UNBELIEVABLE – that’s how Abbie Salter-Townshend described UL Bohemian’s dramatic victory in an epic Energia All-Ireland League Women’s Division final.
Eilís Cahill scored a last-gasp, 82nd-minute winning try to snatch a 29-24 win for the Limerick team at the Aviva Stadium, as Bohs made it back-to-back titles for the first time since 2018.
This was also a second All-Ireland league title for Salter-Townshend, but this one meant a little bit more to the Skibbereen woman.
From a late cameo off the bench in the 2024 final to starting this year’s decider, she felt more involved in this latest success.
‘That makes a massive difference, to know you’ve played more of a role all season, and then to finish it on a high and start in a final in the Aviva,’ Salter-Townshend explains, as her feet landed back down to earth earlier this weekend following the late, late drama on Sunday.
Former Skibbereen RFC player Abbie Salter-Townshend, holding the All-Ireland League Women’s Division cup, pictured with UL Bohemian team-mate Catriona Finn whose great uncles Maurice and Jim O'Keeffe previously played for Skibbereen RFC.
‘It was unbelievable,’ she says, reflecting on the confidence in the camp in the lead-up to the biggest game of the season.
‘In the build-up we had a great week in training. We were lucky enough to have all of our families come up for the jersey presentation on Thursday night, which none of us knew about – that was a nice surprise and it brought us even closer together.
‘On the way up to Dublin on Sunday morning, everyone was really calm, we knew what we were capable of and also that we hadn’t shown it against Railway during the season – we had two narrow losses to them, in games that could have gone either way.
‘To beat them when it mattered is an incredible feeling, and now to have done that two years in a row is unbelievable.’
It’s the latest accolade to swell Salter-Townshend’s impressive collection of medals that also includes Skibbereen RFC women’s league, cup and junior cup treble in 2021/2022 before more success followed with UL Bohs and the University of Limerick college team.
The Skibb woman will admit it’s not been a linear journey – though the sports stories that resonate never are, she’ll agree – so to start the All-Ireland League Women’s Division final at the Aviva will shoot up the rankings of her best moments in rugby.
‘I have been on quite the journey over the last three or four years, from playing dual with Skibb and then moving full-time to Bohs, and progressing on from then,’ she says.
‘I’ve had good moments and bad moments in terms of selection and competitions, but during the jersey presentation dad said about the belief in myself to keep going and to not give up.
‘I had a much different final this year compared to last year – I came off the bench for the last two minutes last year whereas this time I started and played over 50 minutes, so it was an incredible turnaround.
‘I’m delighted that I got to be part of such a wonderful group of girls and a great team.’
Now working in Limerick, Salter-Townshend will take some well-deserved time off before hopping back on the rugby roller-coaster, starting back with Munster women’s team in a few weeks’ time.
‘The club season is over now, and Munster start back up around June when there will be a training panel to start working towards the interpros in August, and then it’s back into the club season in August,’ she adds, with a pep in her step following her role in UL Bohs’ latest triumph, and the satisfaction of playing her part.
