Roots & All will be back for the new season, this time with 4 clubs, one from each province. Between now and September we will be gradually introducing them to you here on HoR2 and first up to tell us a bit about their history are Connacht's representatives. Click here to read Part 1.
Once the excitement of George Hook paying us a visit died down, next up was a visit from the Heineken cup trophy.
After of number of weeks nagging the Leinster branch they relented and let us have the trophy for the weekend. As per usual it was rainy Saturday morning on the pitch but that didn’t stop everyone enjoying themselves. The cup got passed from small hands to big and back again as everyone wanted to get their pictures taken with the famous trophy. The biggest concern some players had with it was why we couldn’t’ fill it with coke!
When training was over the cup got brought from house to house many locals wanted to get a snap with the trophy, I’d hate to imagine the amount of car boots the trophy was in over the course of the weekend.
The season rolled on and we did quite well in a number of Connacht blitz’s however a notable achievement was just around the corner.
It may have been Grand National day in England but the Claremorris Colts U10 team had their own race to run as they headed to An Cheathrú Rua for the Connemara cup and like the race across the water the outsider came out on top by the smallest of margins as U10’s won the first trophy in the history of Claremorris Colts RFC.
The final itself without doubt the tightest game of the day with both teams not giving an inch. It was clear both teams didn’t want to lose and as the game entered the final moments neither team could be separated but all that was about to change. After been camped on the An Ghealtacht line Kyle Leonard somehow spotted the smallest of gaps and wriggled his way over to win the cup for the Mayo men. The roar that greeted the final whistle must surely have been heard across the Atlantic Ocean as the cup was heading out of Galway for the first time. Each and every player and their coaches Eddie McLoughlin and Fergal Leonard can be very proud of the display of rugby that was produced on a historic day for the us. Next up a Connacht club award and some rugby legends.
Part 3 will post next Friday.
© JL Pagano 2012
