Buccs touch rugby players impress at European championships
The 2024 European Junior Touch Rugby Championship took place recently in Vichy and there were six Buccaneers players involved with the three Irish squads who travelled to France.
The Mixed 18s squad won the bronze medal and they had three Buccs players in their squad of 16; Aoife Purtill, Aoibhin Tynan and Molly Copelin. The Mixed 18s went through the round robin stage undefeated beating Italy, Scotland, Belgium, the Cayman Islands and Wales as well as drawing 10-10 with England.
They qualified for the semi-final where they again faced Wales. Unfortunately for Ireland, Wales had their homework done this time and the game ended 10-10 at full-time. It then went to an extra-time ‘drop-off’ where each side drops down from 6 to 4 players-a-side. The Welsh struck first and then held firm in defence to claim the victory.
Wales subsequently went on to claim the gold medal, beating England 11-9 in the final.
Ireland had to put their disappointment behind them as they faced Belgium in the bronze medal game soon afterwards. They duly secured the bronze medal, winning 9-6 to claim third place.
With Ireland scoring an astonishing 97 tries overall, it was no surprise that all three girls got on the scoresheet with Aoife getting 5 tries, Aoibhin 3 and Molly 2. Both Aoife and Aoibhin had previously won European bronze with the Mixed 15s team in 2022.
The Boys 18s squad, including Jack Gordon of Buccaneers, faced a very tough schedule in Vichy. As well as taking on their peers from England, Wales, France and Lebanon, they also faced the bigger and stronger Mens U20 sides from England and France. Despite this attritional programme of games, the Boys qualified for the bronze medal match with an 11-2 win over Lebanon.
They put in a strong performance here but went down 11-6 to Wales. Jack was making his debut at international level and he impressed through the tournament with his pace and high work rate.
The Mixed 15s squad was the youngest of the three Ireland squads to play in Vichy and they did exceptionally well to achieve fourth place. During the round robin phase, they claimed victories over the Cayman Islands, Scotland, Belgium and Lebanon. This won them a place in the bronze medal game where they also faced Wales. Unfortunately for Ireland they could not claim that elusive medal, losing 12-4.
Buccaneers had the honour of supplying the team captain in Niamh Purtill. Niamh was playing in her third successive championship at this level and her experience was invaluable to the team. She weighed in with 3 tries during the tournament.
Mollie Quinn of Buccaneers was also a member of the MX15 team. Mollie was making her debut at international level having only started playing touch in 2024 and she improved steadily throughout the tournament.
Buccaneers can be extremely proud of these great young players who impressed everyone both in Vichy and in the lead up to the tournament with their good attitude, dedication and talent.
There are streams of several games involving all the Irish Junior teams available to view on the Federation of International Touch YouTube channel. Any kids or indeed adults in the Athlone area who wish to try their hand at this fast and exciting sport, see Buccaneers Touch Rugby on Facebook or Instagram for more information. Touch training is on Monday evenings through out the year at Buccaneers RFC and everyone is welcome to attend.