Corey crowns a truly memorable season
IT’S BEEN a tremendous year in rugby for Corey Carty from Wexford Wanderers.
Following an outstanding season with the club Senior team, where they won the league and gained promotion to Division 2A, Corey found himself being invited to trials for the Leinster Junior team which plays yearly in an inter-provincial tournament.
Junior inter-provincial rugby began in 1902, with a fixture between representatives from clubs in Leinster and Ulster, with Munster joining the series in 1912 and Connacht completing the line-up in 1962.
In the early years it was mainly the players from the Junior sections of Senior clubs that played on the Leinster Junior team, and in 1924 the Leinster Branch made a welcome departure from the usual custom as the country clubs were invited to hold a trial match at headquarters. These days the Junior team is predominantly made up of Junior club players.
There have been a number of famous names who have played for the Juniors, among them Cadet Richard Heaslip in 1964, father of former Leinster, Ireland and Lions legend Jamie Heaslip, and, in the late 1970s, David Kearney Snr., father of Leinster and Ireland rugby stars Rob and Dave Kearney, captained the Leinster Junior team.
Following trials, Carty was asked to play on the wing for the inter-provincial championship. It was a great achievement for Wexford Wanderers as he became their first representative on the Leinster Junior team since Martin Fenlon 15 years ago.
The Leinster Juniors got their 2018 inter-provincial series off to a very good start when they travelled to Ballinrobe in Co. Mayo to take on Connacht. They secured a hard-fought victory with a final score of 34-17, with the Leinster lads getting their second and third tries courtesy of Carty.
Their second game was home against Munster in Coolmine. The match was played in very warm and dry conditions, with the temperature soaring above 20 degrees for most of the match.
Despite Munster pressuring Leinster for a sustained period in the final quarter, the home side held out, leaving the final score at 27-16.
Meanwhile, favourites Ulster had also made it two wins out of two, setting up a cup final in Coleraine on Saturday, May 12.
The Wexford man has had an incredible season with his club and showed it throughout the series, with some fine attacking and defensive work.
Corey, who started playing with Wexford Wanderers when he was twelve years old, fell in love with the game and played for Wexford youths teams and Wexford C.B.S. schools teams before transitioning to the Senior side in Wanderers.
Three years ago Corey became the C.C.R.O. (Club and Community Rugby Officer) for Wexford town.
The role comprises working with clubs, schools and community groups to deliver tailored rugby programmes and expand the game with the clubs and schools of the town.
Carty also has evolved into a strong rugby coach. As the head coach for I.T. Carlow this year, they won the All-Ireland Colleges Cup and the Under-20s Cup, and he is also part of the coaching team at Enniscorthy, winners of the Bank Of Ireland Provincial Towns Cup this year.
Corey wrapped up his great year by being awarded Senior player of the year at the Wexford Wanderers annual dinner dance.