Highcliffe Student Captains the Irish Exiles

On 8th March 2015, Ciarán had no idea that he would end up captaining the South East Irish Exiles to victory in the all England regional finals held at London Irish.

Ciarán captains Highcliffe School’s U16 team and is a valued member of the Sixth Form Rugby Academy. He also plays for New Milton RFC, Hampshire County and is part of the London Irish Academy at Sunbury.

Through the trials for the Irish rugby team, he has continued to demonstrate his aptitude on the pitch and this year was selected to represent the South East Region of England to play in the regional finals. With scouts from Ulster, Munster, Leinster and Connaught on hand, Ciarán was asked to captain the team, where he led by example, playing in both the Scrum Half and Fly Half positions.

Against the Midlands, his team played some great rugby as they started to gel as a team.  Although they went 20-5 ahead, the Midlands fought their way back into the game to bring the score to 20 to 15. However, the South East never looked like losing and indeed with slightly better handling could and should have taken more of their opportunities.

The eventual final was played  between the South East and the South West. Ciarán was keen to emphasise the importance of playing as a team. The South West never knew what hit them as the South East rampaged around the park and put into practice the plays they had been working on. Ciarán was unlucky not to grab the opening try after a break from inside his own half saw him beat three defenders and with no support on his shoulder was unable to finish off the move, as he was hit by a superb covering tackle from the opposition full back 5 metres from the line. Not to be deterred, SE pushed forward and soon had a 20-0 lead.  SW were always in the game but SE proved they were made of sterner stuff running out victors 25-10.

With the Exiles currently supplying 4 of the U20 and 4 of the U18 Ireland team, the first step towards his ultimate goal was completed. Both Highcliffe School and New Milton and District RFC are very proud to have a student/player representing them at such a high level.

A representative from New Milton and District RFC stated ‘Congratulations to Ciarán for his ongoing achievements. We hope to see more of the club’s talented players coming through in the future to represent the Home Nations teams’.

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Owned by: | Last Published: 10/03/2015 15:01:44 | Next Update: N/A