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Junior Cup Success Would ‘Mean So Much’ To Maginnes And Malone

Junior Cup Success Would ‘Mean So Much’ To Maginnes And Malone

Versatile Ulster-capped forward Lauren Maginnes was an Energia All-Ireland Women's Shield winner with Malone in 2022 ©INPHO/Tom Maher

Just six months after giving birth to her son Louie, Lauren Maginnes will lead out Malone in the Energia All-Ireland Women’s Junior Cup final on Sunday. The Belfast side are looking to dethrone back-to-back champions MU Barnhall.

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Playing in just their second season in the Energia All-Ireland Women’s Junior Cup, Malone are just 80 minutes away from glory. Sunday’s eagerly-awaited decider at Dundalk RFC will be live on irishrugby+ (kick-off 2.30pm).

It will be a special occasion for Maginnes, having missed the second half of last season playing with Suttonians in the Energia All-Ireland League, when she found out she was expecting her first child.

Just five weeks after welcoming Louie into the world, the Ulster-capped forward was back training with Malone. Six weeks later, she returned to Premiership action in Ulster, and then a couple of months passed before she played in their All-Ireland Junior Cup semi-final win over Tuam/Oughterard.

Speaking to IrishRugby.ie, Maginnes believes that Sunday will be a big day for both her and the club, especially as she will captain the team and hopefully have her young son present as part of Malone’s travelling support.

“I disappeared, yeah,” she laughs, recalling her time away from the rugby field. “From Christmas onwards, so the second half of last season, I wasn’t playing and then made it back in time for the first game probably a bit too soon.

“I would not have believed them at all if they told me six months later I would be playing in an All-Ireland Cup final. It’s big for me. you know, missing out on the second half of the season.

“Last year was hard. That was probably the first long period of time I haven’t played rugby. To get to this final is amazing, and to be captain of the team as well this weekend is even more special.

“Hopefully my little boy Louie will be there, so that’ll be nice too to have him on the sideline. My first game back after having him was 11 weeks later. I showed up to training, like five weeks after having him, and everyone was like, ‘what are you doing here, you mad woman?’

“But it was just nice to get out of the house, you know, and get moving and stuff again in the earlier stages. And then by the time the first game came about, I was like I might as well give it a go, see how I get on.

“I was like, ‘I’ll just go see what I can do and hope for the best’. It’s been hard, don’t get me wrong, you know coming back, but I feel like I’m sort of getting back to myself now, you know my pre-pregnancy playing anyway.”

Maginnes, now 32, has had quite the rugby career since first playing rugby as a 15-year-old with Malone. She is one of fifteen players in the current squad that played for the club when they were last in the Energia All-Ireland League Women’s Division in 2021/22.

However, injuries have come at a bad time for Malone. Regular captain Peita McAlister is on the treatment table, leaving Maginnes to step into the skipper’s role. Along with that, Hannah Beattie broke her back before Christmas and is another big loss to the team.

Despite what is quite a young squad, Shane Johnston’s charges still have some good experience in their ranks, from their All-Ireland League days and winning the All-Ireland Shield competition in 2022. Maginnes is hopeful that they can get a result on Sunday.

“I started my rugby career at Malone when I was about 15. We were the first female Under-18 team at Malone, and then (I) went away to University, played in Scotland for four years,” she explained.

“Came back, played for Queen’s (University) actually for a year, and then went to Australia, played rugby over there. And then came back, played with Cooke for a couple of years. Eventually went back to Malone, and then we were promoted to the AIL.

“Once we got put back in the Ulster Premiership, went to Old Belvedere as dual status for a season, and then Suttonians as well. Very well travelled.

“With the likes of Hannah Beattie, Peita McAllister, Emma Jordan, we’ve all been playing for probably like 17 years now. Maybe not Hannah, she’s a bit younger.

“We try our best to teach the girls and sort of within training and games, try to get them to take a bit more of a leadership role as well, so that we’re not as dependent on all the time, if you know what I mean.

“We want other people to take those leadership roles, the younger girls coming up as well. Peita is unfortunately injured at the minute. Hannah as well would be a major player for us, and she’s doing okay, recovering from breaking her back recently.

Anna Stanfield, she’s moved into the forwards this season, and she’s doing incredibly well. You know, when someone goes into a position and it is like that’s where they’re meant to be – she’s doing brilliant.

“We’ve had an Under-18 player come up there just this side of Christmas, Niamh Fulton, and she’s brilliant and can really take a leadership role even though she’s only turned 18. Knows her stuff, knows what she’s doing.

“Emma Jordan in the back-line, she’ll be sort of conducting that in attack and defence. Jill Stephens at full-back, Shirelle Wilson at 9, loads of experienced players and even younger girls with Under-18 experience able to bring that up.

“They’ve played a couple of big finals now. The majority of us have. You know, at Kingspan (Stadium), the (Ulster) Junior Cup final, that’s always a big day, so they know the pressure of a final.

“Hopefully we can sort of channel the nerves and excitement into playing, and be able to just calm it when that first whistle goes and just stick to our process and hopefully get the win.”

Malone are well used to playing at a high level, having been promoted to the All-Ireland League in 2019. They battled away against some of Ireland’s best teams, and stormed past Cavan to win the Energia All-Ireland Shield competition three years ago.

They reluctantly had to withdraw from the All-Ireland League Women’s Division just weeks out from the following season. Their rebuilding process is going well according to Maginnes, with playing numbers on the rise and positive performances and results in Ulster.

“This Premiership in Ulster really suits us at the moment, and we’re sort of thriving in that. It’s more of a positive sort of atmosphere in training and games.

“When you’re going out and getting beat by the likes of Railway Union 100-0, that can sort of put a bit of a negative impact on the team. I know we are really enjoying where we’re at now.

It’s great to be playing the likes of Barnhall and clubs from other provinces that are of an equal sort of level, I’d say. With a lot of younger girls coming up, I’m sure it will be their ambition to eventually get back into the All-Ireland League.

“We’ve been rebuilding with a lot of Under-18s coming up now. We’re filling those key areas again, building the team back up, getting a bit of depth in the squad.

“Hopefully then, I don’t know, in a couple of seasons, maybe that (regaining All-Ireland League status) will be something we would definitely like to achieve. Don’t know about me, I’m 32!”.

Malone have delivered two impressive performances in this season’s All-Ireland Junior Cup, winning 46-14 at home to Mullingar, and then overcoming last season’s beaten finalists, Tuam/Oughterard, prevailing 31-27 thanks to a late Stanfield try.

Maginnes and her team-mates are targeting a full 80-minute performance this weekend, having been guilty of slow starts in recent outings. They had a disappointing 45-12 defeat away to Enniskillen when resuming their Ulster Premiership campaign last Sunday.

Speaking about how they can dip in and out of games, she acknowledged: “We tend to do that a lot to ourselves, making our lives very difficult in the opening, I don’t know, 20 minutes. And then sometimes we tend to switch on a bit late.

“But I think we’ve really tried to instill in everyone that we need to be switched on from the moment that whistle goes until the end. So, hopefully, everyone can dig deep and you know stay switched on.

“We played (last) Sunday there, and we hadn’t even had a pitch session since before Christmas, just with sort of the way Christmas fell and the weather then impacted training.

“We had to train indoors and do a bit of video analysis. It was our first game back there on Sunday against Enniskillen, and that’s always a hard club to travel to as well. They’re a very good team. Beat us in the Junior Cup at Kingspan there last season.

“We did beat them at home before Christmas, so you never really know what way that’s going to go with the likes of Enniskillen and Queen’s. We’ve done a few extra training sessions and stuff this week, just because we’re a bit behind because of Christmas and the weather and stuff.

“So just to get everyone up to speed and get our hands on the ball, get a bit more skills and stuff in. We’re well prepared going into Sunday, so it should be a good game.”

The Malone Women have enjoyed some special days in the past, getting into the All-Ireland League was a highlight and winning this national competition would be seen as another.

Lifting the All-Ireland Junior Cup would certainly be a big step in this new era for the squad, and Maginnes also feels they have a point to prove as representatives of Ulster Women’s rugby.

They came up against Barnhall in the opening round of last season’s competition, going down 24-15 at Gibson Park. It does mean they are familiar with their final opponents though, and Malone’s stand-in captain believes that will stand to them.

“Getting into the AIL was an amazing achievement for us, our first win in the AIL also. But we’re in a different era at Malone now. We’re rebuilding to win the cup, and at this moment in time, yes, (winning it) would be an absolute highlight for us all.

You know, the club’s really behind us as well with the supporters bus going down. Everyone’s really excited. So I just feel like we have a point to prove, to sort of prove that rugby in Ulster is at that level, and we can compete against these teams.

“It would mean so much. You know playing week in, week out, the league is an entirely different sort of event. To win a cup is something special, and because it’s an All-Ireland Cup (it) would mean even more. It would just be amazing for the club.

“We’ve proved that we can play with these big teams, we beat Tuam/Oughterard, the finalists from last year. Proved to ourselves and to everyone that we can play with those bigger teams.

“It helps that we have played Barnhall previously because the Tuam/Oughterard game, we were going in completely blind to what they’re like as a team.

“So it’s always helpful, I feel, if you have a bit of knowledge about the team you’re playing. We know that it was tight last year, so literally, it could go either way. Hopefully we’ll have the edge on Sunday,” she added.

– Additional photos from Chrissie McKee (CM Sports Photography)