The Bank of Ireland Connacht Women’s League returns this weekend with an intriguing list of first-round fixtures.
At the tournament launch, Wegian’s Aoife Williams (the holder of Connacht Rugby’s Women’s Club Player of the Year) discussed her side’s goals for the new campaign.
She said: “We are hoping to build and continue our success from last year. (We also want to) improve our quality of rugby and attract new players and grow the sport amongst women in Connacht”.
The side Wegians defeated in last year’s decider, OLBC, travels to the University of Galway in what should be a tight game between two strong sides. The University of Galway won four of their six league games last season, before narrowly losing to Galwegians in a tit-for-tat semi-final.
They will have hopes of going one better this time around.
Corrib RFC host a young Tuam/Oughterard side that has been putting in encouraging performances in this season’s Bank of Ireland Invitational Cup.
The Corrib RFC women’s team is newly formed and didn’t take part in last year’s Bank of Ireland Connacht Women’s League. They hope to make a splash in proceedings over the coming weeks.
One of their players, Rachel Reilly, discussed what it means to the club to be competing in this year’s tournament. She said: “Being the first Corrib RFC senior women’s team since the late 90s, forming a new team, and many of our ladies not having touched a rugby ball before, we are delighted to be able to enter the league.
“Of course, we would love for our first season to go well, but regardless of the scoreboard, we are delighted to have the stepping stones there for all the Corrib RFC youth girls coming up”.
The final game in the first round of fixtures sees Westport RFC travel to Sligo RFC in a game between two sides that hold near identical records in this year’s Invitational Cup. With both sides having two wins and a loss on the board, all signs point to their league fixture being a close affair.
The corresponding fixture last season certainly fit that bill, with the game ending all-square on a score of 15 each. Sligo did get the better of their Mayo neighbours in the Plate final, so Westport will be looking to get one back against the league’s other side from the Northwest.
Galwegians 2nd XV game with Buccaneers/Corinthians has been postponed.
A full list of fixtures for this year’s tournament is available here.
