Buccaneers trio enjoy touch rugby success

Three Buccaneers touch rugby players experienced success on Saturday last as they were part of the winning ITA Women’s Club Championship side.

Buccs combined with Connacht rivals Racoon West from Galway for the competition in Corinthians RFC in Galway and they were represented by the trio of Niamh Purtill, Aoife Purtill and Chloe O’Connor.

In their first game the Buccaneers – Racoon West amalgamation took on the experienced DLSP side from Dublin. The DLSP ladies played a clever game in attack and they shrewdly exploited some slack defending by Buccs-RW to power to 6-3 victory. Scorers for Buccs-RW were Rita Ibanez (two) and Buccs’ Niamh Purtill. It was understandable that the amalgamated side had some teething troubles in their first game together.

In their second game they faced Greystones and they finally clicked into gear with a powerful attacking display winning 10-2 with a hat-trick from captain Risa Egerter, a brace each from Buccs’ players Aoife Purtill and Chloe O’Connor and further tries from Georgia Codyre, Emma Horan and Rita Ibanez.

This win qualified Buccs-RW for the final and a rematch with DLSP. The Dublin ladies started favourites as they were unbeaten to that point. However they were never able to get into the game as the westerners dominated the first half leading 2-1 at half-time with scores from Edel Houton and Risa Egerter. Buccs-RW continued where they left off in the second half and three further tries from Risa (2) and Emerald House stretched out their lead. A late reply from DLSP left the final score 5-2 to Buccaneers – Racoon West.

Overall it was a hugely impressive display from the western ladies as they made an experienced and strong team look ordinary.

Strong running from the likes of Niamh and Aoife Purtill, Georgia Codyre and Laura Gaffney as well as solid defence from Emerald House, Rita Ibanez and Chloe O’Connor were key in fashioning this victory.

Buccaneers/Racoon West Ladies: Aoife Purtill, Niamh Purtill, Chloe O'Connor, Laura Gaffney, Risa Egerter (captain), Edel Houton, Emma Horan, Georgia Codyre, Emerald House, Rita Ibanez.

Meanwhile, the ITA Men’s League Division 1 also kicked off at Corinthians on Saturday with Buccaneers men’s touch team in action. Buccs lost 9-2 to Racoon West in their first game. They then faced Belfast side Eastside Eagles in their second game of the day with the Belfast side triumphing 13-5.

It was a tough afternoon for Buccs as they were missing a host of key players such as Ben Wolfe, Jack Gordon, Colm McNally, Feidhlim Byrne and Cian Copelin, but there were a few players making their Men’s League debuts such as Isaac Wilkins and Cooper So who both impressed.

Buccaneers men: Paul Gavin (captain), Nigel So, Cooper So, Oisín Moran, Denis Delaney, Jack Delaney, Anthony Quinn, Paul Connaughton, Rory Silke, Isaac Wilkins.