Tag Rugby Tournament in Colaiste Phobal Roscrea
On Tuesday 15th December a tag rugby tournament was held in Colaiste Phobal Roscrea. This Tournament was open to all first and second year students. The tournament was used to raise money for Colaiste Phobal first and second year rugby teams. The first match that went on was between Australia and New Zealand. New Zealand came out the victors but they were met by stiff resistance by Australia and their captain Tadgh Hogan. Soon enough the group stages were over and we were in to the knockout stages.
The tournament had to be moved in to the school’s gymnasium due to bad weather making conditions unplayable. The first semi was between Italy and Argentina. Kenny Lee proved to be the deciding difference by scoring an early try which left Argentina chasing the game. Italy held out and won by a single try in the end. The second semi was a clash between South Africa and Romania. This was a tight game with Romania stealing the win at the death with a JJ O’Brien try. The final was between Romania and Italy and before the match, the National Anthem was led by David Jones our T.Y student council representative. The game then began with early tries from both teams. This was an extremely close match and both sides put up a great spectacle for everyone to observe. Italy narrowly grabbed the win in the dying moments of the game with a great team try being finished off by Kenny Lee. Every student thoroughly enjoyed the day and showed great sportsmanship throughout the day.
Rugby match vs Borrisoleigh
In the school’s first rugby game in over five years our first and second years lined out against Borrisoleigh. For many of the players this was their first ever rugby match. Some of these players proved to be the most important men on the pitch with the team managing to grab a win against the experienced Borrisoleigh side. There was a slow start to the game for CPR with Borrisoleigh scoring two early tries and it would have been more if not for our full back Kevin Moore who pulled off a try saving tackle right at the line. Our team responded well and we were winning by one try at half time.
The second half started well for CPR with Bradley Neville winning an opposing lineout which led to the team scoring, Dara Maher converted the conversion and our lead began to grow. Dara Maher and Killian Sampson showed great skill kicking on the day with Dara kicking from the left and Killian kicking from the Right. Borrisoleigh mustered a late push but it was not enough and CPR came out the victors. With the final score being 22-17. Each team performed a guard of honour for the other and spirits were high at the end of the match. This win in our first game proved that we have a formidable team and have the talent to perform well in competitions in the future.
Coláiste Phobal Junior Camogie
On Friday 8th January, our Junior Camogie team took on Gael Colaiste Limerick in their Munster semi-final. Our girls got off to an ideal start thanks to brilliant teamwork, which resulted in them being ahead 5-5 to 1-1 after 20 mins. At half time Gael Colaiste Limerick made a few changes that made life a lot tougher on Colaiste Phobal. They asked a lot of questions of our girls in the second half, but after a hard season of training they were up to the challenge and came away with the win. A special mention for both Jane Cleary and Fiona Scully who were did solid work in both halves.
