Railway’s Sights Firmly Set On Return Trip To #EnergiaAIL Finals Double Header

One of Ireland’s most decorated athletes, Lindsay Peat could not imagine a life without sport. The veteran forward is still fuelled by an infectious passion for it – likening it to an energy drink – as she continues to star in the colours of Railway Union RFC.

Peat’s stellar sporting feats are well known at this stage, having been a Republic of Ireland underage soccer international, captain of the Ireland women’s basketball team, and an All-Ireland winner with the Dublin Ladies Gaelic football team before taking up rugby in 2015.

Undoubtedly one of Irish sport’s greatest all-rounders, rugby has been a key component of her life for the last number of years. Speaking to IrishRugby.ie, she is honoured to be spoken about in such a high regard.

“I think it’s one of the greatest honours that can be bestowed on me really, to be honest, because if you think of all the athletes in this country that we’ve produced, like some of them are my idols,” said the genial Dubliner.

“I cannot speak highly enough about the people who’ve impacted my life over these years. So for people to say my name and be recognised and associated with such a positive influence, like that’s really a life goal made, isn’t it?

“Because sometimes people go through life, and if you make a positive impact on one person, you’d be happy. But to do it on such a level, if people feel that I’m there, then, yeah, it is one of the greatest honours I think I can have associated with me.

“So, yeah, (I) get emotional thinking about that because it’s been a huge part of my life. Sport owes me nothing, I love it.

“It’s just something like an energy drink to me, and it’s just so positive for everything it’s done for me. I can’t imagine life really without it.”

2025 marks ten years since Peat took on the challenge of playing rugby. A year prior she still recalls the pain of losing the 2014 All-Ireland Senior Ladies Football Championship final with Dublin, a game in which she scored two goals.

From her time playing basketball with DCU Mercy, Graham Byrne, who had looked after the team’s strength and conditioning needs, planted the seed for the Artane woman to pursue rugby.

Byrne’s cousin, Shirley Corcoran, was the director of rugby at Railway Union, and Peat decided to join the Sandymount-based club after stepping away from her intercounty football career with the Jackies.

She fondly remembers when then-Ireland head coach Tom Tierney watched her in one of her very first games and later brought her into the national squad. In just her eighth rugby match, she came off the bench to make her Ireland debut away to England.

Before calling time on her international rugby career in January 2022, the multi-sport hero had amassed 38 caps, playing in every Six Nations campaigns from 2016 through to 2021, and the Rugby World Cup on home soil in 2017 when she picked up the Rugby Players Ireland Women’s 15s Player of the Year award.

Peat reflected on the difficulties she had early on in adjusting to the sport, particularly as a greenhorn prop, but now looks back fondly on that time and encourages anyone to pick up the oval ball and give it a go.

“I absolutely hated the sport when I started, and it’s funny, I’ve come full circle. I remember my first trip actually to UL. I came off the back of the scrum, and I absolutely got leathered by Fiona Hayes with a dead leg.

“It was miserable, we were playing behind Thomond Park. I was like, ‘what am I doing here?’, and I never felt pain like it.

“It was that day that Tom Tierney was in the stands, Lord rest him, and it was then for some bizarre reason that that man decided to call me in, on my fifth club game.

“I hated it, to be honest, for the first couple of years. I didn’t get it. The scrum…absolutely did not see the point of this thing. I hated being in it.

“It was nearly like being caged, that you couldn’t get out, and I wanted to really be up with the backs or the back rows where all the craic was happening.

“It was very hard coming from being a point guard in basketball, playing a really fast break, really intense, speed game. And then coming to rugby where you really put your cognitive input into the game under pressure.

“It’s taken me probably ten years to really understand the game, and even coming into coaching or having that time away or even coming into doing a bit of punditry and reviewing games and looking at it from the outside in has helped my learning.

“Obviously, I’m probably a bit calmer as well. Like, very sad to say that it’s taken me 20 years of a sporting career that I can say it’s actually more enjoyable when you’re present in games.

“The amount of finals I’ve lost and haven’t played well in because I put this bizarre pressure on myself or this expectation that, you know, you’re watching games on telly and you want to be this world class player giving this unbelievable performance.”

She added: “I’ve had a fantastic 20 years, I really have. I’d love to have a video recorder and look back at it all, probably just slate myself with what a gobshite I was at times! But to look to see, hopefully, a lovely evolution of the player and the person.

“Sport has given me so much, especially rugby. I suppose it came at a very different time in my life and I was able to feed back at a hugely transitional period for Women’s sport, and was able to hopefully advocate on a lot of levels for that.

“Obviously a lot of LGBT stuff that is very personal to me and (to) be able to be a voice to that, and sport is a huge conduit and a really great level to just have difficult conversations.

Everyone comes just for a love of one thing, and nobody knows anyone else’s background. You’re committed to something in your part of a team and you’re a sound person.

“Sport has been huge. It’s been very powerful for me. I’m not shy of saying that everyone should play sport. It doesn’t have to be elite level.

“Get in, meet people, connect, have a bit of craic, have some pints after, go for food. It’s just a lovely way to live. It should be a huge part of everyone’s life.”

Peat, who turned 44 in November, shows no signs of slowing down. She scored 11 tries in 2023/24, including a brace in the final against UL Bohemian, on the way to being crowned the Energia All-Ireland League Women’s Division Player of the Season.

She has 10 tries to her name already midway through the current campaign, and Railway Union’s motivation to avenge that defeat to Bohs is obvious as they head into the New Year as unbeaten leaders with nine straight wins.

Getting the chance to play at the Aviva Stadium was a real dream come true for her. However, missing out on silverware in both the All-Ireland League and Cup was a huge disappointment last year, and that stands out more to her than winning the individual award.

“To be honest, it sounds really bad, but I actually totally forgot I got that award, and I mean that in the most humble way,” she admitted.

“Like, to get that was probably the last thing I would have expected, and I would have traded it for the AIL title because, obviously, it’s really lovely, it’s very clichéd but it is lovely to get individual awards. It genuinely is.

“It’s humbling. It was nice for me on a personal level because there’s times I questioned myself. I’m just gone 44. It’s embarrassing to say that, and I should really be well retired.

“But at the same time, I love it. Probably playing some of my best rugby over the last two to three seasons, which is bizarre, to say the least.

“It was a nice surprise, but as I said I would give it up for anything to have that AIL title with Railway, and I’m not going to lie either. UL were absolutely class last year.

“We beat them at home. It was surprising. We still have that accolade that we were the only team to beat them last season. They were well deserving of it. To be fair, to have the first Women’s AIL final as a double header with the Men’s in the Aviva was obviously historic.

“To put on the spectacle of the match and really open people’s eyes and really put on a show for both teams – there’s history between these two clubs – we didn’t disappoint.

“That was something that really was the shining light coming away from it, bar the result. It was an absolute privilege. The Aviva is unbelievable. Never played there as an international, got to play there finally.

“That was one of my dreams that I wanted to tick off on a personal level, and I got to do that, and hopefully we’ll get back there this year because we really want to avenge that defeat. But we’re a long way off, and it’s really down the road.”

This season is Peat’s second as a member of Railway’s coaching team, along with her playing commitments. Initially focused on the scrum, her role has expanded into the defensive side of the rugby.

Mike South was promoted to head coach at Park Avenue for 2024/25, with Ireland international Ailsa Hughes also in a player coach role, and highly-regarded former director of rugby John Cronin returning to the club as a senior coach.

Asked about juggling her coaching duties with maintaining her presence in the team as their starting number 8, Peat explained: “It’s really tough. It’s a really grey area because, obviously, can’t be on a hierarchy as a player in one sense.

“So to dip in and out of being that senior player, but then into a coaching role, when I’m obviously heavily involved in the forwards and mainly the scrum. I kind of flip into teacher/coach mode, this year especially, I’m tough.

“I’ve brought in a lot more live scrums because we’re not getting anything off a machine. There’s a lot of dark arts that I can’t teach on a machine. So it’s been a key learning for me. It’s definitely something I want to improve on.

“I’m loving it, but it’s definitely a very tough act to balance because I’m also still very competitive, and I want a jersey. I want to play.

“I want to play 80 minutes, and then I’m expected to be the coach on the rational side of things as well. So that’s hard to dip in and out, but, look, I can only hopefully get better.”

South’s charges are setting a strong pace at the the top of the table, and look destined to feature in the semi-final stage in the second week of April. The Energia All-Ireland League finals double header takes place at Irish Rugby HQ on Sunday, April 27.

Railway’s last result was a runaway 91-0 victory at home to Ballincollig before Christmas, and the return fixture takes place at Tanner Park on Saturday (kick-off 5pm). Peat is expecting to face an improved ‘Collig side in bitterly cold conditions.

“We’re under no illusion. There’s some fairly tough teams. There’s teams who have probably been having a baptism of fire coming into AIL, and every team is well able to get a win over you, especially at different times this season,” she insisted.

“You can’t be complacent in any respect with any team, and we’re under no illusion at that. We’re not looking past any game other than whatever the upcoming game is. So the total focus this week is on Ballincollig.

Obviously Ballincollig came to Dublin before Christmas, and the scoreline actually didn’t reflect the game – they put us under some severe pressure at times. They probably didn’t reward themselves enough, and we took advantage of that.

“We were probably flattered by the scoreline. It’s always a tough place to go to. They’re a very proud club, and I don’t expect anything but a really, really tough battle to be honest.

“They wouldn’t have wanted to end their first half of the season like that. First weekend in January, it’s cold, it’s miserable, and we have a trip to Cork to get over first. That’s a tough battle, and we have to be focused going down there.”

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