BY JOHNNY CAROLAN
WHEN Dunmanway and Bantry Bay joined forces in girls’ rugby at U14 level in the autumn of 2021 to form the West Cork Rebelettes, few could have foreseen the impact.
Just over a year and a half on, the joint entity is celebrating a league and cup double following an unbeaten season and coach Finny Hurley is hopeful that it can lead to more participation in the area.
Hurley guided the team along with Margaret White and in the inaugural season of 2021-22 the Rebelettes won the Munster U14 Cup, beating Shannon in the final. That success led to four of the side earning call-ups to the Munster U16 squad and the momentum was carried into the new campaign.
After coming out on top in the round-robin Conference 3, beating Clonakilty, Kanturk, Killarney, Skibbereen and Tralee, they continued to impress in the knockout stages, overcoming Shannon and Garryowen to set up another clash with Clon in the final, winning 42-21 at Musgrave Park on February 26th.
There was scarcely time to draw breath before the cup began but there was no let-up in the performances. Ennis, Richmond and Bruff were seen off as they made it to the decider, coming from behind to record a 21-7 victory against Garryowen at Temple Hill three weeks ago.
From a starting position where the clubs had to come together due to a shortage of numbers, it has been quite a journey.
‘We would have put on training for these girls,’ Hurley says, ‘but neither club had enough to field a team – it’s a minimum of 13-a-side at that age and both clubs would have had eight or nine.
‘Two years ago, we spoke with Bantry and we formed the amalgamation between the two clubs. This was the second season at U14 and we had 18 or 19 girls, which enabled us to take part in the Munster leagues.
‘What we did was start the season in Bantry, at Ballycommane, but when the weather worsened for the winter months we’d come back to Dunmanway and do once a week there. We’d alternate it a bit then when we could.’
Hurley feels that a big factor in the success was that, despite the fact that it was two different clubs coming together, integration was never a stumbling block.
‘Absolutely not, there was no issue,’ he says.
‘Our first season, we said we’d give it a go and it might work and it might not.
‘We thought that there was a chance that they wouldn’t gel as a team but, to be fair to them, they really did.
‘They won the Munster Cup in their first season together and that was a fierce boost that had just come together in September, to be winning a cup final in April, up in Fethard in Tipperary.
‘This season, they came back into training in September. We would have lost a few girls to U16 – there was an amalgamation there too, for the first time – but we had others up from U12 to join the team.
‘They gelled really well – they were unbelievable, really. We never thought that we’d go this far with them, because you’re up against the top clubs. This season, we played Garryowen, Ennis, Bruff, Shannon, big clubs up the west coast, and the girls went unbeaten.’
Even so, as the cup final and the potential double loomed, nerves began to grow.
‘We won the league in the last weekend in February,’ Hurley says, ‘and then we were straight into the cup the following weekend.
‘We won that game, and it was week after week after that. There was pressure, to be honest, but we tried to keep them calm and told them to go out and treat each match like they were going out to play a friendly.
‘In the first half of the cup final, they were nervous and Garryowen were on top form. But, we had a word with them at half-time and they went out and scored three tries in the second half and kept them scoreless.’
The hope now is that the players will stay involved – next year’s U16 squad will be close to the cup-winning U14 side of 2021-22 – and that new players can be enticed to give rugby a go.
‘The main thing with it is that, with all the talk about promoting women’s sport in this country, there’s nothing better than this group of girls,’ Hurley says.
‘What they’ve done, it’s never been done down here, to win the league and the cup is unreal.
‘Any kids seeing this will think, “I wouldn’t mind having a go at this.”’
