Barrett Bags Brace As Wolfhounds Start With Six-Try Win

Ireland Under-20 duo Sophie Barrett and Robyn O’Connor took the opportunity to impress as the Wolfhounds beat Edinburgh Rugby 34-7 to make a winning start to their Celtic Challenge campaign.

CELTIC CHALLENGE – ROUND 1:

WOLFHOUNDS 34 EDINBURGH RUGBY 7, Energia Park
Scorers: Wolfhounds: Tries: Sophie Barrett 2, India Daley, Maggie Boylan, Eve Higgins, Linda Djougang; Cons: Dannah O’Brien 2
Edinburgh Rugby: Try: Cat Moody; Con: Lucy MacRae
HT: Wolfhounds  17 Edinburgh 7

Neill Alcorn’s team, led this season by Ireland centre Aoife Dalton, put a quick-fire dozen points on the board at Energia Park, when Enniskillen pair Barrett and India Daley both crashed over, the latter from a maul.

Maggie Boylan then collected Dannah O’Brien’s cross-field kick to add to the 12 Energia All-Ireland League tries she has scored for Blackrock College. Cat Moody replied for Edinburgh before half-time.

The defending champions, who had young full-back O’Connor in player-of-the-match form, took care of their bonus point by the hour mark. Barrett bulldozed in under the posts before Eve Higgins broke clear to score from her own tap penalty.

Edinburgh lost full-back Scarlett Haddow to the sin bin for a high tackle on Higgins, but the Wolfhounds had to wait until late on for Linda Djougang to expertly slip past three defenders for their sixth and final try.

The competition’s two Irish sides will lock horns in the second round on Saturday, January 3, with Creggs RFC the venue for the rematch between the Clovers and the Wolfhounds, the top two finishers in last year’s Celtic Challenge.

Full report to follow…

TIME LINE: 2 minutes – Wolfhounds try: Sophie Barrett – 5-0; conversion: Dannah O’Brien – 7-0; 7 mins – Wolfhounds try: India Daley – 12-0; conversion: missed by Dannah O’Brien – 12-0; 22 mins – Wolfhounds try: Maggie Boylan – 17-0; conversion: missed by Dannah O’Brien – 17-0; 34 mins – Edinburgh Rugby try: Cat Moody – 17-5; conversion: Lucy MacRae – 17-7; Half-time – Wolfhounds 17 Edinburgh Rugby 7; 45 mins – Wolfhounds try: Sophie Barrett – 22-7; conversion: Dannah O’Brien – 24-7; 49 mins – Wolfhounds try: Eve Higgins – 29-7; conversion: missed by Dannagh O’Brien – 29-7; 49 mins – Edinburgh Rugby yellow card: Scarlett Haddow; 79 mins – Wolfhounds try: Linda Djougang – 34-7; conversion: missed by Stacey Flood – 34-7; Full-time – Wolfhounds 31 Edinburgh Rugby 7

WOLFHOUNDS: Robyn O’Connor (Leinster); Vicky Elmes Kinlan (Leinster), Aoife Dalton (Leinster) (capt), Eve Higgins (Leinster), Maggie Boylan (Leinster); Dannah O’Brien (Leinster), Aoibheann Reilly (Connacht); Cara McLean (Ulster), India Daley (Ulster), Sophie Barrett (Ulster), Naoise Smyth (Leinster), Kate Jordan (Leinster), Poppy Garvey (Connacht), Maeve Óg O’Leary (Munster), Claire Boles (Ulster).

Replacements: Maebh Clenaghan (Ulster), Caoimhe Molloy (Leinster), Linda Djougang (Leinster), Clíodhna Ní Chonchobhair (Leinster), Aoife Corcoran (Leinster), Jade Gaffney (Leinster), Amy Larn (Leinster), Stacey Flood (Leinster).

EDINBURGH RUGBY: Scarlett Haddow; Cieron Bell, Rachel Philipps, Lucy MacRae, Hannah Walker (capt); Hannah Ramsay, Emily Love; Talei Tawake, Aila Ronald, Faye Sutherland, Adelle Ferrie, Natasha Logan, Cat Moody, Alex Stewart, Merryn Gunderson.

Replacements: Millie Whitehouse, Alison Wilson, Hannah McMahon, Charlotte Russell, Lauryn McGrotty, Pip Benson, Nicole Marlow, Lisa Brown.

Referee: Padraic Reidy (IRFU)