut with a short trip to Limerick Institute of Technology. Here, they
took part in a Development Day run by Munster Rugby which included games along
with skills and drills.
The programme was based on Leprechaun
Rugby, an adapted form of rugby created by the IRFU as an introductory process
to the more commonly known 15 aside full- contact game. This short, 20 minute,
10 aside game involves uncontested set pieces and two handed touch but includes
many aspects of rugby union, such as; general movement, effective attack and solid
defence.
The girls began the day with a game against
St. Anne’s Community College of Killaloe, this close encounter challenged the
girls as they got to put nine weeks of hard work and training to the test. With
a team full of new caps and first-time players, the girls were anxious and
nerves were high. However, we saw a great display of rugby from both teams
involved. Fantastic work rate from players like Olivia Gurnett, Alex Clohessy,
Rachel Hoctor and Rachel Butler made it very difficult for the opposition to make
ground. Huge carries by Laura O’Riordan
and Becky Manifold kept the momentum
in Villiers favour with some very effective evasive attacking lines by Tamsin Harvey, Grace Keely and Katy Reddan.
Tries scored deservedly by Molly Pattison
and Claire Brewitt gave Villiers the
win. Only conceding one try, the girls were happy with their debut lead
excellently by Daly.
Meanwhile, our travelling junior players; Ava O’Connor, Jessica Hickey O’Neill, Siban
Dalton, Aoife Kavanagh and Amy O’ Leary got a chance to play with the two
Junior teams that had made the trip to the event. In a thrilling opener between
St. Annes and St. Mary’s the girls fitted in perfectly making some very
effective line breaks and an all-important try from Jess Hickey O’Neill, her
first every try in her first game of rugby, a huge achievement that she should
be extremely proud of.
After the opening games, the girls were
then put through their paces with some skills and drills by Munster Development Officer Amanda
Greensmith, IRFU Referee Andy Brace and other members of the Munster
Development Team. This was a great way to work on specific aspects of weakness
that had been identified in their games, a lot was learned and taken on board coming
into our final game.
We saw the two sides battle it out once
again and the improvement on both teams was undeniable. The girls had listened,
learned and now got the opportunity to put it into practice. Huge individual performances
resulted in a collective team win that saw inexperienced players step up to the
mark and really impress. This game saw a lot more advancement passed the gain
line and a huge increase in supportive line running, individual line breaks and
movement of the ball to wings. Villiers ran in six tries against St. Annes’
four giving us our second win of the day.
We had decided collectively as a team
before this tournament that we were not here to win or get involved in the
competitive aspects. We were there to learn, develop our skill set and enrich
our understanding of the game. However, this was done so well the wins fell
into place. Huge effort by all involved, we are looking forward to our next
encounter, where we will continue to move forward and make history!
Huge thank you to Eve Meaney and Kennedy
Tabot Ndip for their help on the day, some great photography for
Active Schools!
Exhausted is an understatement. But that’s what witnessing an exceptionally close cup match can do to you. As we faced Nenagh St. Joseph’s in The Cleary Cup semi-final today, we saw a game that was demanding on the players in both a mental and physical capacity.
Nenagh are a side with good skills and comparable work rate. While physically superior to us, we dominated them at the breakdown. Over the last few weeks the breakdown has been our main area of focus. Different techniques were introduced to the boys and they put them into practice on the pitch today with great effect.
Our forwards were a credit to themselves, their school and their upbringing. They were fearless against the bigger team. Our front row of Christian, Ross and Godwin showed determination, endurance, grit and passion in defence. In the second row David Keane and Victor won lineout ball, carried, passed, tackled and did everything asked of them for the 70 minutes. They were brilliant.
There is no doubt in my mind we have one of the best backrow units in U15’s schools rugby throughout Munster. Max, Thomas and Eoin were simply immense today. They epitomised teamwork. These boys are both dogged and skilled at the same. You couple that with an earnestness that would inspire some of the great names in the game, then you know you have something special at your disposal in these three boys.
Noah Patterson did not pass one ball out of place today. He was so accurate with his distribution and even managed a couple of snipes at the breakdown. Outside him, Doug Howell portrayed a sidestep that you just cannot coach. He left defenders in his wake with break after break. Our centres of Vincent and Glenn drove at their carriers and blitzed their line a number of times making huge ground. Our ¾ line of Diarmuid, Fahad and Tommy McDowell showed great instincts in carrying Nenagh’s kicks back towards their defensive line while leaving several defenders in their wake. Tommy 8’s getting better with every game and his confidence in growing more and more. Diarmuid will just throw himself at anything that comes his way. He portrays a toughness that contradicts his size. Guy came on at fullback at halftime and secured the back field area. He tidied up so much ball and was a great addition.
We had a number of standout moments in what was a thrilling match: Eoin McCormack’s try and overall dominant performance. He was simply brilliant. Fahad’s two tries and general mayhem causing jinking runs. Ross O’Shea performed a miracle tackle in the corner 1ft from our try line. He just worked and worked until he reached their winger and put in a tackle that forced a knock on at the line. It was a massive sigh of relief and a huge contributor to winning this nail biting schools cup semi-final. Max put in a hit towards the end of the match when the pressure was on. He drove their player back 3 yards and we turned over the ball. With 2 minutes left, it was a key.
Success does not become reality through magic; it takes sweat, determination and hard work. Success is no accident. There are no secrets to success. It is the result of graft, learning from your losses and persistence in seeking perfection. What these U15’s boys have above all else is loyalty to one another. That is key to team success. The final is on the 13th of April. Their ability as rugby players will be tested that day, but do not question these boy’s loyalty and character. They have it in bucket loads. Friday the 13th! Will it be lucky for Villiers? Something tells me it will.
