Enniskillen Rugby Club hosted the area and regional girls tag rugby competitions over the past two weeks.
The competition is to introduce girls to rugby in a non-contact way by the use of tag rugby. In this format, scrums and line outs are used to make the game as realistic as possible.
For the area competition a total of eight teams entered, six of whom were from local schools in the Enniskillen area, four of which progressed to the regional finals. Those that made the finals were, defending Ulster Champions Enniskillen Collegiate, Mount Lourdes, Ulster Champions from two years ago, Devenish College, St Mogues College and Lisnaskea High School. A number of other schools from Cavan and Donegal were unable to make it.
All the schools played each other once and then the top four played-off in semi finals and final. During the group phase the rugby was fast, furious and of a high skill level. As the morning went on each team got better and by the end of the group phase there was very little between the teams.
For Lisnaskea, this was there first time at the finals but they played brilliantly and certainly done their school proud, especially as they were playing against sides with girls that were three and four years older.
After a short break the play-offs started and both semis were again played with a high skill level and one score separated the teams in both games.
The final was contested by Mount Lourdes and Enniskillen Collegiate, and a superb game it was, one that would have graced the Ravenhill pitch itself. The Collegiate were the first to score but Mount Lourdes came back strong and after a period of sustained pressure scored two tries to take the lead. Shortly before the final whistle Mount Lourdes had the ball over the try line only to knock on. Following this let off, Collegiate made the most of their good fortune scoring a breakaway try to take the game to extra time. As before Mount Lourdes put the pressure on their opponents, but again they fell to another breakaway score ten minutes into extra time.
The rugby over the two days was of a very high standard and was great advert for women’s rugby in general.
The best of luck is extended to Enniskillen Collegiate who will now represent the western region at Ravenhill on Wednesday 24th March and hopefully they can again bring the Girls School Cup back to the south-west of the province.
