Ireland U-18 Girls To Face Scotland In Bowl Semi-Final
The Ireland Under-18 Sevens Girls will meet Scotland in Sunday’s Bowl semi-finals at the 2015 Sainsbury’s UK School Games in Manchester. The game takes place at 10am and will be streamed live via the competition website.
Stan McDowell’s side posted their first win of the tournament by beating Wales West 24-10 in an entertaining opening tussle at the Armitage Sports Centre this morning.
A free-flowing move saw the Welsh take a 5-0 lead inside the first 30 seconds, but the Ireland girls soon settled into their stride with Bantry Bay’s Yvonne O’Shea making an impact in both attack and defence.
They levelled matters with an excellent try which started with a textbook tackle, turnover and drive forward from the ultra consistent Eimear Corri. The ball was put through the hands and shipped out to the left where Mairead Hopkins put Carrick-on-Suir’s Kate English scampering away for the score.
Ireland then went 12-5 ahead for half-time as Portlaoise starlet Corri broke from the right wing, getting on the outside of the covering defender to raid in for a well-taken try. Captain Chloe Blackmore (pictured below) landed a lovely left-footed conversion.
The girls in green went further in front shortly after the restart as Hopkins produced a strong hand-off and very good turn of pace to sprint clear on the right. The extras were added in impressive fashion by Blackmore.
The Welsh outfit fought back with their second unconverted try, but Ireland had the final say as Molly Scuffil McCabe from Westmanstown spearheaded an attack that ended with Gorey’s Niamh Doran touching down thanks to a neat step inside and out.
Ireland lost a tight final pool game to England South East, going down 19-12. Powerful South East captain Sarah Bern, who has played 15-a-side rugby for the England U-20 Women, was the difference between the sides with an early brace of tries.
Her quick-fire double, including a barnstorming opener, was added to by Zoe Harrison as England South East stormed into a 19-0 first half lead. However, McDowell’s charges showed plenty of character and resilience to get back into contention.
Hopkins bumped off a tackler near the right touchline to finish off a fine team try, following on from great work by Corri on the left wing and angled running from skipper Blackmore who also converted with aplomb.
The half-time deficit of 19-7 was further reduced when Corri claimed another tremendous solo try. After possession was moved to the right from a midfield scrum, she picked up a loose pass on the deck and turned quickly to beat one defender and use her pace to outstrip the covering defender.
The try was unconverted and despite the best efforts of the lively Scuffil McCabe and an eager bench, Ireland could not get back into try-scoring range in a tense final few minutes.
Blackmore and her team-mates, who finished third in their pool, closed out Saturday’s action by taking on a talented England South West team in the Cup quarter-finals. Tries in each half from Scuffil McCabe and Doran were not enough to avoid a 22-12 reversal.
Scuffil McCabe did terrifically well to juggle a pass from Ballynahinch’s fast-breaking Brittany Hogan and hold onto it to run in a try just past the half-time hooter, with Cill Dara’s Sabrina Kennedy excelling in the build-up.
Although that score reduced the arrears to 12-7, England South West tagged on two unconverted tries to seize control of the second half. Kennedy and Carrick-on-Suir duo Blackmore and English led a strong attacking spell in and around the 22 that teed up Doran to close out the scoring.
2015 Sainsbury’s UK School Games – Sevens Day 1 Results
2015 Sainsbury’s UK School Games – Sevens Day 2 Results
2015 Sainsbury’s UK School Games – Sevens Fixtures
2015 Sainsbury’s UK School Games – Live Streaming
IRELAND UNDER-18 GIRLS SEVENS Squad (2015 Sainsbury’s UK School Games, Manchester, Friday, September 4-Sunday, September 6):
Eimear Corri (Portlaoise/Leinster)
Niamh Doran (Gorey/Leinster)
Molly Scuffil McCabe (Westmanstown/Leinster)
Chloe Blackmore (Carrick-on-Suir/Munster) (capt)
Robyn Gleeson (UL Bohemians/Munster)
Vicki Graham (Clogher Valley/Ulster)
Yvonne O’Shea (Bantry Bay/Munster)
Kate English (Carrick-on-Suir/Munster)
Shannon Touhey (Tullamore/Leinster)
Mairead Hopkins (Ballina/Connacht)
Brittany Hogan (Ballynahinch/Ulster)
Sabrina Kennedy (Cill Dara/Leinster)
RESULTS/FIXTURES:
Friday, September 4 –
Pool A:
Ireland Four Provinces 15 England North 33
Scorers: Ireland: Tries: Eimear Corri, Mairead Hopkins, Brittany Hogan
Team: Molly Scuffil McCabe, Robyn Gleeson, Chloe Blackmore (capt), Kate English, Eimear Corri, Yvonne O’Shea, Mairead Hopkins.
Subs: Niamh Doran, Sabrina Kennedy, Vicki Graham, Shannon Touhey, Brittany Hogan.
Day 1 Round-Up – Ireland U-18 Girls Take Positives From School Games Opener
Saturday, September 5 –
Pool A:
Ireland Four Provinces 24 Wales West 10
Scorers: Ireland: Tries: Kate English, Eimear Corri, Mairead Hopkins, Niamh Doran; Cons: Chloe Blackmore 2
Team: Molly Scuffil McCabe, Robyn Gleeson, Chloe Blackmore (capt), Kate English, Eimear Corri, Yvonne O’Shea, Mairead Hopkins.
Subs: Niamh Doran, Sabrina Kennedy, Vicki Graham, Shannon Touhey, Brittany Hogan.
Ireland Four Provinces 12 England South East 19
Scorers: Ireland: Tries: Mairead Hopkins, Eimear Corri; Con: Chloe Blackmore
Team: Molly Scuffil McCabe, Robyn Gleeson, Chloe Blackmore (capt), Kate English, Eimear Corri, Yvonne O’Shea, Mairead Hopkins.
Subs: Niamh Doran, Sabrina Kennedy, Vicki Graham, Shannon Touhey, Brittany Hogan.
Cup Quarter-Final: Ireland Four Provinces 12 England South West 22
Scorers: Ireland: Tries: Molly Scuffil McCabe, Niamh Doran; Con: Chloe Blackmore
Team: Molly Scuffil McCabe, Robyn Gleeson, Chloe Blackmore (capt), Kate English, Eimear Corri, Brittany Hogan, Mairead Hopkins.
Subs: Niamh Doran, Sabrina Kennedy, Vicki Graham, Shannon Touhey, Yvonne O’Shea.
Sunday, September 6 –
Bowl Semi-Final: Ireland Four Provinces v Scotland, 10am