Rugby

The Senior Boys rugby team have been training on Wednesday evenings between 4 - 5.00pm. They are coached by both Mr. Kilbride and by Niall Paterson, who is involved with Cavan Rugby Club and who very kindly and willingly gives up his time to come in and train the team. The teams played their first games of the season against Wilsons’ Hospital School, Multyfarnham at Cavan Rugby Club. Both teams put in very strong performance against a school with a rich tradition in rugby. The Junior team were finally defeated 35-5 after fighting bravely for almost the whole game with only 14 men, with Fabio Elliot scoring a brilliant solo try. The senior side also put in a brilliant battling performance against a very strong side and were eventually defeated 21-0. The senior team played their second game of the season against St. Mel’s College, Longford in December at Cavan Rugby Club. Played in very sporting conditions in which every player got game time, St. Mel’s came away with the victory.

Our junior side attended the U-14 Virginia District Blitz in January 2020. In their first match the side faced Bailieborough Community College and came away with a deserved 7-0 victory, with Jonathan Hastie powering over the line to finish off a well worked team try. Following on from their first game, the RSC boys were pitted their wits against Virginia College in the second group game. Having defended heroically throughout, Virginia managed to get the all important first score and seen off the RSC response, to come away 5-0 victors. Needing a victory in their final group game to progress into the final, the Royal boys produced their best performance of the day. From the onset they were camped in their opponents half and got the breakthrough they deserved when Nathan McCracken intercepted a loose pass and offloaded to Joshua Mee to cross over the line. The team faced Virginia College for the second time in the final. Virginia produced their best rugby when it mattered and came away with a 15-0 victory to claim the winners title. Well done to everyone who took part, with a special mention to Bryan Moorhead & Jonathan Hastie who really stood out for the Royal side.

Junior and Senior girls’ rugby training takes place every Tuesday 4 - 5pm, with Ms. Argue taking charge of both sides. The Junior girls side travelled to Kingscourt at the end of February for their first outing of the year against Coláiste Dún an Rí. With large numbers participating from both schools, which was fantastic to see, it was agreed that two teams would be made from each school to accommodate the numbers and to make sure everybody got equal game time. In match 1 Kingscourt got off to a blistering start and caught the Royal girls cold with an early try. They continued their dominance throughout the first half and went in at half time with a commanding three tries to none scoreline. However whatever was said during the half time team talked sparked the Royal girls into life in the second half. The team rallied superbly and got themselves right back into the game with two quickfire tries. A further try was added to tie up the game, however the Royal girls weren't happy with just a draw. With both teams in search of a winner, it was the Royal school girls that got the all important seventh try to cap a fantastic comeback and seal a brilliant victory by 4 tries to 3. Try scorers ere Hannah Reilly with 2, Bryanna Mahood and Tyana Pratt Clarke. In the second game of the day the Royal girls displayed some of their best rugby of the day to produce a comprehensive victory over their opponents. With some excellent handling, passing and raw speed on show the Royal girls dominated proceedings from first minute to last to come away with a fantastic victory by 7 tries to 1. Try scorers were Abby McDowell and Dawn Higgins both grabbed hat-tricks and Edel Murdy also going over the line. This is made all the more impressive considering these three girls scoring feats on the hockey pitch this year also.

In the third encounter of the day both sides played some fantastic expansive rugby, in a real titanic battle. With the lead swinging from one side to the other, both team had to be content with a share of the spoils in a 8 try encounter. Again the quality of some of the rugby and the tries scored was evident for all to see and a joy to behold. Aoibheann Mulligan led the way for the Royal side with two brilliant tries and Dawn Higgins continued her excellent try scoring form with a further two brilliant individual efforts for RSC to seal a dramatic draw. The fourth and final game of the day saw another absorbing encounter, where a thrilling end to end game saw 10 tries equally divided between both teams. Again as the lead switched sides on a number of occassions, the Royal girls showed great resolve throughout to come away undefeated for the day. Tyana Pratt Clarke with two, Hannah Reilly again with two and Abby McDowell with one all crossed the line for the RSC team. Well done to all players and coaches on a fantastic days rugby played in very sporting conditions.

On Thursday 12th March 2020, Royal School Cavan competed in the Virginia Area Girls Development Blitz in Peace Link Park, Clones. Other participating schools on the day included Coláiste Dún an Rí, Kingscourt, St. Clare's Ballyjamesduff and Bailieborough Community School. In our first game of the day, the girls were pitted against Bailieborough. With the lead exchanging either way on different occasions, it was Bailieborough who came out on top of an 8 try thriller, winning 5-3 on tries, with Megan Griffith Keane, Dawn Higgins & Emma Sonaike crossing the line for the RSC scores. In our second game, the RSC girls produced an excellent display to overpower their opponents Coláiste Dún an Rí, and complete a comprehensive win by 6 tries to 0. This win ignited the RSC girls day and they went on to win their next two games to qualify for the final. The first of those wins came in a titanic second battle with Bailieborough, with the RSC side coming out the right side of the result on this occasion by 7 tries to 5. The second of those victories, and third win of the day for RSC, came against St. Clare's, Ballyjamesduff. Again there was nothing to seperate two fine teams, but it was the Royal girls that came out on top of another 10 try thriller, winning 6-4 on tries. Having won three of their four games, the Royal girls qualified for the final, where they would pit their wits against Bailieborough for the third time. In a keenly contested encounter, much like the previous two games, the Royal girls lost by the slimmest of margins, 3 tries to 2 with Dawn Higgins keeping up her fantastic try-scoring form and Ava Nesbitt also getting over the line for a try. A massive well done to Ms. Argue, coach and Form 5 student Ben Reilly and all the girls on a fantastic achievement to reach the final.