Portlaoise Rugby Club set to host ‘Give it a Try’ women’s evening after huge weekend of action

Women’s rugby in Portlaoise is on the rise again and 2020 saw Portlaoise RFC celebrate 20 years of women’s rugby in Togher.

As part of their continued efforts to grow the game in the club, they will host a ‘Give it a Try’ evening at the rugby Club in Togher, on Friday October 1 from 7.15pm.

This is open to any woman who would like to come down and simply try out the sport.

The first women’s team in Portlaoise RFC was established in 1997 – largely due to the perseverance of a determined lady, Amanda Hade.

Amanda had taken up rugby in college in 1996 and, on returning to Portlaoise, she was keen to have a team to play on. Driven by Amanda a team was formed and played a full season but, unfortunately, its success was short lived as the team disbanded the following season.

The team was reformed in 2005, again driven by Amanda Hade, after a number of women spent the summer playing tag rugby.

The girls formed a team and then applied to participate in the Leinster Development League. Coached by Gordon Matthews, John Guilfoyle and Eddie Tynan they won the title at their first attempt in 2005/6 with a squad of over 20 players.

The Women again experienced success in the 2008/9 season winning Leinster Division 1 again under the guidance of Gordon Matthews assisted by Alan Flynn and Cormac Gilman.

This qualified Portlaoise RFC Ladies to play in AIL Division 2, the first team in the history of the club to play at All Ireland League level.

Following several seasons of development and finishing in the top four of that league Portlaoise RFC finally made the breakthrough by reaching the AIL Division 2 final in 2012.

This time they were coached by Mickey Fennelly and Ray Carroll assisted by Richie Bond, Hugo Griffin and “Butch” Horan.

In the final they beat a Queens side which boasted several members of the Ireland Women’s Senior 7’s Squad on a cold afternoon in Ashbourne RFC. The club had now reached the height of women’s rugby in Ireland – AIL Division 1.

The following years saw the Portlaoise RFC Women playing in various competitions at different levels as the fortunes of the Women’s team fluctuated.

In September 2020, Gordon Matthews took on the role of Women’s Coach again and the club, after 2 early season victories, appeared to have assembled a squad strong enough to be competitive in Division 3 of the Leinster League only for the season to be cut short by the Coronavirus pandemic.

A little piece of history was made at the Portlaoise RFC 2021 AGM when Amy O’Callaghan, the captain of the Senior Women’s Team was appointed as Club Captain – the first woman ever to hold this position in Portlaoise RFC.

The Portlaoise Women are again poised to challenge for the title in Division 3 of the Leinster League this season and, while they have a reasonably strong squad, they are actively recruiting new players in order to develop the depth in the squad that is necessary for the team to compete for trophies on a regular basis.

Anyone interested in taking part in the Give It A Try evening can contact Gordon Matthews at 086-8309388.

Portlaoise RFC ladies contest Paul Cusack Cup Final

Portlaoise women’s team are in line to bring the first silverware to Togher when they contest the Paul Cusack Cup final against MU Barnhall on Saturday in Tullow, kick off 2pm.

The team kicked off the 2021/’22 season with a five-point victory over Clondalkin RFC at Togher three weeks ago.

The result in the balance up to the final minutes but Portlaoise were to emerge victorious on a 12-7 scoreline.

And if that game was a closely fought battle the semi-final was an even closer encounter.

Last week the team travelled to Forenaughts in high spirits to take on Naas.

They were strenuously test by a dogged Naas outfit with victory only secured late in the game when second row Aoibheann Egan crashed over for the winning score.

Given that MU Barnhall beat Wicklow 24-12 in their semi-final Gordon Matthews will need to have the girls hitting top form for this game.

Leinster League action returns to Togher

After almost 12 months on the sidelines Portlaoise RFC 1st XV will at last see some Leinster League action on Sunday.

It will take time to shake off the cobwebs but players, mentors and spectators will be delighted to see some live action.

Wexford Wanderers travel to Togher on Sunday and after such a long lay off it is difficult to predict how this game will play out.

For Wexford this will be their first outing in the Leinster League in two seasons as they had a bye in the first round last year.

There was just the one round played last year before the league was suspended. In that round defeated Athy 7-8 in the Showgrounds.

When Portlaoise and Wexford met in Division 2A back in the 2019/20 season it was even stevens both sides winning their home fixture, Portlaoise winning 34-11 and Wexford 20-10.

The game kicks off at 3pm in Togher.

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source https://www.laoistoday.ie/2021/09/24/portlaoise-rugby-club-set-to-host-give-it-a-try-womens-evening-after-huge-weekend-of-action/