The third round was completed with two closely fought battles. The key words on every. coach’s lips are “young” and “youth”. You don’t often find two 18-year-olds facing each other in the front row at elite level. Brython Thunder v Clovers But for Brython things changed. They added three eminent internationals to their starting Fifteen,
The Irish Wolfhounds are the side their five Celtic Challenge rivals long to be. The weather in Edinburgh stayed cold but bearable. The hosts knew they were up against it; the Wolfhounds seem likely to remain top dog for the foreseeable future, thanks to a phalanx of international stars. All the same Neill Alcorn will
It’s still very early days in the third version of this tournament, just two rounds completed. But already we can see a familiar pattern recurring. In the only game played on the first weekend of the new year Wolfhounds beat fellow-countrywomen, Clovers, 24-7. That makes them the only side to take full points. A squad
Today’s two results (I’ll leave them till the end) allow us to draw some tentative conclusions. To nobody’s surprise Wolfhounds, comprising the best players from Leinster and Ulster, have walked off with a second trophy running. Congratulations to them, but then we must ask if the aims set out by the organisers are really being
The gaps widen. Three unions linking to form a single league were bound to show their national characteristics, making uniformity difficult, if not impossible. The best Scottish and Welsh players are invited to join PWR clubs in England; only a few Irish bother to make the leap. Clovers and Wolfhounds are full of test players,
Celtic Challenge – Replay Scotstoun Background This fixture had fallen foul of the bad weather. A reserve weekend was set aside for just such a purpose. But another match to suffer the same fate, Glasgow Warriors v Clovers, will not be replayed, Glasgow using up this one date available. The teams take two points each,
In a rarer type of double-header, four teams from three nations gathered in Cork. The centrepiece was a match-up between the top two. Once more Wolfhounds bore the closest resemblance to a full test side. Wolfhounds v Gwalia Lightning Teams: Wolfhounds 15. Ella Roberts 14. Vicky Elmes Kinlan 13. Aoife Dalton 12. Eve Higgins 11.
A game to provide a welcome change in fortune. Parc Y Scarlets, Llanelli Teams: Brython Thunder 15. Ellie Tromans, 14. Ffion Davies, 13. Savannah Picton-Powell, 12. Meg Webb, 11. Eleanor Hing, 10. Hanna Marshall, 9. Seren Singleton, 1. Stella Orrin, 2. Chloe Gant, 3. Cadi Lois Davies, 4. Robyn Davies, 5. Natalia John (captain), 6.
Three matches were completed: Brython Thunder v Wolfhounds (Parc Y Scarlets); Clovers v Edinburgh Rugby (Virgin Media Park, Cork) Gwalia Lightning v Glasgow Warriors (Ystrad Mynach) Brython Thunder v Wolfhounds The difference in quality was evident from the start. The Wolfhounds, representing Leinster and Ulster (but essentially the Dublin conurbation plus reinforcements) are likely to
Three matches: Clovers v Gwalia Lightning (Belfast) Edinburgh Rugby v Brython Thunder (Edinburgh) Wolfhounds v Glasgow Warriors (Belfast) The good news is that we are seeing tighter finishes. Clovers v Gwalia Lightning Through the first half you could spot a distinct gap in class. Where was the method in Gwalia’s recycles. That meant more worries
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