As Friday nights under lights go – this was a cracker.
Welsh side Caerphilly youths Under 10s visited HQ in a touring fixture arranged against a combined U10s / U11s side from Bobby Gerraghty and Olivier Padioleau’s teams. True to form like any Welsh tourists, you would expect them to bring a vocal support and that they did. The Welsh fans got stuck in from the off and roared the house down.
The boys played 2 x 10 minute-a-side matches each, but first the visitors had to be aclimatised to the ‘local Leinster’ Rules as there are some slight differences between the unions for this grade. This was their first ‘international’ experience especially on the 4g under lights. What a privilege for them both sides.
The Welsh boys got stuck in from the off. They really seemed to enjoy the playing surface. From the off, the tourists were attacking the Lansdowne lines with some lovely displays of running rugby and they were well able to shift the ball through the hands. Lansdowne soon came into it and gave as good as they got. A flurry of tries from Toby O’Connell, Harry Martin, Gordy Kelly, Sean Rooney, Enda O’Donoghue and others all made it worth while. Caerphilly are obviously a well drilled unit as their tenacity at the breakdown and their determination to carry forward was truly admirable. Tries were coming aplenty from both sides.
Respect starts young in the South Wales and the Caerphilly coaches had their young charges line up to clap Lansdowne through the tunnel. Off back to the clubhouse where Elayne had organised a few sambos for everybody. A quick exchange of gifts and then each Caerphilly player was awarded a Lansdowne end of season medal. To cap it all off and in typical Welsh fine voice, the boys gave a rendition of their National Anthem. Lovely guests, we’ll hopefully see you again soon.
Diolch eto a gweld chi yn fuan yng Nghaerffili !
Photos by Con O’Donoghue – Full dropbox gallery Click here
It was an absolute pleasure to come to your clubhouseWe were made very welcome
And I must say you must have the best Barman in the whole of Ireland Over 60 people in the clubhouse and Never had to wait long to get served
Thank you all for an awesome rugby experience. It was an excellent game in a great setting. You now know it’s dangerous to leave a piano out near a group of Welsh rugby players, whatever their age.
Go raibh míle maith agat
Caerphilly U10s
A wonderful experience for all the players. Thank you for such a warm welcome and a great game of rugby for the players and parents. Many memories were made over the weekend. Hopefully we will see you all again in the near future. Thanks again from all the coaches, mangers, players and parents.