On Saturday, the Lansdowne Girls were one of four teams priveleged to be chosen to play the half time exhibition minis match at the Leinster v Cheetahs Pro14 fixture at the RDS.

It was always expected to be a stormy occasion but we didn’t expect what was thrown at us.  Event organisers as it happens closed the South and North Terraces for health and safety purposes, wisely as it turns out.

The Girls were picked to play Balbriggan and by the time the mens half time came, on they went already like drowned rats given the rain thrown at them by Storm Denis.  It absolutely pelted down but the girls got stuck in.  After some initial hesitation following an onslaught from Balbriggan, the girls got into the swing of it and decided enough was enough.  Chloe Fagan stopped the Balbriggan advance, who spilled the ball foward to our advantage.  Anna Moran doing some fancy jigs, passed the ball out to the inside centre Emily McCoy who pop passed it out to  winger and twin sister Grace McCoy who then side stepped 3 Balbriggan tacklers and crossed the try line at pace.  The RDS crowd rose to their feet and gave her a big shout.

 

15 February 2020; Action from the Bank of Ireland Half-Time Minis bteween Balbriggan RFC and Lansdowne FC at the Guinness PRO14 Round 11 match between Leinster and Toyota Cheetahs at the RDS Arena in Dublin. Photo by Harry Murphy/Sportsfile
15 February 2020; Action from the Bank of Ireland Half-Time Minis between Lansdowne RFC and Balbriggan RFC at the Guinness PRO14 Round 11 match between Leinster and Toyota Cheetahs at the RDS Arena in Dublin. Photo by Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile

Catherine Phelan, similarly on the opposite wing, was on the receving end of a nice pop pass from Bromwyn who was fed by Captain, Ruby Kenny.  Catherine took the ball into contact, broke through her tackler and was away at full pelt only to get tackled short of the opposition try line but she presented well.  Gace McCoy was in good position again to retrieve the ball and took off again to score her second try of the day.  Again the RDS crowd were gracious in their response and they seemed to enjoy the girls spirited endeavours.

Writing for the Sunday Independent, Brendan Fanning unusually made mention of the Minis Fixture and paid tribute to the girls in the conditions.

“No matter what way you looked at it this was an endurance test, so there was some value in that. But not a lot. Both ends of the ground were closed for safety reasons, given the high wind, and had they been open you can’t imagine any punter would have seen out the event. It’s worth mentioning that at half-time the girls’ minis games went ahead as planned. And they battled through it impressively.”

And just like the Beatles song “With a little help from our Friends”, our sincere thanks to Niamh and the Belvo Girls who joined us on the day.

 

 

https://www.leinsterrugby.ie/gallery/half-time-minis-from-leinster-v-cheetahs/

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