CLONAKILTY Rugby Club’s emergence as a force in girls’ rugby is a real success story in West Cork, insists Munster Rugby Women’s Development Officer Damien Hicks.

Four players from the club represented Ireland at the U18 Women’s Six Nations Festival, at Wellington College in England – the latest endorsement of Clon’s girls’ rugby success.

Julie Finn, Clodagh McCarthy, Jo McCaughey and Lani O’Donovan are all flying the Clon flag at international level. Kilbrittain teenager Niamh O’Mahony is also involved, having come through the ranks at Bandon Rugby Club before joining Ballincollig.

Of the 28-player Ireland U18 panel, five are from West Cork.

‘It shows we’re moving in the right direction,’ Bantry man Hicks says.

‘You’d be delighted for the girls – they’ve all put in a massive amount of work. They’ve made sacrifices as well to focus on their rugby, while balancing school on top of that.

‘It gives you a real sense of pride to see the West Cork representation.’

Clonakilty's Clodagh McCarthy is on the Ireland U18 panel.

Clon’s success in girls’ youth rugby is well documented, and that has fed directly into Sacred Heart Secondary School Clonakilty winning three Munster Schools Girls Senior Cup titles in a row. They are also defending junior cup champs.

‘Clonakilty are the trendsetters at the moment,’ Hicks says.

‘They’re flying high and that’s a testament to all the great volunteers and the people behind the scenes driving the rugby on, to be fair to them.’

In the latest Munster Schools Girls Senior Cup final, it was an all-West Cork decider as Sacred Heart played Coláiste Pobail Bheanntraí last month. The same two schools will also clash in the junior cup decider. Bandon Grammar School and Skibbereen Community College also lined out in the junior cup.

‘Look, there’s a big change in the landscape,’ Hicks explains.

‘More schools are now playing rugby. A perfect example is Skibbereen Community College entering the junior cup for the first time with an U16 girls’ team.

‘It’s growing in all different areas and the schools are nearly becoming like small clubs of their own, providing rugby for girls and giving them the opportunity to experience it.’

Hicks feels improved exposure and promotion are helping grow girls’ rugby too – he points to Clonakilty Rugby Club as an example.

‘They have a great community presence. Whatever’s happening locally, they get behind it – whether that’s physically helping out or promoting it on social media,’ he says.

‘They’re very good at that community side of things, and I think that sends out good vibes to everyone in the area. It’s not just about rugby – it’s about the bigger picture and the community, and that definitely helps.

‘They also have strong links with Sacred Heart. There are good people inside the school with connections to the club, including coaches, and that strengthens those links.

‘They are the trendsetters and where everyone else would like to get to. It’s up to the other clubs to keep pushing. Kinsale have a link with their school, Skibbereen have links, Bantry the same, and hopefully Bandon and Bandon Grammar can strengthen those links going forward.’

‘There’s so much opportunity for girls to get involved,’ Hicks adds.

‘I think the schools are helping to drive it at the moment. Not everyone can commit outside of school because of other sports or time constraints, but school makes it more accessible – whether it’s training at lunchtime or going to a blitz.’

The success of West Cork, in their first season, won the Zara Horan Trophy title with an emphatic 46-12 victory over North Munster in February was yet more evidence of the strength of the game here right now. This team was an amalgamation of West Cork clubs competing against the best in Munster, and West Cork came out on top. All four Clon players on the Ireland U18 team were involved, underlining the strength of local rugby.

‘It was Clonakilty, Skibbereen and Bantry, with a couple from Dunmanway as well. We had a squad of 26 at the start – about half had been involved in programmes before and the other half hadn’t,’ Hicks says.

‘It was more of a West Cork effort than anything else, not about what club you came from. That was a big part of the environment we wanted to create – yes, you represent your club, but now you’re representing West Cork as a whole.

‘The girls bought into that, embraced the challenge, and they got their reward as well.’

The hope now is that the conveyor belt can keep producing, and Hicks feels it will.

‘We always say if you can’t see it, you can’t be it. For younger girls coming through, if they see someone from their club or school putting on the Munster jersey and then the Ireland jersey, it makes it real for them,’ he says.

‘They can see the pathway and believe they can follow it. The pathway in girls’ rugby has changed a lot in recent years – it’s become more high-performance, which is driving standards.

‘The players involved now have embraced that environment, and it’s pushing the game to another level.’