Buccaneers women finished their maiden season with some serious silverware by way of the Connacht Development Cup.

Tipped up by Sligo in the league, Buccaneers upset the applecart come cup semi-final time and posted two tries to one when the two clashed winnig 12-5. Having removed the heavily-favoured Sligo from the business end of the competition, Buccs began the final as favourites themselves against Carrick-on-Shannon.

Conditions were near perfect at Galway's Connacht Sportsground, and having met on three prior occasions, Buccaneers' "favourites" tag was tenuously attached at best.

Carrick drew first blood this season with a 7-nil win in the league, and out-scored Buccaneers by 30 points in each's respective win over Tuam.

The Cup final was a margin much broader than any which went before, a 32-0 rout which will see Buccaneers' trophy cabinet swell over the summer months.

Carrick's Niamh Spellman was the standout for the runners-up, just reward for a plucky performance and solid season.

The distinction between Buccaneers early outings and their season finish may best be measured in leaps-and-bounds. A largely unchanged line-up from that which shut out Sligo the weekend prior, the Dubarry Dames rung in Aoife Ni Corry on the wing for the final.

A breeze gifted Buccaneers a slight advantage in the first half, but they seldom resorted to the boot opting instead to pick-and-go from the breakdown. While it meant Carrick possession came at a premium, it slowed early proceedings and Buccaneers dictated 90percent of the pace. Patience paid dividends when Niamh Ni Dhroma broke from 50m out.

Terrific Carrick defence denied her the try but with such a yardage gain, a try looked inevitable. Rose Hogan for the Athloners made a second foray shortly after and again Carrick held firm.

Carrick-on-Shannon also denied Niamh Gough the first try and it appeared while Carrick's defence had lapsed well away from their tryline, it was impenetrable when camped upon it. Despite several promising Buccaneers chances, Carrick repelled them all and halfway through the first spell Ni Dhroma posted the first points through a penalty to go three ahead at the 25minute mark.

No sooner had Carrick restarted did Ni Dhroma weave her way through the defence from halfway and added the extras herself to go 10 clear.

Ni Dhroma once again hogged the headlines, scoring a second try and conversion for a 17point personal haul, and added a third before halftime (unconverted) to go 22points up to nil. Fullback Rose Hogan spoilt the Ni Dhroma Show scything through her own backline and the one opposite to post Buccaneers' fourth try and put the result beyond doubt.

Ni Dhroma featured again, scoring her fourth and Buccaneers' fifth in the 58th minute. Aoife Kelly and Emma Murphy for Carrick changed gear in the final quarter and made serious inroads through the Buccs defensive line, and Maeve Rowley and Ornaith Grimes went close to scoring but pulled up short unable to breach the Athlone ramparts.

Flanker Yvonne O'Shea lifted the inaugural development cup trophy from Branch President John Carr and commmended her girls on a season-long team effort which took them from the league table middle to the cup competition summit.

Daniel Collins with the whistle put in a typically-admirable performance and allowed the knockout cup final to flow in a final which yielded five tries to treat the Clan crowd.

Sligo Speed Demon in Ireland Sevens Squad

Sligo fullback Jacqui Mulligan joins two other Connacht representatives in an IRFU Womens Sevens training squad with designs on international honours and Olympic medals.

Mulligan was one among six Connacht players invited to return for further screening after an inter-provincial tournament, Saturday April 7. The Connacht squad which beat both Leinster and Ulster (and lost by a try to a UK-based Exiles selection) comprised Nicole Fowley, Mulligan, Grainne Blount, Niamh Connolly and Leona Moran of Sligo; Grainne Egan, Sorcha Ni Chadhain and Becky McPhilbin of Galwegians, Amy O'Callaghan of Highfield, Cork, and Ali Miller of Portlaoise (both with prior representative ties to Connacht). 

Miller, Egan, Mulligan, Fowley and Blount were earmarked for further screening, and Miller, Mulligan and Jes' College graduate, Connacht and Six Nations superstar, and UK Exile Claire Molloy made the final cull. 

http://scrumqueens.com/news/1000-ireland-prepare-for-belated-world-cup-sevens-push.html

Galwegians Women came off an All-Ireland Cup victory at St Mary’s (against Highfield) two weeks ago and returned to Templogue on Sunday for the winter’s penultimate league fixture against Mary’s.

The mathematically-impressive 43-17 scoreline went Wegians way, but stood at 43-nil with 12minutes left to play.

Galwegians put the result beyond doubt a quarter hour in racking up their third try but the opening stages were far from pretty. A static backline carting the ball from left to right posed no threat to a wary St Mary’s, but with space out wide (and lacklustre defence) wingers Sarah Healy and Lisa McDonagh managed scores, McDonagh’s tally finished at three.

Former internationals Nuala ni Chadhain (one) and Carol Staunton (two) both dotted down as well.

While St Mary’s defence beyond the 15m lines was nearly non-existent, their ball-retention was very much a strength.

Where they fell down was in picking the wrong defenders to run against, O’Reilly and Staunton made optimistic ball-carriers rue their choice of direction, shoving solitary carriers back two or three metres. When they hit together, the after-effects were near cataclysmic. On three occasions, players were snowballed several metres back in a whirlwind of scrumcapped aggression and on landing inevitably surrendered possession or conceded a penalty. Substitute flanker Sabina Egan followed suit with 30 minutes to go and joined the Staunton/O’Reilly barrage brigade punishing anyone with designs off the St Mary’s ruck fringe.

Scrumhalf Anne O’Callaghan fed well throughout be it outhalf Sorcha ni Chadhain or any one of several forward volunteers, and ni Chadhain at 10 had the luxury of feeding superbacks rather than resorting to the boot, even deep with the Wegians half.

This winter’s All-Ireland Cup champions and last year’s Paul Flood (Leinster Cup) winners have one game remaining, a final league fixture against a struggling Navan.

The AIL’s First Division split before Christmas into a top-four/bottom-four table, and Wegians’ win on the weekend cemented their destiny atop the secondary tier as Div 1B league champions.

The Navan game is scheduled for this Sunday, away.

The Connacht Rugby Women’s Committee seeks applications for:

- Head Coach, Connacht Senior Womens Team, for:

(season 2012/13, with possibility of contract extension).

The Head Coach role should provide the squad with excellent rugby experience aligned with player and unit capacities, and geared to result-specific interprovincial campaign goals. The successful applicant should target selections and strategies to best achieve those goals, and provide evidence of prior coaching successes.

Applicants should be aware commitments extend through the interprovincial womens series, which runs on concurrent weekends prior to the regular league club season, on dates yet-to-be specified but similar to this winter's schedule commencing the first weekend of September.

The contract also demands appropriate preparations in the weeks approaching campaign kick-off.

Applicants should satisfy the following criteria:

Essential: IRFU Level One-accredited Coach or higher; Appropriate Head Coaching experience (three years recommended); Strong Management Skills (interpersonal, leadership, motivation, patience and teamwork); Player development (bringing players skill sets to the required level for provincial rugby).

Desirable: IRFU Level 2 Accredited Coach (or working towards); Experience coaching womens rugby and/or proven knowledge of the womens game.

Candidates who satisfy the above criteria are invited to apply by sending a CV outlining relevant coaching experience to: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Applications deadline is 5.00pm Friday, April 20.

Two thrilling finals set NUIG’s picturesque Dangan sportsfields alight last Thursday afternoon, as the 2012 Womens Intervarsities Rugby Championship drew to a close.

By tournament’s end, incumbent title-holders University Limerick were in tears, their sobs barely audible below University College Cork’s frenzied celebrations after the latter won the feature final in the most bizarre fashion.

Drawn nil-all at the end of regular play, the first of two 10-minute extra-time periods commenced.

The 0-0 scoreline reflected not an inability to create scoring opportunities on either’s part, but a dogged determination that the other would convert none. The error count from both sides could have been tallied on one hand, bone-jarring tackles however, and desperate turnovers soared into double figures.

UL had the run of the backlines on offer, Claire Keohane and Aisling Hutchins two of the show’s stars. Against that provincial and international-calibre centre pairing, their opposites had a torrid time throughout the fixture containing the pair.

That said, they did, and UCC had the livewire Amy O’Callaghan minding the rearguard at fullback. If she was a little lacklustre getting to the rolling ball, she more-than-compensated once she had it in hand and made several searing runs without having to resort to her able boot or surrender possession. Scoreless at full-time, referee Daniel Collins began the third chapter.

The Cork crowd enjoyed the run of the green for the most part and having camped 5m out from the UL line made a fourth desperate attempt at the goal-line and broke through. With an arm clear and the ball fast-approaching the turf, Keohane (for UL) stole it from the outstretched scorer, broke left inside the dead-ball area, jinked to avoid the upright and threw a short pass to Hutchins 2m out from her goal-line. Hutchins swerved toward her 22m line veering left away from the UCC forwards, and on crossing the 22m line straightened once clear of outstretched arms. The halfway line came and went and she met the cover on the UCC 10m. Having cut inside one, stepped a second, she continued her bee-line for the posts and within five or six seconds she found it.

As the crow flies, it was a 102m movement from initial steal to touchdown, in real yards within the UL deadball, and Hutchins evasive measures it was closer to 125m. Keohane added the extras to go 7-nil up with 12 minutes to play. The second half began in as desperate a fashion, neither side dropping the ante on defence. UCC now with nothing to lose was the more-expansive unit, unafraid to sling the ball about both in and out of contact, and UL content to retain what little possession they could acquire. With four minutes remaining, the UCC midfield found forwards in the opposition backline, and sought space at the far right. With ball-in-hand and Cork hopes in her pocket, UCC’s right winger tore down the right-hand touch, would be chasers gaining little as she squeezed the gap between her own 10m and the opposition goal-line.

By the time she crossed the tryline 15m in she had the luxury to saunter around behind the bar and dot down to guarantee the full seven.

Collins blew the second full-time, again, tied at the death. NUIG tournament liaison and former international Carol Staunton strode across the pitch rulebook in hand and ticked the various scenarios…tries scored, cards incurred, extra-time played.

The title then laid with toes and tees. The three-apiece penalty-shootout began with UCC who went wide with the first from the 22m inline with the right upright.

UL’s corresponding attempt went adrift as well. UCC drew first blood and sent a wobbly but successful effort through the sticks. UL failed a second attempt.

If tied after the initial six kicks, the competition would go to sudden-death – first success or first miss.

One to none from four, and tighthead prop Kelly McGuinness stepped up to the plate. Opting for an angled attempt just off the left-hand upright, McGuinness waited, as did her team-mates, and waited.

And waited.

Whether she had budgeted for a post-match beer or not, her last-gasp title-winning success ensured she needn’t have broken a fiver on Thursday night. UL, having scored none from two with a solitary kick remaining, could do little but drop to their knees as UCC’s valiant challengers turned victors.

The Division Two final pit Queen’s University Belfast against Carlow IT, and as Queen’s posted a third try (and second conversion) on the six-minute mark, little was going to stop the rampant northerners from taking silverware across the border.

It remained 19-nil at the break, and CIT came out all guns blazing in the second.

It was a shortlived revival however, given QUB had the luxury of 2012 Six Nations debutante and Belfast Harlequin Ashleigh Baxter at fullback.

Any inroads CIT made, Baxter snuffed out in bruising fashion. Any CIT excitement on finding space beyond the Queen’s defensive frontline was tempered by the sudden realisation discomfort would shortly follow. If Baxter at the back on defence was a luxury, having her there on attack was something else entirely.

Responsible for two of the first half’s three tries, she scored five in the second, and helped blow out the final score to 75-5.

CIT latched on to a well-spotted intercept pass for a late consolation try. It was little surprise when Baxter won player-of-the-day.

Her seven try effort was not enough to push Mairead Comerford (WIT) off her perch as Division Two player of the tournament. Amy O’Callaghan (UCC) won the Division One final player-of-the-day award, Kelly McGuinness (UCC) player of the tournament, Division One.