Skibbereen to host historic Munster Senior Cup game on Saturday

On Saturday at 2.30pm, Skibbereen Rugby Club will make history when their senior ladies side host the club’s first ever Munster Senior Cup match.

Sana Govender’s side will have it all to do as their opponents on the day will be Munster rugby heavyweights Shannon RFC from Limerick.

On what is set to be an historic day for the club and the team, the management and officials from Skibbereen RFC are hopeful of welcoming a big crowd to the Showgrounds to show support for local women’s rugby.

‘It’s massive for the club,’ team coach Sana Govender told The Southern Star.

‘90% of our girls have come through our underage system here in Skibereen so Saturday should be a massive occasion. It’s the first ever Munster Senior Cup game, men’s or women’s, to be played in Skibbereen so the magnitude is huge.’

‘One of our main goals with this team has always been to put Skibb rugby on the map both locally and nationally so to get local support this weekend would be unbelievable. The backing of the community would be great for the team as they have worked so hard.’

On coming up against a team as strong as Shannon, Govender said: ‘They’ve been around the block and they have a huge amount of experience. We need to try and control the game from the start and I know we have that ability.’

‘We have got some really talented players in this side including Eimear Minihane who made her debut for Munster during the summer. We also have several others who are set to play tag for Ireland in the coming months.

‘It has been tough to get players back after Covid and the GAA is still going on but we have a great side. We’ve made a strong start to the season, winning two games out of three and I’d put that one loss down to a lack of game time,’ Govender said.