Dunbrody Warriors have fun with friends at Ross rugby blitz

THE DUNBRODY Warriors, New Ross R.F.C’s inclusive team for people with disabilities, hosted the very first blitz for other inclusive rugby teams of its kind in the south-east on Sunday.

Teams travelled from Seapoint (Seagulls), Westmanstown (Taggers) and De La Salle Palmerston (Eagles) to take part in this fun-filled sporting occasion. The blitz was played in a round robin format with each team playing all the others on a rotational basis.

The Warriors, coached by Laura Doyle, Nick Murphy and Rory Flynn, were clearly well drilled even though they have only been formed for about a year, getting off to a good start with early scoring against the Seagulls.

However, the Seagulls soon got their travel legs off and improved steadily over the course of the game, with both sides swopping scores until the match finished in a deserved draw.

Warriors’ second match was against the Taggers from Westmanstown, who were given coaching assistance by some of the New Ross Under-18 girls. This match was refereed by acclaimed European and Pro 12 referee, Gary Conway (not so fresh from his outing on Friday night in charge of Connacht v. Ulster in the Showgrounds).

It took Gary some time to get up to the pace of the game at this level, and the large crowd present did not make his job any easier by questioning his ability to recognise a forward pass, but he took all the banter in good heart and pronounced himself delighted with the experience gained afterwards.

Warriors, captained by Damien Phelan, gained a narrow victory and set up a rematch in the final game against DLSP Eagles whom they had previously met in early summer. This ended in a draw.