Mayo school crowned All Ireland IRFU Rugby 7s champion

A huge success for Mayo school Sacred Heart Westport. 

The rugby 7s team has clinched a national title.

The Sacred Heart School earned their place in the All Ireland IRFU Rugby 7s final after bringing home the Connacht title for the second year in a row in March. The tournament was held at Barnhall RFC, Co. Kildare.

Rugby Sevens is a very fast paced game with 7 minutes played in each half with 7 players on the pitch. It was a hot day after a very dry spell resulting in the ground being extremely dry and hard which made conditions particularly challenging.

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There were two pools where the winners from each province or the finalists from each province played the top schools in the other three provinces. The top scoring teams went through to the plate or cup final.

After a 5am start and traveling across the country, Westport still managed to get off to a very fast start against Omagh Academy winning 20-10. Player of the match was Kitty Sweeney.

After a 40 minute break, Westport met Colaiste Pobail Bantry in quite a challenging game. But Westport managed to keep the upper hand winning 40-20. This result assured them a place in the plate final. Player of the match was Ceola Durcan.

The third and very spirited qualifier against Leinster’s Killina Pres from Co Offaly closed out with a score of 40-30. The Sacred Heart School girls dug deep to make it to the National Cup Final. Player of the match was Tara Macken.

With only 14 minutes between the Sacred Heart School girls and the win, they came up against their second Leinster team of the day in Ardscoile na Trionade from Athy, Co Kildare.

Westport came out strong and caught their opponents off guard by scoring a try within the first minute. Determined to bring the cup over the Shannon with them, the girls left nothing on the pitch finishing with a 20-10 win. Player of the match was Ciara Sheridan.

Tries scored throughout the 4 matches as follows:

Tara Macken: 5
Kitty Sweeney: 4
Ciara Sheridan: 3
Ruth Conway: 3
Ceola Durcan: 3
Orla Palasz (Vice Captain): 2
Poppy Tunney Ware: 2
Aoibhinn Lyons (Captain): 1

The winning team, as in the article photo:

Back row (left to right)
Ciara Sheridan, Clodagh McKenna, Ceola Durcan, Poppy Tunny Ware, Orla Palasz (Vice Captain), Evie Farrell, Ellie Mai Keane, Claire Ryan

Front row (left to right)
Ruth Conway, Holly Burke, Saoirse McGing, Aoibhinn Lyons (Captain), Kitty Sweeney, Julie O’Grady, Tara Macken, Jade O’Malley

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