Ireland win U18 Home Nations

Ireland have won the first leg of the U18 Home Nations sevens this weekend at Peffermill in Edinburgh

Published by John Birch, July 8th, 2018

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Ireland win U18 Home Nations

Triumphant Irish team (with a trophy that is not the Home Nations trophy!)

Ireland had selected a strong team with Anna Doyle and Dorothy Wall, who co-captained the Ireland Women's Under-18s to European bronze earlier in the year, leading a team that included seven other members of the team that played in Vichy are included

Coached by Adam Griggs and managed by Elaine Ryan, the team were unbeaten across the weekend. They topped the pool with increasingly impressive performances over the day, beginning with a 28-19 win over England, following that by beating Wales 22-5 and ending with a big 47-10 win against Scotland.

They maintained that performance on the second day with a 29-14 semi-final win against Wales before the final against England.

Wales had a far more difficult opening day, but fought back to end third overall

Coach Jonathan Hooper selected a team that included Lleucu George, the youngest player at the Women's Rugby World Cup last summer, and Ospreys' Lauren Smyth as captain. The team also included some players from last year’s Youth Commonwealth Games.

Despite this they lost all of their pool games but produced their best performance in the third place game, racing to a 17-5 lead at halftime before fighting off a Scottish comeback in the second half to win 22-17.

In the final two tries gave Ireland a 14-0 half-time lead. England pulled back to 14-10, but a third Irish try near the end of the second half confirmed their title.

Results:

England:No squad details published by the RFU.

Ireland:Maggie Boylan (Carrick-On-Suir RFC/Munster); Lily Brady (Westport RFC/Connacht); Megan Burns (Tullamore RFC/Leinster); Meabh Deely (Ballinasloe RFC/Connacht); Anna Doyle (Tullow RFC/Leinster) (capt); Alexandra Dunne (Denston College/IQ Rugby); Molly Fitzgerald (Navan RFC/Leinster); Lucinda Kinghan (Monaghan RFC/Ulster); Kelly McCormill (Monaghan RFC/Ulster); Beibhinn Parsons (Ballinasloe RFC/Connacht); Aoibheann Reilly (Ballinasloe RFC/Connacht); Dorothy Wall (Fethard RFC/Munster) (capt)

Scotland:1. Ellie Clark (Stirling County); 2. Sarah Denholm (Biggar); 3. Eva Donaldson (Stirling County); 4. Emily Flavell (Caithness); 5. Evie Gallagher*(Stirling County); 6. Chloe McCue(Murrayfield Wanderers); 7. Ciara McCulloch (Murrayfield Wanderers); 8. Katie McLaren (Stirling County); 9. Meryl Smith (Murrayfield Wanderers); 10. Beth Streets (Stirling County); 11. Eve Thomson(Hillhead Jordanhill); 12. Evie Wills*(Stirling County)

Wales:Alex Callender (Llanelli Wanderers/Scarlets); Catrin Jones (Cardiff Quins/Cardiff Blues); Celyn Lazenby (Llanelli Wanderers/Scarlets); Darcy Thomas (Llanelli Wanderers/Scarlets); Hannah Powell (Jesters/Dragons); Imogen Shide (Nelson Belles/Dragons); Lauren Smyth (c) (Hendy/Ospreys); Kenzie Tutton (Nelson Belles/Dragons); Lleucu George (Whitland/Scarlets); Meg Davies (Cardiff Quins/Cardiff Blues); Niamh Terry (Hendy/Ospreys); Megan Webb (Cardiff Quins/Cardiff Blues)

The second leg of the Home Nations U18 Sevens tournament will take place at Birmingham University from 20th-22nd July.

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