This year we had the pleasure of travelling to London last weekend, (27th - 28th April) and being invited to participate in the London Irish Mini's & U12's Rugby festival in Hazelwood as they celebrated 125 years of their Club. As part of our trip we got to take in a match at Twickenham on the Saturday, and then onto the important business of playing 14 matches on the Sunday morning against teams from all over UK and Europe.

Whilst Athy Rugby Club have been around since 1880, they have never previously taken part in this wonderful event, and when we arrived we were amazed by the size and scale of the event. What made the event and occasion even more special was that Athy RFC also has a distinct link with London Irish this year, with their incoming President, Chris Kane, having played for Athy RFC along with our own club President, David Hendy. We even managed to get him and Loreto back into our club colours for the day and have the photos to prove it!

Over the course of the season just finished, we were very proud of the effort and resolve that all our squad, of 40+ players, had put in, during the course of another recent festival, the same squad secured 15 wins from 15, and we had been looking for bigger challenges and what better way to end the Season then bringing the 14 players over to the home of Rugby to represent the Irish at the Festival, one of only very few Irish clubs over the 6 age groups playing to have that honour!! All I can say is the 14 players certainly did themselves and their teammates proud over the weekend and it was a true testament to their character.

They showed their grit, determination and desire to keep going for each other even when their tanks were empty and this is all we had ever hoped for since day one (some of the kids were playing on 2 teams over the course of the day, as we had no Subs and were patching up injuries as we went!). Their hard work and dedication paid off, and they all did themselves proud when they pulled on their Jerseys. For them to play against teams who both had an age (and size advantage), given the way the age grades work, and with unfamiliar rule variations which they had not played before, they played exceptional rugby and without taking a backward step all day. There was incredible courage and resolve from each and every one of them, and even a few tears at the end of the day, which showed just how much it meant to them all and a clear marker of their team spirit they had.

The team in London Irish couldn’t have been more helpful too and a huge thanks must also go to them, especially Chris Kane (for making it his business to come meet all our players!, despite his busy schedule), Dee Wood, Liam Caplis and James Groves.

We as a team hope that this may be the beginning of a deepening of the relationship between our two clubs and I think we can safely say that the trip will have built memories of a lifetime for the children and parents who travelled last weekend.