Leinster vs Ulster

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Club in Focus WICKLOW The world we live in is increasingly becoming all about the here and now, immediate gratification for what goes right, instant ingratitude for what doesn’t. By its very nature, sport is a results-based business. Yes, even in the amateur arena. When the slings and arrows come your way, it is easy to lose sight of your target, to forget about the hard road travelled over many years and the grand plan ahead. When Wicklow Rugby Club earned the right to represent in the Energia Women’s All-Ireland League, they did it not as a rising offshoot of the traditional, more influential men’s clubs. They did it through the grind of years put down, the push to bring girls into the game, to make their club an equal rights place to play. “In 2019, the IRFU decided to set up the 10-team All-Ireland League. They did so by inviting applications which was an interesting way of doing it,” says Wicklow club President Brian Clarke. Wicklow U14’s Leinster Youths Cup champions 2019 partly to facilitate the growth in women and girl’s rugby. club. We ticked a lot of boxes. That was it. We were in.” “We would have been closer to the top of Division One in Leinster and would have been a prime candidate on that alone. “We also have the facilities, three fantastic pitches, including a really good quality floodlit pitch, a brand new 1,500 square-foot gym, kitted out to IRFU senior standards, eight changing rooms, built “We approached the application to the AIL like a job interview, presented to the IRFU in the head office in Lansdowne Road. “We shared the history of the club and the recent growth particularly from the women’s and girls perspectives and told them about our fantastic set-up for the youths and our ambition for the entire Getting into the All-Ireland League is one thing, competing as a legitimate force is quite another. “The luck of the draw meant we had to play the four top clubs in the opening five rounds, three of them away from home. There was a sharp intake of breath when we saw that,” says Clarke. 82 | www.leinsterrugby.ie
Wicklow U16’s Leinster Youths Cup champions 2019 Wicklow Left to Right Ella Roberts, Brian Clarke, Jess Roberts It has been a sobering experience in this, Wicklow’s first proper season in the AIL. They have been humbled by the powerhouses of the AIL, losing out to Old Belvedere (63-0), Railway Union (142-0) and Blackrock College (63-0) in the opening three rounds of the All-Ireland League. This brought with it a hail of criticism about mismatches and the merits of the All-Ireland League as the step below Interprovincial level, the Railway Union whitewash even drawing national headlines. “In some ways, it doesn’t serve any purpose to go over the Railway Union match or, indeed, those three matches. We had to get on with it and get past it,” he says. “We were invited into the competition. The other side of that is we accepted the challenge. To be beaten like we were against Railway would have damaged a lesser group of women. www.leinsterrugby.ie | 83
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Leinster vs Ulster

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