Clovers And Wolfhounds Renew Celtic Challenge Rivalry

Fifteen players from Ireland’s 2025 Rugby World Cup squad were in action as the Clovers and the Wolfhounds kicked off 2026 with a crunch Celtic Challenge clash at Creggs Rugby Club.

Dual international Erin King notably made her comeback almost nine months on from suffering a significant knee injury against England. She played the opening 20 minutes on Saturday as the Wolfhounds made it back-to-back bonus point wins.

Speaking after the 24-7 victory for Neill Alcorn’s side, player-of-the-match Aoibheann Reilly said: “Definitely in the second half we really got into it, scoring the three tries to move clear on the scoreboard.

“A derby match, it’s part of the competition you really look forward to, so yeah, it’s great to get the win over the Clovers. Looking forward to building into the competition now, taking each fixture as they come.

“We wanted to start strong, and I felt we were kind of in it and then not in it. We definitely would have liked to have started better, but proud of how we came out in the second half.”

The Wolfhounds, the defending champions, are three points clear at the top of the table ahead of next Saturday’s trip to Edinburgh. The fourth-placed Clovers are bound for Cardiff to play Brython Thunder on Sunday afternoon.