Tallaght Stadium played host to the cream of local rugby talent on Saturday last when Clondalkin RFC took on their Tallaght RFC counterparts at age levels from U-10 up to Senior Mens Rugby. The event was organised by Leinster Rugby to showcase the clubs involved and to promote the fastest growing sport in South West Dublin.
The sun was shining and the pitch conditions were perfect on the day. At junior level, Clon took on Tallaght at U-10 and U-12. The well-drilled Clon teams were stronger on the day and this quickly showed. They ran straight and carried the ball in two hands and were well able to offload to their supporting players. They dominated both the tackle area and ruck and moved the ball quickly. The watching Leinster Rugby officers were impressed by the skills on show which are testament to the hard-working coaching squad in Clondalkin. The Club has made steady progress over the last five seasons at underage level which sees the club catering for both boys and girls from U-7’s up and has large squads of players competing each week. This was the final weekend of the mini- rugby season which will recommence once again in September. The Clondalkin girls U-15’s played a combined Tallaght/St Marys team – it was a great experience for these young players and this was only their 4th fixture for the year. Tallaght/St Mary’s have a strong squad who play regularly in the Leinster League and they were too strong for Clon on the day. However the Clondalkin girls showed great skill and dedication and grew into the game and look forward to playing more regular fixtures in the coming season.
The highlight of the day was a Senior Men’s challenge match between a Clondalkin XV and Tallaght. Clon were first out of the blocks and set the pace with a scintillating display of running rugby. By half time, Clon had raked up a 26 – 0 lead courtesy of try scorers Paul McGreanor and Stephen McKenna. The story of the second half was a completely different story as Clon took their foot off the pedal and Tallaght wasted little time in clawing back the lead to level the match 26 points all. It took a penalty kick from Clon’s Rae Connor to push Clondalkin back into a 3 point advantage, after which Clon sat back and successfully defended this lead until the final whistle blew. Final score was 29 points to 26 in a highly entertaining game.
The rugby showcase was a resounding success and special thanks to Leinster’s Damien McCabe for putting the event together.
