Gow praises heroic U-18 Girls after first interprovincial title
LAST Saturday will go down as one of the most historic for women’s rugby in the province when, for the first time, the Connacht U-18 Girls were crowned interprovincial champions.
A brilliant 21-19 victory over Leinster on the final day of the series in Barnhall RFC secured a clean sweep of victories.
Head coach Fraser Gow has been reflecting on the summer and what brought about such a feat.
“In April, we decided on two main goals for the U-18 Girls summer programme: one, to deliver the best coaching experience, and, two, ensure everything we did was to the highest possible standard,” Gow stated.
“At the time, we knew what we had to implement to achieve these aims but did not know what it would produce. Interprovincial champions
2018, the first time ever at the
U-18 girls age grade, is not a bad outcome.
“As a management team we did not talk about winning or losing. We rarely discussed what the opposition were doing. We preferred to focus on what we could do, knowing that if we played to our potential and executed our game-plan, we would cause teams major problems in attack,” he added.
“The coaches, myself and Dermot Tierney were extremely proud of the team’s defensive effort. We were happy with the individual tackling against Ulster but our organisation at times let us down. Before the Munster game we worked on our defence and it paid off.
“I believe Ann Caffrey’s work with the team on their strength and conditioning was key to this defensive energy.
“The squad had a natural bond and togetherness that only got stronger with every session. I cannot give them enough credit for the way they played and represented Connacht. I must also mention the full buy-in from the parents/guardians, club coaches and all the volunteers involved. Finally, I would like to acknowledge the massive contributions of Dermot Tierney, Natalie Fox, Leah Philips, Ann Caffrey, Wendy Hickey and Peter O’Hara.”