Tag Archives: All Ireland semi final

On Saturday afternoon the ladies of Ennis/Kilrush rugby club will square off against Leinster champions Tullow for a place in the All Ireland final where ultimate glory would lead to promotion to the All Ireland League. This is truly fairytale stuff considering up until two years ago there was no adult ladies team. Limerick native Gareth O’Hanlon who resides in Clonlara was approached by representatives and players of both clubs and he openly admits their rise has been nothing short of sensational. “Both the clubs of Ennis and Kilrush have had great underage structures and success for many a year but once girls turned 18 there was no outlet for them to continue playing rugby at adult level unless they went into Limerick or down to Cork,” he said. “In terms of numbers, neither club had enough to set up their own team never mind being anyway competitive so an amalgamation of both clubs seemed to be the way forward. …

ALL conquering last year and having turned in some dominant displays this summer, Ger Loughnane still feels Galway may not be the irresistible force some feel they are. He believes if Clare take them on from the first whistle, they may find some flakiness in the Galway ranks. “What I do hope is that Clare go in and ask the questions from the very beginning and just play with total abandon. Not wildness now, with structure; but absolutely have a right cut at them from the start. I think that fellas that collapsed before can collapse again, that’s always my belief. Fourteen of that Galway team, that played the last day, played in the 2016 Leinster final, which was the most abject surrender I’ve seen in the last 10 years in a championship game.” The Feakle man adds, “They’ve won an All-Ireland since, maybe they’ve turned into a brilliant team since, they look to have, but Clare have to test …