Clontarf’s women showed flair and fortitude in equal measure as they faced two difficult games in a four-day period.
The UCD Women’s squad which turned up at Clontarf on Wednesday night was well-organised, well-conditioned and well-populated. In the spirit of the Development League the coaches had agreed on unlimited substitutions, so the 25 on the active roster of the home side faced a fitness test against the 40-plus of UCD. The skilful work of conditioning coach Maeve Byrne, and that of Aoife Slater before her has clearly paid off, as Clontarf proved themselves equal to the challenge twice in the space of four days.
Periods of sustained pressure from the visitors were met with strong tackling and alert counter-attacking from Clontarf, with memorable hits from Audrey McBrien, Naimh Keaveney, Una Kehoe and Sorcha Mcguire laying markers down all over the field. When UCD eventually found a gap, and then the try line, 25 minutes had elapsed. Clontarf’s immediate response was to hammer their way back up the pitch with three minutes of tight, irresistable rugby involving handling by 11 different players, until Maeve McQuillan finished the tenth phase under the posts. Keaveny chipped the conversion over without fuss, and in the rapid recycling and accurate fringework of the move it is possible that Clontarf had glimpsed their blueprint for future success.
UCD came back strongly, and pinned Clontarf back for long periods with a disciplined rucking game which was only truly halted by the antics of Mairead Hennelly from her preferred position of No8. Hennelly does not hit a ruck so much as wade through it on the way to the ball, as if she were heading across a field of corn. Defensively she made a nonsense of the DCU line out, and in attacking combination with flanker Catherine Moore she proved a highly effective ball carrier. Hennelly’s physical gifts are allied to a sharp rugby mind and an ability to tap into a deep well of competitive spirit when required – while the touch judge saw nothing wrong with the hand-off that turned UCD’s scrum half upside down in mid-air, the referee felt that a word was in order.
With Heather Byrne injured, the ‘Tarf missed a big clearing boot, and continuous UCD pressure was to tell in the second half as fresh UCD legs ran around a wearying lateral defence for three late tries.
Then, four days later, Clontarf had to do it all again against a young, pacey side at the Royal College of Surgeons sports ground in Santry. Captain Angela Dwane had been taken off with an ankle injury against UCD, leaving a match-day squad of 16 stripped of at least eight starters. When front-row powerhouse Sorcha Mcguire reluctantly stood down before kick off, in a rigorous and reassuring application of the IRFU concussion protocol, a sub-less Clontarf could have been forgiven for thinking they were facing a long afternoon.
To say that their response was admirable is an understatement. They applied their game plan with confidence and accuracy, running straight lines, relishing contact and causing panic amongst the inexperienced RCS backs, where the irrepressible Keaveny harassed their ball like a fox in a chicken coup. Keaveny was the first to benefit from the continual pressure with a well-taken try on ten minutes, closely followed by one for Captain and highly-influential centre Inga Byrne in the same corner. RSC pushed doggedly back up the field for five minutes until a turnover ball was fed deftly inside to the ever-present McQuillan. This wasn’t the first time a group of pursuers had found themselves shaking their heads in disbelief as the lock put twenty yards on them on the way to the try line, and it will probably not be the last .
When RCS did break through, the threat was usually extinguished with good group tackling and some calm clearance work from the Tarf fly half. The defensive scheme nearly broke down just before the end of the half, but in a typically positive response Clontarf stepped up the pace, spearheaded by the centre/halfback quartet of Inga, Kathy, Lorna, and Heather, all named Byrne, who turned quick ball into gainline success all afternoon. Again McQuillan broke through, this time opting for a pass to Inga Byrne, who received the WOTM award for her effort in keeping up with her teammate prior to her second score. That said, it seems a little unfair to pick out individuals from what was ultimately a team performance.
The second half had a quite different character, as Tarf dug deep into reserves of energy and self-belief to keep a resurgent RCS at bay. Three times the home team crossed the line, but were twice denied a try by sublime effort in defence. Most notable was McQuillan, again (and if I cover any more of these games I will need a ‘Maeve McQuillan’ key installed on the laptop), who made up ten metres on a clear break to apprehend the ball carrier from behind as she crossed the line, then judo-rolled her astonished opponent to hold the ball up. There is emerging in this team, on the field at least, a certain streetwise cussedness, a gritty attitude and a fondness for a ‘bit of bosh’ that will stand them in good stead in this league and beyond. Quite where this comes from is something of a mystery. Ralph Mills, the bookish acupuncturist at the helm seems an unlikely source – a better clue might lie in the amount of training time the squad, and particularly the pack, has been spending with the players and coaches of Clontarf Social Rugby.
RCS managed one more score before the final whistle, but it was to be Clontarf’s day. Which was the most impressive display – the champagne rugby of the first half or the resilient trench warfare of the second – is a matter of personal politics. But when a team of 6 weeks’ experience goes into a match under difficult circumstances and produces two halves of such compelling rugby to emerge with a victory, none can fail to be moved.