‘Once you have that Munster jersey on, you can do anything. It’s like a coat of armour’

BY GER McCARTHY

ABBIE Salter-Townshend won’t forget 2023 in a hurry. It was her breakout year for Munster, the season she made her senior interprovincial debut and also faced the Barbarians at Thomond Park.

Right off the bat, Abbie is not your average scrum-half.

The former Skibbereen RFC, current UL Bohemians and Munster Womens’ Rugby senior player has been immersed in her chosen sport from an early age.

Abbie Salter-Townshend.

Her commitment to rugby is immediately apparent. Yet, Abbie’s love of another aspect of the game requires further explanation.

‘My earliest rugby memories are quite gruesome,’ she smiled.

‘I was just always a fan of witnessing injuries and all the gore that came with them when I was growing up!

‘I remember going to matches as a child with my Dad and seeing people get injured. I would be burning the ear off Dad saying come on, I want to go on to the pitch and see what happened, see it close up.

‘I guess I just wanted to be involved in all the action from the get-go. Obviously, going to matches with my Dad when he played for Skibbereen RFC alongside the Breens and the Coombes meant I was immersed in a rugby family since I was a child.

‘Every weekend, we would go to a rugby match and then upstairs to the Skibbereen RFC clubhouse afterwards. Rugby was something I was constantly immersed in. I am so thankful for that now because I feel that I might have had a bit of a head start on the other girls who played with me in Skibb.

‘Am I still into the gore? I don’t know. Maybe so. Halloween was fun alright!’

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Aside from her love of the more physical side of rugby, Abbie has enjoyed her most productive season since moving into the senior ranks.

The Skibb native played her part in Skibbereen RFC’s unforgettable 2021-22 triple-trophy winning season. Then the young scrum-half made her first competitive Munster senior appearance in the province’s 41-14 interprovincial championship victory away to Ulster last August.

Although Leinster ended Munster’s dreams of a third consecutive title, she has since gone on to make her mark in the Women’s All-Ireland League. At the time of writing, UL Bohemians are flying high in the Division 1 table.

‘Playing Women’s AIL is definitely a step up,’ Abbie commented.

‘This is my third year with UL Bohemians and my second year playing full-time. I think initially, when I moved up to Limerick, and was still playing for Skibb RFC, the difference was insane.

‘The experience of being around senior and international players is amazing. I learnt a huge amount from Skibb RFC but have learned so much over the last couple years with Bohs.

‘2023 was the first year I felt comfortable. I feel like I have worked very hard to get to where I am right now. I am thriving, or so I hope.’

***

Now in her final year studying Sports Science at the University of Limerick, she is having to juggle a busy sporting and academic lifestyle.

‘Between college (UL) and club (UL Bohemians) rugby I am probably training four days a week,’ the UL student commented. ‘I have college training and gym on a Monday, we have club training on a Tuesday, gym session on a Wednesday, training on a Thursday and then a women’s AIL game on a Saturday.

‘Right now, it is four busy days a week plus college commitments on top of all of that. Whatever spare some I have for myself, I am either cooking or relaxing, making sure I have enough ‘fuel’ on board.

‘Definitely, at this level, it is all about the extra time you are willing to put in.

‘I have given up a lot, off my own back, because I want to get better. I live with girls in college who don’t play sports. That’s a good thing in that I can come home and switch off after a long day.

‘It also means if they want me to go out to any social events that I can say no because I have training. The girls are used to me now, but it definitely took them a while to realise how serious I am about my rugby.

‘All the sacrifices are worth it because I am getting the rewards. I wouldn’t change a thing.’

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Saturday, September 30th, 2023, will go down as a hugely significant date in Abbie’s fledgling rugby career. The Munster senior women’s team played an historic fixture against the Barbarians at Thomond Park for the very first time.

Even more importantly, that encounter received equal billing with the Munster men’s clash against the visiting Baa-Baas as part of a unique double-header.

‘This wasn’t just another Munster game, this was the Barbarians and, more importantly, it had equal billing alongside the men’s encounter,’ the Skibb woman said.

‘We got to train in Thomond Park on the Thursday night before the match.

‘Just being out on the Thomond pitch in a Munster jersey is something you dream of as a child. Thomond Park has an aura around it that is so incredible.

‘Being there that night, even though the place was empty, you could almost feel the atmosphere before anything had even happened.

‘On match day, travelling there on the bus, going in through the front door and changing in the men’s dressing rooms made the whole occasion even more special.

‘Being treated as an equal was special on that day. Very few people get to experience what we experienced. That’s why I am so thankful.

‘Coming on in the second half, even though the result didn’t reflect how we prepared that week, I felt absolutely invincible out on that Thomond Park pitch.’

Not even a 45-12 defeat to a star-studded Barbarians could take away from the magic of pulling on the Munster jersey at Thomond Park.

‘Whenever we pull on that Munster jersey, we always talk about how it is like a superpower,’ she added. ‘It is like a coat of armour. Once you have that Munster jersey on, you can do anything.

‘To play against some of the world’s best players, with the level of experience that they have, that day against the Barbarians, is something I will never forget.

‘Just to be on the same pitch as the players I have looked up to was special, really special.’

Another special moment and another important step in Munster’s Abbie Salter-Townshend’s rugby career.