Ireland Open Touch Rugby squads compete at European Opens Cup in Italy
The Ireland Men’s and Women’s Open Touch Rugby squads both took part in the European Opens Cup in Italy recently and the Men’s Open came home with a hard-earned and well-deserved Bronze Medal.
The tournament took place from in August at the Stadio San Michele in Calvisano, Italy. As no European Championship or World Cup are taking place in 2025, this competition would have been the highest profile and most consequential international Touch tournament to take place in Europe this year with ten nations sending teams to Italy.
The Men’s Open faced a very tough competition with eight teams in all in their division including three England squads, all of whom were very strong.
On Day 1, Ireland started off with a 6-2 win over France but they then went down to a narrow 9-8 defeat to England Storm. A hard-fought 8-8 draw against Scotland finished the day.
On Day 2, they faced competition favourites England Mavericks and lost 8-5. Their next game was a real thriller against England Phoenix and this ended in in a 10-10 draw. They picked up their second win in the final game of the day, beating the Netherlands 19-1.
Heading into the final day, the Ireland side were not certain of making the semi-finals and needed France to do them a favour by beating Scotland. The French duly delivered a 9-8 win while Ireland did what they had to do with a resounding 23-0 victory over the hosts Italy.
England Mavericks awaited in the semi-final but again Ireland just fell short, losing 13-10. A determined and resolute performance by the Men’s Open in the Bronze Medal game against England Phoenix won them 3rdplace with an 8-6 victory. Top scorers in the tournament for the Men’s Open were Kiran Byrne with 15 tries and James O’Donnell with 14.
After their European Silver Medal winning performances in 2022 and 2023, the Men’s Open will perhaps be disappointed not to have gone further in what was a ferociously competitive division. There was very little between the six top teams with 10 of the 28 round robin games ending either in a draw or being decided by one point. Nevertheless they can be proud of their achievement as they prevented an English clean sweep of the medals with the Mavericks beating the Storm in an all English final.
Men’s Open Captain Seán Ballance expressed his satisfaction with the team’s performance.
“We were happy to win a Bronze Medal in the Opens Cup. The tournament provided a great opportunity to develop some new and young players in one of the most competitive tournaments we have ever encountered.
The tournament provided valuable experience in managing close matches and has built good foundations for the squad as we aim to win gold at the European Championships next summer in France”
The Ireland Women’s Open meanwhile faced an equally tough competition which also had eight teams. Again there were three very strong English squads as well as France, Scotland, Italy and the Netherlands.
On Day 1, they faced a tough start, going down 5-0 to France and 14-2 to England Storm. They got their first win of the competition in beating the Netherlands 11-5.
On Day 2, Ireland faced the other two England squads as there was no let-up for them. They went down 14-0 to the Mavericks and lost 11-3 to the Storm. The final game of the day was a crucial game against Scotland. Ireland needed a victory to stay in contention for the semi-finals. Unfortunately they just could not get the scores that their approach play deserved and so the Scots triumphed 8-3.
On the final day, the women got their second victory of the tournament, beating the hosts 9-1. Ireland were now playing for fifth place and a 6-4 win against the Netherlands won them a place in the fifth place play-off against Scotland. The Scots again got the better of them with a 10-6 victory leaving Ireland in sixth place. Top scorer for the Women’s Open was Cara Summerbell with 7 tries.
Overall although the womens side may be disappointed with not finishing higher, the fact that they suffered numerous injuries during the tournament did not help and this competition will prove to be a crucial stage in their development ahead of next year’s European Championships and the 2028 Touch World Cup in New Zealand.
Coach Michael Kearney was proud of what the team achieved.
“The ladies went over with an interim coach and a development team consisting of nine ladies playing in their first opens level competition.
The ladies performed brilliantly, in particular the younger players who stepped up when the squad was struck with three serious injuries on Day 2.
There is huge potential in this group and I look forward to seeing how the Women’s Open develops over this upcoming Euros campaign and into New Zealand 2028.”
Full match details as well as links to livestreams for both Irish Open squads can be found here.
Ireland Men’s Open Results:
Round Robin
France 2 – Ireland 6
Scorers: Seán Ballance 2, Ben Layden 2, Seán O’Sullivan, Kiran Byrne
England Storm 9 – Ireland 8
Scorers: Tighe Brennan 2, Andrew Mays 2, Ben Layden 2, Seán Ballance, James O’Donnell
Scotland 8 – Ireland 8
Scorers: Andrew Mays 4, Kiran Byrne, Sam Bewley, James O’Donnell, Joe Balance,
England Mavericks 8 – Ireland 5
Scorers: Kiran Byrne 2, Seán Ballance 2, Seán O’Sullivan
Ireland 10 – England Phoenix 10
Scorers: James O’Donnell 3, Ben Layden 3, Ben O’Connell, Kiran Byrne, Seán Ballance, Tighe Brennan, Andrew Mays.
Ireland 19 – Netherlands 1
Scorers: Rory Fulton 7, Kiran Byrne 3, James O’Donnell 3, Seán Ballance 2, Ben Layden 2, Ruairi Coyne, Andrew Mays.
Ireland 23 – Italy 0
Scorers: James O’Donnell 4, Kiran Byrne 3, Ben Layden 3, Stephen Troy 2, Sam Bewley 2, Rory Fulton 2, Joe Ballance 2, Cillian Daly, Tighe Brennan, Ruairi Coyne, Conor Fitzpatrick, Seán O’Sullivan
Semi-Final
Mavericks 13 – Ireland 10
Scorers: Kiran Byrne 4, Rory Fulton 2, Joe Ballance 2, James O’Donnell, Ben Layden
Bronze Medal Game
Ireland 8 – Phoenix 6
Scorers: Rory Fulton 2, Ben O’Connell, Stephen Troy, Seán Ballance, James O’Donnell, Ruairi Coyne, Conor Fitzpatrick
Ireland Men’s Open Squad:
Seán Ballance (Old Wesley Touch – Captain), Sam Bewley (Old Wesley Touch – Vice Captain), Ben O’Connell (Old Wesley Touch), Stephen Troy (London Scorpions), Kiran Byrne (DSC Wanderers Touch), Rory Fulton (Eastside Eagles), Fergus Flood (Old Wesley Touch), James O’Donnell (London Scorpions), Cillian Daly (Old Wesley Touch), Joe Ballance (Old Wesley Touch), Tighe Brennan (Old Wesley Touch), Ruairi Coyne (Old Wesley Touch), Andrew Mays (Old Wesley Touch), Conor Fitzpatrick (London Scorpions), Ben Layden (Old Wesley Touch), Seán O’Sullivan (London Scorpions).
Coaches: John Ennis (Old Wesley Touch), Matt Kennerson, Andy Langford (DSC Wanderers Touch).
Managers: Noel Cuddy, Jamie Maher (Old Wesley Touch)
Ireland Women’s Open Results:
Round Robin
France 5 – Ireland 0
England Phoenix 14 – Ireland 2
Scorers: Cara Summerbell, Aisling Gill
Netherlands 5 – Ireland 11
Scorers: Katie Jelfs 2, Maebh Browne 2, Rachel Duggan 2, Cara Summerbell, Charlotte Nagle, Kate Ballance, Aisling Gill, Lorraine McKenna
England Mavericks 14 – Ireland 0
Ireland 3 – England Storm 11
Scorers: Lianna Prizeman 2, Sarah Emerson
Ireland 3 – Scotland 8
Scorers: Cara Summerbell, Emma Duddy, Rachel Duggan
Ireland 9 – Italy 1
Scorers: Lorraine McKenna 2, Cara Summerbell, Emma Duddy, Lianna Prizeman, Kate Ballance, Sarah Emerson, Rachel Duggan, Molly Copelin.
5th Place Semi-Final
Ireland 6 – Netherlands 4
Scorers: Cara Summerbell 2, Charlotte Nagle, Emily Durnin, Sarah Emerson, Katie Jelfs.
5th Place Play-off
Ireland 6 – Scotland 10
Scorers: Lianna Prizeman 2, Cara Summerbell, Kate Ballance, Katie Jelfs, Niamh Summerbell.
Ireland Women’s Open Squad:
Lianna Prizeman (Old Wesley Touch – Captain), Anna Mae Power (Old Wesley Touch), Ashleigh Hardy (Revolution Touch Birmingham), Cara Summerbell (Old Wesley Touch), Charlotte Nagle (East Coast Touch), Emma Duddy (Eastside Eagles), Emily Durnin (Old Wesley Touch), Kate Ballance (Old Wesley Touch), Aisling Gill (Old Wesley Touch), Sarah Emerson (DSC Wanderers Touch), Katie Jelfs (Exeter University Touch), Lorraine McKenna (Cooke Warriors), Maebh Browne (Old Wesley Touch), Niamh Summerbell (Old Wesley Touch), Rachel Duggan (London Scorpions), Molly Copelin (Buccaneers Touch)
Coaches: Kelsi McGrath (Racoon West), Michael Kearney (Old Wesley Touch), Brian Leveau (Old Wesley Touch).
Managers: Steve Duddy (Eastside Eagles)