Tribes Tens Tournament A Great Success

Garryowen, Shannon, Ennis and host Galwegians were the participants in the inaugural Tribes Tens event which it is hoped will become a permanent fixture in the Under-19 rugby calendar.

A new website has been created for the tournament with reports, statistics and lots more available for all competing clubs to enjoy at www.tribestens.com.

The superbly organised event took place over four hours at Crowley Park in the heart of Galway city and players from all teams revelled in the extra space afforded to them by the ten-a-side format.

Garryowen proved to be the class act on the day, winning all bar one of their matches, but they were pushed all the way by an impressive Ennis side in the final which ended on a scoreline of 19-12 to the Limerick outfit.

Shannon and Galwegians played out the Bowl final which was won by the hosts, who were boosted by the late arrival of fresh legs to defeat a tiring Shannon side by 26-12 in an entertaining prelude to the excellent final.

The games lasted for 14 minutes each and provided non stop drama from the very outset. Galwegians opened the competition against Shannon and despite Ronan Burke’s first half try, Shannon bounced back with a second half intercept try from Conor Cunnane, converted by Cormac Ryan, for a 7-5 win.

Match two saw a spirited Ennis defeat Garryowen 10-7 for the first surprise of the day. Shane O’Connor’s well struck drop goal sealed the result after both sides scored a converted try in each half.

Garryowen bounced back to overwhelm Galwegians in the third game, 31-0, in what was their best performance of the tournament. Robin Healy scored two tries in the win.

There were two edge of the seat draws between Ennis and Shannon firstly and then Galwegians and Ennis, before Garryowen booked a place in the final by winning their last pool game – they beat local rivals Shannon 17-12, with tries from Ben Sweeney and Robin Healy.