While Irish Rugby is celebrating a fourth place at the Women’s Rugby World Cup in France, a team from Galway produced a similar result in Wales.
The women’s over 27s (W27s ), coached by Conor Slack and captained by Renmore native Nicola Corcoran, achieved a creditable fourth place in the 2014 European Touch Championships in Swansea.
The Galway girls picked up their first international win in the second of their nine games, securing a 2-1 victory against Scotland with tries from Corcoran and Laura Poortenga. Like their 15-a-side counterparts, games against strong English and French teams proved a bridge too far, but the women tasted victory for a second time with an epic 6-5 win over Wales in their penultimate encounter. This qualified them for the bronze medal match against the Scots, but unfortunately the girls in dark blue got their revenge with a 4-2 win.
Nicola Corcoran was the top scorer for Galway overal with five touchdowns, while Gemma Fay and Amy Evans were the MVP winners.
The men’s over 30s were drawn in a highly competitive division. Although 4-2 up by the break, the men were pipped in the end by an experienced Scottish side 6-5. Losses to French and English sides followed, but Galway secured their first international win with an emphatic 9-4 win against the Swiss. Barna’s Ronan Gibney was the man of the moment, bagging four touchdowns. They followed up with a hard fought 5-5 draw against England.
Top scorer for the men was Declan Keane with six touchdowns, while Jeff Iszehamwas named MVP.
The autumn edition of the Galway Touch League starts in a month’s time. For more information visit Galway Touch Rugby Facebook page or visit www.touchrugbygalway.com
