Report: U12 Rugby Tour of Ireland
[Written by James O'Shaughnessy] The U-12 team recently returned from their Irish Rugby Tour and Bermuda can be very proud of their under 12’s! A touring party of 39 which included 24 boys, 11 coaches/chaperones and 4 grandparents! The tour was organized with George Hook of Irish Rugby Tours in Dublin. The tour was packed full of activities including nine game of rugby.
The ethos of mini rugby is to foster and develop young players of all ability in the game of rugby in a safe, non competitive, enjoyable environment through activities which ensure progressive skill development for all participants within the traditions of Rugby Union.
Friday – April 29th
The key activity on arrival in Dublin was to get rid of the jet lag and we organized a training session with one of Willow’s Park coaching staff, Tony Smeeth (third from left above), who also coaches Trinity College Dublin and the Leinster squads. The boys enjoyed the 90 minute session and after a quick dinner got to bed early!
Saturday April 30th, 2011 vs. Willow Park
Willow Park is the junior school for Blackrock College, and is a feeder school for Leinster rugby, the 2009 Heineken Cup champions. Many of their alumni have represented Ireland over the years including Brian O’Driscoll, arguably Ireland’s greatest rugby player. The school is widely recognized as being one of the top schools at all ages in the British Isles and have professional coaches working with them throughout the season.
The Senior team while losing seven tries to one and the Junior team lost by six tries to nil – they played with great heart and determination. To put it in perspective, the teams we played were undefeated in their season and the senior team recently won a tournament in Northern Ireland without being scored upon.
The boys were fired up for the rest of the tour despite the losses and held their heads up high; having scored on Willow Park is a huge achievement. We were treated to a very nice lunch at the school and we exchanged plaques and Bermuda pins and wristbands.
The afternoon activity was attending the Heineken Cup Semi Final Rugby match between Leinster and Toulouse at Lansdowne Road.
It was a fantastic occasion played under a blue sky and we all enjoyed the experience immensely – attendance 51,000. The boys became instant Leinster fans and enjoyed a game of rugby in a field near the stadium on the way back to the Stillorgan Park Hotel.
Sunday May 1st, 2011
Another beautiful sunny day! We were hosted by Cill Dara RFU, and played a Senior and a Junior side round robin tournament versus Cill Dara and Naas RFU.
All four games were very hard fought. Huge passion was displayed throughout the tournament. Any rugby fan would have hugely enjoyed the day, except for the cold wind that blew throughout.
In the “Senior” games, Bermuda first faced Naas, the local champions. While the game was back and forth, Bermuda ultimately prevailed by 3 tries to 2. The Bermuda rucking made the real difference. The second game against the host’s, Cill Dara, was an intense and physical affair. But Bermuda defended fiercely, and kept their heads in the game, overcoming the odds and winning 2-1, spending most of the last ten minutes in desperate defense in their own end. All are delighted with the victories.
In the “Junior” side game, Bermuda narrowly lost to Naas 2-1, though the game seemed ready to be won at any moment. In the second Junior game Bermuda lost a heartbreaker, having led 4-1, but being caught from behind and losing 5-4 right at the death.
We were again hosted for lunch in the Cill Dara clubhouse and plaques, rugby balls and shirts were exchanged amongst the boys.
The Bermuda rugby community can take great pride in both teams and their efforts today. In fact, in his comments after the game, the Cill Dara coach commented that he had his team watch our earlier game as a teaching lesson in quality, technically correct rugby and noted “your young players were wonderful ambassadors for their team, their schools, their country of Bermuda and indeed for themselves with the manner in which they conducted themselves both on and off the pitch. I was greatly impressed with the discipline your team displayed in both their offensive and defensive plays and I believe that they were deserved victors on the day. We really enjoyed the opportunity to play a team from beyond these shores”.
The game of hurling is one of Ireland’s national sports and the afternoon activity involved a trip to Croke Park to attend the National Hurling League final between Dublin and Kilkenny with Dublin prevailing for the first time in winning the trophy since 1939. It was an exciting match and the boys were impressed with the speed of the game and surprised at the physicality of the sport.
Monday May 2nd, 2011 – We were hosted by Gorey R.F.C. and they also invited to their family day and barbecue as their end of season event. They organized games especially for us and were very gracious hosts. The boys played three games of rugby and fully participated in the family day with skeet shooting, tug of war, duck races, tag rugby and sumo wrestling activities.
The “Senior ” side played in a very physical encounter against a much larger side and narrowly lost by four tries to three. The game was played with a lot of commitment and intensity and the Gorey’s side match experience was ultimately the difference between the teams. The Gorey side played in excess of 20 games during the season scoring in excess of 100 tries and only conceding 10 tries.
The Gorey club had such a depth of talent at the club that our “Junior” side played two additional games losing the first one 5 tries to nil with the Gorey side being more clinical in executing their scoring chances. The Bermuda side retained their fighting spirit and they prevailed 2 tries to nil in the final game.
There was a specially organized game of tag rugby between the Bermuda coaches and the Gorey coaches with the Bermuda coaches prevailing 5 tries to 3 with many notable performances! Notably, the Bermuda coaches all wore scrum caps which we think gave us the advantage – fun event and the boys enjoyed watching us turning the clock back.
At the end of the festivities many of our boys exchanged their Bermuda shirts with the Gorey lads and they all signed one another shirts. One coach from Gorey was noted as saying “that his team will remember this day for a long time to come and they would love to venture to our shores in the future”.
Summary
Overall, the tour experience was wonderful for all the boys, coaches and travelling supporters (included 4 grandparents) – in total the squad of 24 played nine games of rugby against some of the better school/clubs in the country and all the coaching team and travelling supporters were impressed with the application and sportsmanship exhibited by all the team members. The coaching team of Steve Robb, Mike McGavick, Nick Ball, Peter Kiernan, Chris Page and Anna Perry- Smith are to be commended for their dedication throughout the season and on tour.
One of the grandparents travelling with us David Page noted “congratulations on a really enjoyable highly well organized action packed tour for the 24xU12 youngsters you brought over from Bermuda to play schoolboy rugby at its very best. It will be a trip that they, along with the parents (and grandparents may I add) will be remembered for the rest of their lives. They are very lucky lads to have had such a wonderful experience. They received Irish hospitality at its very friendly best. It was a privilege to be with you all; thank you for allowing me to become one of the tour – it was absolutely fantastic”.
One of the most memorable aspects of the tour was the hospitality we were shown throughout the tour – from the staff at the Stillorgan Park Hotel, Irish Rugby Tours, Willow Park, Cill Dara and Gorey R.F.C. and all the people we interacted with throughout the tour and the boys were excellent ambassadors for Bermuda rugby.
