‘Proudest day’ as three Wicklow RFC sides win
HI, my name is Jessica Griffey; I am a proud member of the Wicklow RFC under-16 girls team and have been playing rugby with my club since I was seven, but on Saturday, December 14, 2019, I had my best and proudest day of being involved with the club.
It was a historical day for Wicklow Rugby Club as all three underage girls teams, under-14s, 16s and 18s, made the Leinster cup finals in Donnybrook; a feat that will be hard to match.
The under-16s had beaten Naas, Navan and Mullingar all away on the way to meet Portlaoise in the finals.
All three teams met up at the club and the excitement was unreal, we were given some inspirational words from our club president Brian Clarke, and then we all piled on to the bus for the big match. We were followed by supporter buses full of family and friends.
We arrived at Donnybrook and there was a big crowd there to support the other teams in the finals but the Wicklow support was by far the biggest and there was a great buzz around the stadium.
For a lot of the players this was the first time we had ever played a game in a stadium and this added to our nerves.
The under-14s began the day for Wicklow when they played against Naas in a very hard and entertaining game but they won and watching them celebrate was great.
Then the under-16s (my team) were next and the pressure was on.
We were all very nervous, but excited, and we knew that we had to forget our nerves and play this game like it was any other and bring this cup back to our club.
We went out onto the pitch with full intensity throughout the warm up as we looked up, we saw the mass of people in the stadium. It was very emotional, but our coaches helped us to keep our head on the game.
We began the game against
Portlaoise at full tilt and from that first whistle we knew what we had to do and how to do it. It was probably the best this team have ever played and we played so well by working as a team.
We had a very tough game against a very good Portlaoise side but we kept fighting and when we won the cup it was an amazing feeling.
We were all so proud of what we had achieved. It was great to have all our family and friends and senior ladies out on the pitch cheering us on when we raised the cup. Wow! What a feeling.
Shortly after our match, the under-18s’ game was on against Port Dara, and our whole team sat in the stand willing them on to make it a historical three out of three for Wicklow RFC.
It was a very close match but Wicklow managed to rise above that and win the last trophy.
We all piled back on the buses and headed back to Wicklow for a big pizza party and to celebrate with everyone who had been at the match. It was a super feeling.
When we got to Wicklow we got a Garda escort to the club and there was a big crowd there waving flags and cheering us off the bus - what a day!