‘It’s Heads Down For Big Finish To The Season’ – Wicklow Forward Koper

There is something unmistakable about the sound a home match day brings for Wicklow on a Saturday, when their Women’s team are in full flight in the Energia All-Ireland League Women’s Division.

The wind comes rolling in off the coast, carrying the smell of salt and damp grass, and the spectators make their way in to take a vantage spot long before kick-off. Boots thud against the dressing room floors, voices rise and settle, heads bow for the final words before they step out.

Renee Koper was not amongst the matchday squad last weekend. Instead, the 26-year-old Dutch forward stood on the sidelines due to injury – watching, clapping, shouting, living every collision from a few metres back as Wicklow delivered one of the most significant results in their short Energia All-Ireland League history.

A 27-15 win over Old Belvedere – heavyweights of the division who already have a semi-final to look forward to – marked the first time Wicklow had beat ‘Belvo in league action since their debut at this level in 2021/22.

“It was such a good game,” admitted Koper, who missed out after injuring herself against Blackrock College a week earlier.

“It was sad to be standing on the sidelines, but it was really good to cheer the girls on and to be there for them to win. Everybody was so happy after those few games. It was really nice to see the mood back up and everybody going for it again.”

Koper knows what those moments mean because she has lived the growth of this group in real time. When Wicklow first stepped into the AIL spotlight, she was still in Zandvoort, the coastal town in the Netherlands best known for its dunes and Formula 1 circuit. She was playing her rugby at home and plotting a different future.

Now, two seasons into life in Ireland, she has featured 12 times in the current campaign, splitting her time between the second row and back row, and has become one of Wicklow’s most important weapons in the pack, abrasive in contact, mobile around the pitch, and increasingly vocal as standards rise.

The five-try victory over Old Belvedere did more than add five points to the table. It injected belief ahead of a big final block, with trips to Ennis and Cooke sandwiching a home game against Galwegians. Beyond that, the looming challenge of Conference semi-finals.

“The girls played absolutely fabulously last Saturday, We were a real team, getting everything going, and you could see the confidence grow in the second half.

“It was really nice, especially now we have three more games. I think it’s heads down now and we just keep working and keep improving our game and then hopefully a home game for the semi-finals.

“That would be nice. To be fair, we always do well in home games. I don’t know, it’s the atmosphere, everything that comes along with it. I’m very excited to see what we can get out of there.”

Home has become a powerful word for Koper. A few years ago, she packed her bags and left the Netherlands in search of something more, a new career, a new challenge, and crucially, a higher standard of rugby.

The Dutch domestic game was growing, but she wanted to test herself in a league that would stretch her both physically and tactically.

“It was definitely interesting, a little bit exciting,” she told IrishRugby.ie of her move. “It’s always a little bit scary to move to a different place. But the girls here were very helpful, made a few friends, and they were like, ‘Okay, this is fun to do’.

“And whenever I want to do something, I’m not very sure. I’ll just ask one of the girls to be like, ‘Hey, you’ve lived here for God knows how long, what is fun to do around?’.

“Or when my friends from the Netherlands are visiting or my parents, I’m like, ‘Okay, they’re here for the weekend, where should I go, what are good spots to go in Ireland, where should I do a little weekend away?’.

“They always have advice ready, so that made it absolutely definitely easier because they’ve been living here and I just came here.

“It’s always a little bit like trying to find your way around new stuff, but they have been very helpful and like giving me advice or things I could do, tips and tricks. They’ve been helping a lot.”

Even so, walking into a new dressing room as an international addition carries its own weight.

“I was a bit scared, I’m not going to lie. You come as an international player into a team that’s been playing with each other for years. Everybody knows each other, especially in Wicklow, it’s quite small.

“So I was a little bit scared, but everybody was so kind. Everybody was so open, invited me in, took me along, really tried to make me part of the team.

“They have two teams, so I kind of hobbled in between both teams the first season. I got to know everybody on the team and I got to play with everybody, and then all the things we did next to the games, it just made you part of the family.

“Everybody tries to pull you in and tries to be like, ‘Oh, come on, we’ll go here. Let’s go get a coffee on the weekend’. The girls really made me feel welcome and I made some friends over it. So it’s been really, really lovely. The girls have been absolutely amazing.”

That sense of family is tangible on the pitch. Wicklow are not a finished product, nor do they pretend to be. They are a side building layer by layer, learning from hard lessons and recalibrating their ambitions. Last season provided several of those lessons.

“We’ve taken some learning curves from last season. We definitely sat down and were like, ‘Okay, what can we do differently. How are we making sure that we are fighting for that top four spot, because we really want it’.

“So, there really has been a fighting part for it. It’s really nice to see that we took a look at last season, what can we improve, and then this year we’re trying to work that in, see if it works for us, yes or no. We’re still tweaking along the way to get our best results out there.”

That word, tweaking speaks to a team unafraid of evolution. Lineout structures adjusted. Defensive spacing tightened. Conditioning sharpened to match the relentless tempo of the All-Ireland League.

With her experience from the top Dutch league and her background coaching Under-16 boys, Koper has added perspective to those conversations.

“I started playing when I was 13 or 14 in the Netherlands,” she explained. “It is a bit different because it’s a pretty small sport, it’s growing, but when I started, it was quite small.

“We play mixed. So with the boys until the age of 17, now it’s currently 18. So I grew up playing in a boys team. I think we had 20 boys and like four girls, and it was absolutely fabulous. I loved it.

“Then went to an all females team. Covid happened, so I had a little bit of a gap year. Went to graduate from Uni. So after that, I started again. And I played in the highest league in the Netherlands before I came here.

“So I’ve been playing for quite some time. I’ve been coaching as well. I had a boys team back home that I coached at U-16 level. Teams always do it a little bit different, so I just took with me what I’ve learned, what I’ve been doing.

“And then here it’s just kind of like, ‘Okay, what are you guys doing, maybe there’s something I did different that we could try out’. And that’s kind of like how we’re finding our way along.”

In that sense, Koper’s impact stretches beyond match days. She embodies the cross-border, cross-cultural pull of the modern Women’s game.

Players moving countries in search of higher standards, clubs enriched by different perspectives, young girls seeing pathways that did not exist a decade ago. She speaks warmly about the broader growth of Women’s rugby, both in Ireland and back home.

“It’s growing in the Netherlands. It’s not there yet, but it’s absolutely growing. But it’s really nice to see all the support that the girls get here. And w”re trying to get involved with them as well. To show that we’re here to help them, or to inspire them.

“Because I do think it’s an amazing sport. Especially for girls. It’s really good to see that Ireland is supporting the women because I think it’s very important. We need to be here as well, and we deserve to be here.

“It’s nice to be backed up like that, especially now that the Irish Women’s team is doing very well. You see as soon as that kind of happened, and when that gets aired on TV, the line in girls will highly increase.

“We have quite a big group coming through, I think from Under-18s and Under-20s, and the younger girls, so that’s really good, and we’re trying to help as much as we can.

“Get the girls involved in helping with training, to show the girls that we’re here. This is what you’re working towards, and it’s absolutely amazing.”

Growing up in mixed teams toughened her. Competing against boys in her formative years sharpened her physicality and resilience, traits that now serve her well in a very competitive division in the top tier of Irish Women’s club rugby. Her motivation for moving was clear, and Koper has loved every minute putting on that Wicklow jersey.

“I’ve really enjoyed it. The level here is higher, so that’s what I came for. I wanted to become better. I wanted to learn more. The last two seasons, that’s definitely been happening.

“I’ve really enjoyed playing in the AIL because it is absolutely a step higher, so it’s really nice to keep growing and keep learning. It’s been really nice.”

She added: “We’ve been trying to get into that top four. I definitely think we have it in us. We’ve had a few injuries which have been unfortunate, but we always keep looking ahead. It won’t happen this year, but we’re going to fight for it again next year.

“Definitely with the Conference semi-finals coming up, I think we are trying to get everything going, get everybody back from injuries, and then it’s heads down and see where we can get ourselves.

“I am very confident that if we keep playing the way we’ve been playing that we have some chances there.”

Confidence, but measured confidence. The growth of Jason Moreton’s Wicklow side has not been built on bravado but on incremental progress, improved fitness, sharper detail, greater squad depth.

The performance and result against Old Belvedere crystallised that progress. It was not a fluke, it was controlled, physical, disciplined.

That game-by-game approach echoes through the squad. Ennis first. Then Galwegians at home, another opportunity to harness the atmosphere that Koper speaks of so fondly. Then Cooke away, a test of nerve and discipline to close out the regular season.

For Koper, watching from the sideline sharpened her hunger. This weekend she misses the trip to Ennis due to work commitments – she is a Physical and Health Education teacher at Dublin’s Nord Anglia International School – reminding her that at this level, life outside rugby continues to exert its pull.

After a two-week break they will return to Ashtown Lane, the spectators will be in early to get positioned when Galwegians, who are currently just above them in fifth, come to town. The wind will swirl. The pack will gather. Koper, back from Budapest, will look to take her place among them, eyes fixed forward.

There are three regular-season games left. Then knockout rugby. Wicklow are no longer content to simply compete. They want to impose themselves. To make home advantage count. To translate growth into silverware.

Now, with the business end of the season looming, she noted: “Ennis is going to be a good game, I’m excited for the girls to play. Unfortunately, I won’t be there. I’m on a trip with the school, I’ll be cheering them on from Budapest.

“Head down for this game. And then after Saturday, we’re going to keep training. And getting on to Galwegians, and then off to Cooke, and then hopefully off to the Conference semis.”

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