Tag Archives: rugby

HEAD Coach Adam Griggs has named Clare’s Eimear Considine at full-back in his Ireland Match Day 23 to face Wales in Saturday’s Women’s Six Nations game in Cardiff. Considine returns to number 15 as one of the three changes in personnel from the victory over Italy last time out. Ireland will be captained by Ciara Griffin in the opening game of their 2021 Championship campaign at Cardiff Arms Park (Kick-off 5pm, live on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player), with Griggs’ starting XV showing three changes to the side that beat Italy at Energia Park last October. Commenting on his selection, Head Coach Griggs says the competition for places within the squad has intensified in recent weeks as the squad stepped up their preparations at the IRFU High Performance Centre. “We are extremely confident in the squad we have selected,” he said. “We have had a great deal of time to prepare together and this group of players have earned the responsibility …

Chisom Ugwueru of Ennis RFC is one of twelve players named in the Ireland Under 18 Sevens side to compete in Rugby Europe U-18 Women’s Sevens Championship in Jarocin, Poland this weekend.  Chisom is one of two Musnter players selected. This is the final competition for the Ireland U-18 Women’s Sevens squad this season and forms part of the Women’s Sevens Development pathway for this group. They have been drawn in Pool C and will play against Georgia, Latvia and Scotland.  They played in the Home Nations Tournament last month where they finished in third place. Live streaming is available on www.rugbyeurope.tv. The full squad is as follows: Chisom Ugwueru (Ennis/Munster) Grace Browne Moran (Westport/Connacht) Beibhinn Parsons (Ballinasloe/Connacht) Capt Ava Ryder (Westport/Connacht) Leah Reilly (Navan/Leinster) Kate Farrell McCabe (Gorey/Leinster) Caoimhe O’Callaghan (Dundalk/Leinster) Amanda McQuade (Virginia/Ulster) Mya Alcorn (Letterkenny/Ulster) Lucy Turkington (Dungannon/Ulster) India Daley (Enniskillen/ Ulster) Méabh McElligott (Listowel/Munster)

Tullow, Carlow 34 Ennis 27 An all round better balanced Tullow side proved that bit too strong for Ennis in the All-Ireland under 16 rugby cup final at the 4G pitch in Mullingar this afternoon. The Carlow outfit got off to a dream start, scoring a try in the opening minute and they held the lead throughout. That said, Ennis never dropped the heads and battled back strongly, particularly in the second half but the Leinster premier side held the upperhand in the vital areas and deserved their win. “We were on the back foot from the word go. We had prepared well and we thought everything was right for us as the injuries had cleared up but the early score rattled us. We never got ahead and when we scored they hit back with a score. All credit to Tullow, they are a fine team”, Ennis manager Ken Butler said after the game. Tullow kicked off and attacked straight …

Ennis RFC will travel en masse to Mullingar on Saturday to watch the U-16s vie for All-Ireland honours against Tullow from County Carlow. The boys have reached this stage of the competition on the back of an unbeaten run over the past two years in Munster, winning both U-14 and U-15 honours. ike a number of his fellow mentors, Butler grew up following the fortunes of Ennis RFC. His late father, Tony, played for the club’s junior team and served in a variety of positions in the executive. “Like a number of the other coaches in the club, I grew up going to games in the old showgrounds every week and developed an interest in the game from there,” said Butler, who recalled the work done at underage level by the likes of Jackie Morris, Joe Moloney, Malcom Lewis and Michael Considine to mention some. “They were very involved in the underage structure, which has expanded a lot in recent …

Pupils in Parteen National School have kicked off a new rugby project, with a public appeal for assistance in their fact-finding mission. They need help telling the life- stories of the 15 men who played on the Parteen rugby team more than a century ago. A good deal of the pupils’ work will focus on how conflicts drastically altered the lives of the rugby players. ‘United by Sport, Divided by War’ is the theme of the project. The men were united in their love for playing rugby in peacetime but war would ultimately tear their team apart and have a devastating impact on many of their lives. A project team, made up of 17 history-loving pupils and third-class teacher Cathal Crowe, meets after school on Monday to delve into the untold stories of the rugby players. School principal Ger Ruane described this project as a fantastic opportunity for the children. Mr Ruane thanked Mr Crowe for volunteering to do this in his free …

A bust of the late Shannon RFC, Munster and Ireland rugby legend, Anthony Foley, was unveiled on Friday evening at Shannon RFC clubhouse, which is located in Thomond Park. Kilbaha based sculptor Seamus Connolly was commissioned to create the bust of the Killaloe man, who died suddenly in Paris on October 16, 2016. The 42 year old former back row forward was Munster Head Coach at the time of his passing. “It was an honour to be asked to commemorate Anthony. I was approached by Shannon Rugby Club. They wanted to put up a bust and of course I was very excited to do it. Also, there was a lot of pressure because Anthony was a hero for Shannon, Munster and Ireland. I tried to capture the essence of him,” Seamus Connolly told The Clare Champion. “You pick your pose and go ahead with it. After that you hope that everyone is going to be happy. The commissioners have seen …

LAST Sunday, Eimear Considine was desperately hoping not to hear her phone ringing. Instead, she was very keen to detect the ping of an email landing in her inbox. The 26-year-old Kilmihil girl eventually received confirmation that she had made the 28-player Irish squad for the Women’s Rugby World Cup, which will be staged in this country from next month. Ireland will play their opening game against Australia on August 9 in the UCD bowl. They are also grouped with Japan (August 13) and France (August 17). “You got an email if you were picked and you got a phonecall if you weren’t. So I was hoping my phone wouldn’t ring,” the PE and Irish teacher at St Mary’s in Glasnevin mused. “I was up at cock-crow. I couldn’t sleep because it was always on my mind. The waiting was the hardest part of it. Initially, the squad was to be announced two weeks ago but it was postponed further …

  ENNIS 27                                              Garryowen  26     ‘MY Lovely Rose of Clare’ echoed around Thomond Park on Sunday evening as delirious Ennis youths celebrated a historic victory in the Munster U18 Cup final, pipping Garryowen after a pulsating game that was in doubt until literally the last second. Even the most partisan Ennis supporters must have felt for Garryowen captain and out half Harry Byrne who was off target with two late penalty attempts, either of which would have won the game. The pressure on the young man was very severe both times, particularly with the second one as it was clear it would be the last action. The scenes on the pitch thereafter really illustrated the extremes of feeling that sport can evoke, with Ennis players and club members celebrating wildly at the same moment as Byrne sank to the ground, crushed. The first 20 minutes saw Ennis take a 6-3 lead, David Mescall with two penalties for the …