TAKE a bow, Clonakilty Rugby Club’s Invincibles.
As the Clon club’s U18 girls’ team powered to glory in the Munster Clubs Girls U18 Cup final, it continued their remarkable season. Unbeaten, they have won the league cup and now the cup, as well as lead Sacred Heart Secondary School to Munster schools’ senior cup glory.
With a half-time lead of 31-5 against Ballincollig in this Munster cup decider, Clonakilty were in a pole position heading into a second spell that they won 19-10 to confirm a commanding 50-15 victory.
‘To beat Ballincollig in the cup final, that was the cherry on top. We played them in a league final as well,’ Clon coach Neville Burton told The Southern Star.
‘I think the scoreline flattered us. They are a tough, tough opponent. They are the most difficult team that we have faced all year. We faced them three times and each time it was a battle.’
While the trophy collection swells, to go unbeaten this season is a remarkable achievement.
Clonakilty's Julie Finn offloads the ball before the challenge comes in.
‘This is a talented bunch of girls. They have worked incredibly hard and haven’t taken anything for granted. By the end of the season, they were probably the fittest team out there and hardest training team, in my view,’ Burton explained.
‘As much as that was hard going at times, it definitely stood to them in the end. They were just over the moon and it’s a bit of history for Clonakilty. At U18.5 girls level, it’s relatively new over the last few years and we have never picked up a league or a cup trophy, let alone both. The school's double (senior and junior) on top of that was fantastic,’ added Burton, who is also the rugby club’s chairman.
The Clonakilty Rugby Club team comprises the majority of the Sacred Heart side that completed the Munster schools’ senior cup two-in-a-row. This group of players has a sense of understanding and togetherness and it shows with the accolades they have won.
‘There is a great sense of team, and that extends across the youth girls section, the girls section generally and across the club. Comradery and teamship is certainly a value we are trying to push. It’s something that rugby does well anyway,’ Burton said.
‘At the club, it is a big focus of ours. There are a number of girls who will go up to adult level next year as well. We were all out together, the U18 and adult girls, and the young girls were all talking about the wonderful atmosphere and culture that has been created with adult ladies.’
Clonakilty celebrate their cup final win.
While the U16 team lost out to Richmond-Scarriff in their Munster Cup final by 31-20, that was competitive throughout. It further emphasises the conveyor belt of talent coming through in Clon girls’ rugby, even with a few U18s moving up a grade next year.
‘There are a good few U18 girls who could still play U18 next year under the U18.5 ruling and they are choosing to go up because they see about 16 or 20 U16s coming through. They have taken quite a mature decision to say “we’ve won everything we needed to at U18s, let’s get out of the way, move up and try and add strength to the adult ladies and give others a chance to come through”,’ Burton explained.
‘We’ve looked at this as a ten-year project. We are trying to make sure all of our numbers are strong. There is a power-plan, there is a conveyor belt. The U16s were unlucky not to pick up silverware for the club, they did so for the school. The U14s girls lost the cup final but they won the league final earlier in the season. There is a great buzz in there for the U8s, U10s and U12s girls.’
This has been a great year for Clonakilty girls rugby but Burton insisted that they can’t get too complacent. This is a good platform to build on.
‘I’d say we are in a good place. I still think we’ve got some work to do around coaching development, player development, continuity. I don’t want us to rest on our laurels and pat ourselves on the back for too long. There are still areas where we need to put in a lot of work so that we can continue to have sustainable systems, set-up and results each year,’ he concluded.
Clonakilty RFC: Maria O’Donovan, Clodagh McCarthy, Ella O’Sullivan, Jo McCaughey, Caoimhe McCarthy, Rachel Twomey, Julie Finn; Meghan Coakley, Ciara O’Driscoll, Maya McMahon, Leona Arra, Emer Moroney, Amy Giles, Kate Burton, Roxanne Llewellyn.
Replacements: Emily Moloney, Saoirse O’Sullivan, Charlotte McCabe, Aideen O’Sullivan, Chloe Galwey, Niamh Hilliard, Elva McAuley, Laura Sexton.
