A International - by @alfiewolf (Dar Garner)

16.08.14  
Ireland A v Scotland A

It was off to Ashbourne RUFC once again, a second time in the space of three weeks that Grace, Finn and I headed off. This time it was not the All Ireland Rugby League Final but it was the International between Ireland A v Scotland A.  

To my delight the ground was as it was the last time - well organised and catering for all. After the kids had gorged themselves on their lollypops (Daddy of the Year I am) the kids sped off full of sugar to the bouncy castle area. This left me to watch the game unfold. I thank you Ashbourne RUFC!

After the Anthems were played (all 3 of them) it was time to get the game on. Scotland kicked off into the teeth of the wolfhounds and the wind. Ireland immediately got on the front foot with a couple of settling hard forward runs and a helping offside penalty or two.

Within the first 6 minutes some quick hands by Ireland down the right gave us a glimpse of their game plan. Shifting the ball to the right wing on this occasion resulted in a knock on but the signs were there that this could be a try-fest.

The first to cross the line was the loose forward for Ireland, Guilfoyle but a correct call from the referee ruled that out with a forward pass.
  
The first 10 minutes really showed how strong the wind was as Scotland struggled to make headway getting over the half way line. Although Scotland were coming up with some strong defensive hits Ireland were camped in the Scottish half for much of this period. The pressure told on 11 minutes when some good passing play by Ireland resulted in the left centre Hargreaves slipping through and scoring 15 metres in from the left edge. Up stepped Dunne the full back to slot over the conversion. 6-0 Ireland.

The next 10 minutes followed much the same with Scotland trying to get some territory but having to do much of the hard defending within their own half. Eventually Ireland made their chances stick. On 20 minutes with a neat grubber kick by Ireland's number 7, Cox, the ball was fumbled by Scotland on the try line and pounced on by Ireland's right centre Hughes. Dunne then swept over the conversion. 12-0 Ireland. 

On the next few sets with 24 minutes gone Ireland were back over following a superb kick chase for the centre Hargreaves to grab his second of the day over on the left side. Dunne clips the post and fails to add the conversion. 16-0 Ireland.

Credit to Scotland they were never giving up and you could see they were calming their plays and making less mistakes  With some big direct running from the Scottish forwards they had a brief spell in the Irish half. Following a repeat set they attacked on the left which was closed down with a huge hit from Ireland centre Hughes, which raised the home support. Scotland however were in no mood to dwell on this and with a quick shift to the right they found a gaping hole in the middle of the Irish Defence and crossed for their first try of the day scored by Vernon on 28 minutes. With an easy kick slotted over it was game on! 16-6 to Ireland.

As a result of this Ireland shook up their attack and brought on who I thought was a contender for man of the match. Off came Kelly who was having a superb game and on came the fresh legs of 14 Mikey Russell. It was a good call from the Irish coaching staff as the Scottish big men were jaded from all the defensive work they had done up until this point. Russell added pace around the rook and seemed to speed the game up. The pay off was on the 33 minute mark when Stewart, on debut, crossed on the right side. Dunne missed the kick which made it 20-6 Ireland.

Russell proved his worth again just 3 minutes later when Ireland found their way up to the Scottish try line. From a play the ball 3 meters out Russell darted through the gap like terrier down a rabbit hole. Dunne picked up the conversion to leave the half time hooter sounding at 26-6 to Ireland.

Time to check the kids hadn’t damaged either themselves or the bouncy castle, get a drink and get ready for the second half. I wasn’t convinced that a 20 point advantage was enough to get Ireland home. The wind had gotten stronger and at the start of the game I had in my mind put the wind advantage down for 12 points at least. Ireland had used the wind in the first half very well with some superb kicking, could Scotland do the same and win the territory?

The start of the second half and Scotland got off to a flyer. They forced Ireland into a drop out and got a repeat set. From this the pressure told and the winger Ramsey scored on 43 minutes. Again the conversion hit the post and failed to go over. 26-10 to Ireland.

With both teams making some simple mistakes the game closed up. I could however sense Ireland getting more confidence playing into the wind. Scotland also didn’t help themselves by making simple errors early in their sets gifting Ireland territory. It was such an error that got Ireland rolling again in the second half. Ireland had put a grubber kick in to be chased close to the Scottish line. This was regained by Scotland but some rush play saw them lose the ball on tackle one. Number 2 Foster for Ireland regained and the pressure was back on Scotland. The hard grafting back rower Hall scored on 54 minutes under the sticks in the following set. 32-10 to Ireland.

A stand out player for Scotland, 21, came on and had some impressive runs skittling a few of the Irish out of his way. On the back of one of his runs Scotland were able to pressure the right side of Ireland but some scramble defence from Ireland managed to bundle the Scots into touch. 

Unfortunately Scotland again were guilty of gifting Ireland possession. Ireland were on the attack in the 61st minute on the left side. A loose pass by Ireland resulted in the ball going to ground. If Scotland could have held this ball they may have gone all the way back down the other end. However the ball was spilled and some neat skills from Ireland centre Hargreaves scooped the ball through his legs for Kenny who had a simple run in. 36-10 Ireland

From here the game was over. Two further tries from Ireland in the 71st minute by Hughes and Gill on 79 minutes saw the final score Ireland A 44 - Scotland A 10.

Deserving man of the match no. 13 Brendan Guilfoyle.  His hard hitting in defence and powerful running lines were sure to contribute to his accolade. Some stand out performances from 10 Matty Hadden, 9 Wayne Kelly, 14 Mike (the Terrier) Russell, 3 Hughes, 4 Hargreaves and 13 Brendan Guilfoyle (MOM) proved too much for Scotland to handle.  

Another great day at Ashburne RUFC and the bonus is the kids had a blast too. Well done Ireland Rugby League!

Ireland: Casey Dunne, Alex Foster, Adam Hughes, Brad Hargreaves,  Mark Kenny, Sean Rees, Adam Cox, Ben Rowley, Wayne Kelly, Matty Hadden, Lemeki Vaipulu, Chris Hall, Brendan Guilfoyle INTERCHANGE: Michael Russell, Curtis Stewart, Gareth Gill, Matthew Cahoon

Tries: Brad Hargreaves (2), Adam Hughes (2), Curtis Stewart, Mikey Russell, Chris Hall, Mark Kenny, Gareth Gill

Conversions: Casey Dunne 4/8, Wayne Kelly 0/1

Scotland: Grant Walker, Dominic Wallen, Gregor Ramsey, Stuart Fee, Tom Aplin, Sam Herron, Dave Vernon, Stuart Gray, Aaron Robertson, Lance Tallet, Colin Jarvis, Thomas Murray, Shane Clark INTERCHANGE:  Kyle Matheson, Alistair Maxwell, Matthew McNee, Cory Adams

Tries: Dave Vernon, Gregor Ramsay

Conversions: Stuart Fee 1/2

All Ireland Grand Final - Barnhall Butchers 25-24 Treaty City Titans (by Dar Garner)

At 3:30pm on Saturday 19th July myself and Finn (Age 3) headed out for the short trip up the road to see the All Ireland Grand Final. Seven times champs Treaty City Titans against the Barnhall Butchers, who were in their rookie year in the competition.

I have to be honest, at this point I really wasn’t expecting much. Perhaps this is from my experience back in early 2000s where having made the ‘voyage’ across the pond on a one way ticket when I was delighted to find out the real beautiful game was being played in this hard core Rugby Union island. Now, having come from Warrington where the game is the No.1 sport and well organised to where the game was in its infancy, my experience of League over in Ireland was bordering on shambolic. It always came down to 20 minutes before kick off ringing around to scratch some players together. So as Finn and I rocked up at Ashbourne Rugby Union club I was pleasantly surprised the final was being played at such a club. Perhaps it was the venue or location or the teams or the free admission or all of these factors that there was such a good turn out of spectators.

Walking around the pitch past the club house and BBQ with Finn to the seated stand I couldn't help having a huge smile on my face seeing the progression of rugby league in Ireland since my twilight playing days on these shores. And the best was yet to come!




It took just minutes before the first break by the Butchers speedy wing but some scramble defence by the Titans did enough to halt his progress, although the damage had been done as the next play unfolded and Butchers Prop Gareth Murray rumbled over  With the conversion this made it 6-0 to the rookie year Butchers

The next 10 minutes of play saw some good crash play from both sides but too many simple errors and forced plays from Titans proved to be the undoing of them. Butchers were playing the simpler game and not forcing the plays. They managed to build some pressure and the full back Mark Kenny managed to nip through a gap in the Titans defence to score under the posts. Again the conversion kicked to make it 12-0 to the Butchers.

The next 15 minutes saw some rushed plays again by the Titans with the ball being given over cheaply but with some hard defence this didn't cause any more points being scored. With 5 minutes to go in the first half I could see the Titans composing themselves more with the plays and gaining more control and confidence.

The half time whistle sounded and the two teams grouped together for the talk. 12-0 in favour of the Barnhall Butchers. I managed to get in earshot of the Titans team and was surprised the coach didn’t lose his head with what he had witnessed. Instead he stayed calm and gave some good instructions. In hindsight I figure he knew what his team were capable of with the wealth of experience the Titans had over the Barnhall Butchers. How right he was not to doubt his team.



The half time break for Titans had the same effect as EPO had on Lance Armstrong. The Titans let rip with some big hits and immediately got on the front foot with some great crash balls followed by some good handling. They first broke down the left edge with a try from centre Mike Kelleher, then they stormed down the right with the centre offloading to Billy Noonan to score. With both conversions being kicked this tied the game at 12-12.  This was all in the space of 7 minutes of the second half kicking off!!  More was to come. 

On the very next play after the kick off an impressive Lemeki Vaipulu opened up the Butchers again with some dancing feet and pace to give Luke Malone a run in under the sticks. Again the conversion was hit home to bring the scores to 18-12 to the Titans. With the half time team talk still fresh in the ears, the Titans didn’t stop there as Cronan Gleeson went over. 24-12. All this within 15 minutes of the second half. At this point I couldn’t see the Butchers coming back. The Titans seemed to be firmly butchering the Butchers with 24 unanswered points. 

However, the Titans seemed to take the foot off the gas a little after making some changes from the bench and with the wind behind the Butchers they found themselves in the Titans 20 zone. Offensively the next play was one of the highlights for me. Nearing the end of the set, Ben McCarthy put a delicate grubber through the defensive line and regained the ball to score what for me was a decisive turning point of this a twisting game.  This left a difficult conversion 10 metres in from the right edge. It was duly dispatched to get the Butchers back in the game.

The next few sets brought the Butchers back down the pitch but in a ‘Red Mist’ moment of frustration Butchers player Diarmuid Carr was seen to stamp. Out came a yellow and off went Carr. The Butchers then stepped up to the plate and rallied while they were down to 12 men. No advantage in points was seen during the sin bin period to the credit of the Butchers.

With 10 minutes to go Mikey Russell opened up the Titans defence and scored a great try from 30m out. The kick was another tough one but it was posted through the sticks with ease. 24-24 was the score with 8 minutes left on the clock. At this point I did wonder what the plan was for a draw? Would it be a replay as seems so common in the fast game of Gaelic games or would they go the NRL way of Golden point? However, I will never know what the plan was as Barnhall seemed to draw on their Union skills of getting in the right spot and slotting over a drop goal with 2 minutes left to play. Titans did have one last chance to pull it out of the bag on the very last play when the Butchers spilled the ball but the Titans couldn’t capitalise. The whistle blew and the cheers went up for the Barnhall Butchers in their rookie top flight year.     

Barnhall Butchers 25       Treaty City Titans 24.



I have to admit I didn’t expect to witness such an event. It had it all, an end to end game full of biff, entertainment and a nail biting finish. Combine the game with the venue of Ashbourne Rugby Club, the spectators, the atmosphere and I have to say well done Rugby League Ireland!  You WILL see me again supporting my local and now adopted team of Barnhall Butchers (its cheaper than flying back to Warrington).  It even whetted my appetite to get the boots back on and (calm down wifie I’m not going back playing) get my refereeing certificates in place and keep my hand in the real beautiful game of Rugby League.

p.s. Hats off to the rugby league for selecting the female touch judge, we really are leagues ahead in this great game.

Dar Garner
@alfiewolf

Barnhall Butchers: Mark Kenny, Liam Grimes, Dewi Harrison, Conor Harding, Diarmuid Carr, Ben McCarthy, Simon Gillespie, Gareth Murray, Mikey Russell, TJ Renihan, Mark Ivers, Ben Harrison, Tom McKeown Interchange: Martin Furey, Matt Crehan, Sam Hall, Dave Ferguson, Padraig Beatty, Colm Mulkerrin

Treaty City Titans: Sean Hogan, Mike Kelleher, Lemeki Vaipulu, Mike O'Neill, Brendan Guilfoyle, Eoin Ryan, Mark O'Neill, Luke Malone, Ben Rowley, Aaron McCloskey, Tevita Toia, Cronan Gleeson, Interchange: Donnacha O'Grady, Tadhg McCloskey, Joe Reid, Ger Burke, Ronan Hogan, Billy Noonan, Cian Leahy

Match Officials: Steve Hogan (Referee), Jason Craughwell, Fiona McConn (Touch Judges) Paul Baxter (4th Official)

Niall Cantrell Man of the Match Award: Tom McKeown (Barnhall Butchers)

Half Time: Barnhall Butchers 12-0 Treaty City Titans

Full Time: Barnhall Butchers 25-24 Treaty City Titans

(Rugby League Ireland)