Girls Rugby Blitz

The Junior and Senior girls attended a blitz run by Leinster Rugby at St. Mary's College RFc on Tuesday the 16th of October.

​Such was the enthusiasm of the Junior girls that two squads had to be entered. Many of these girls were playing rugby for the first time and found the experience a very enjoyable one.

​They played two games against St. Dominic's and one against Wesley.
They showed great skills for their first appearance on a rugby pitch and the future is certainly bright for girls rugby at St. David's if they continue to show the improvements from the day.

The Senior team played three games, winning against Loreto Bray and Temple Carrig before coming up slightly short against CSL Tallaght. 

They also got to see the Pro 14 and Heineken Cup trophies first hand. 

Well done girls on a great day of rugby.

Junior squad: Andrea Ryan, Natasha Byrne, Kayleigh Moorhouse, Lucy Roberts Kuns, Niamh Brady, Jessica Brady, Paris Nevin, Fiona Fickett, Keela Saunders, Kim Gallagher, Hannah Carroll, Aoibhe Hickey, Ella Fitzsimons, Laila O' Gorman

Senior squad, Aisha Ryan, Rachel Purcell, Megan Healy, Katie Lawless, Aoise Bentham, Nell Berney, Ava Elders Gallagher, Esther Jow, Natalia Stanicka, Kamila Rudzka

Additional Reporting from Lucas H

Senior Girls
1st Match:
The opening match of the season for the senior girls side was against Loreto Bray. From kick off, Loreto realised they were facing a strong side as Rachel Purcell carried the ball almost effortlessly over the line within the first minute. Another try soon followed, scored by Katie Lawless, outrunning multiple defenders. Hat-tricks then followed from the pair - the half-time score being 30-5 in favour of St. David’s. After the break, a fantastic break down the touchline resulted in a try for Megan Healy. Katie Lawless got her name on the scoresheet for the fourth time followed by a try by Natalia Stanicka before the final whistle. Final score 45-10 to David’s. 

2nd Match:
The second match of the day for the senior girls was against local rivals, Templecarrig Greystones. The girls had high hopes stepping onto the pitch after dominating the field in the previous game. They not only saw this as a game of rugby but to see who was crowned King, or Queen in this case, of rugby in Greystones. David’s may have been seen as the underdogs for this match, but were on the scoresheet very early in the game as a result of an excellent try from their captain Rachel Purcell. Templecarrig soon equalised, but David’s then remembered what was on the line here. The David's girls responded by scoring three consecutive tries, two coming from Megan Healy and another from Rachel Purcell which was now her fifth try in two matches. Templecarrig responded with two more tries of their own but the gap was too big to fill. The final score was 25-15 to St. David’s. 

3rd Match:
The most challenging match of the day came last as St. David's were pitted against Tallaght Community School. Before kickoff it was clear Tallaght had an advantage over David’s in terms of size. . The girls trailed 5-0 within the early parts of the match, sometimes seen as the most crucial part of the game. The David’s side responded well with two swift tries coming from none-other than Rachel Purcell and Katie Lawless. Tallaght then managed four consecutive tries which put some gloss on the scoresheet. The girls tried to close the gap and managed to cross the try-line twice more, but the damage was already too much to repair. The girls suffered their first defeat of the season, the match ending 20-30 to Tallaght. I’m sure the David’s side will take this loss in their stride and use it to focus on skills that need improving in training.  

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