This season Sarah Lennon will be keeping an eye on the women’s game for us…here she looks at the structure of the club game in her home province.
This week I’ll be looking at the Leinster Women’s Leagues where Season 2012/13 is about to kick off. This season promises to be a pivotal one for the women’s game with the introduction of 6 new teams. This is a clear indication of the increase in popularity of rugby among women and a testament to the hard work done by Leinster rugby and their development officers.
This season will see the creation of new league structures. Where there were previously 2 leagues named Division 3 and 4, there are now 4 Leinster leagues numbered from 1-4.
The six new teams for his upcoming season are CYM, Athy, Wicklow, St Mary’s J1s and Railway Union are fielding two teams including a development J1 team.
Division 4 will be a development division comprising of Newbridge, Tallaght, Athy, Railway Union J1s, St Mary's J1s & CYM. Of these 6 teams only Newbridge and Tallaght played in last season’s leagues and both will have hopes of doing well. Although there is no automatic promotion from this league, teams that do well have the option to progress up to a higher league. St Mary’s become the second AIL team in Leinster to boast a J1 team after Old Belvedere.
Division 3 promises to be a very competitive league with Arklow, Mullingar, Wicklow, Railway Union, UCD & Clondalkin taking part. It is a slight surprise to see Clondalkin in this division this year as they would have been two divisions higher last season. UCD may be strong this year, but as is usual with college teams much depends on recruitment among freshers, Arklow ‘Amazons’ and Mullingar ’Heifers’ have experienced teams, having been around for a number of years. Wicklow are included after a bit of a false start last season and Railway Union are the newcomers to the leagues and as they are fielding two teams in their first season, will want to hit the ground running.
Division 2 promises to be a very exciting league. Co Carlow/IT Carlow, Dublin University, Enniscorthy, Kilkenny, Old Belvedere J1 & Tullow all take part in this mouth-watering league. There are a number of derby matches with the Carlow ‘Coyotes’ and Tullow going head to head and Kilkenny, who ran away with the league last year only to lose in the playoff final to Carlow, no doubt gunning for revenge. Dublin University (Trinity) and Old Belvedere will also resume where they left off with Trinity defeating Old Belvo in the Leinster Plate final last season. Enniscorthy too boast a very proud home record and will be looking to have a good season. Two teams will be eligible for promotion this season and it’s sure to be a very closely fought race.
Division 1 represents the highest level below All Ireland level and the prize at the end of the season is the option to be promoted to the AIL. This is a truly representative Leinster League involving 6 different counties and no Dublin teams. Cill Dara, Wexford Wanderers, Edenderry, Longford, NUIM Barnhall, Portarlington, Rathdrum will battle it out to top the Leinster leagues. Barnhall drop down a division after a tough year in AIL 2N, however a couple of wins towards the end of the season indicate that they should be very strong this season. Edenderry remain favourites having won 7 out 7 last season with the concession of just 5 points, however their league form wasn’t enough as they lost in the playoff final to New Ross who secured promotion to AIL 2N. Edenderry will be determined not to slip up again and in truth it would seem to be between them, Barnhall and Portarlington to secure top spot.
All in all it bodes for an exciting season ahead, with a multitude of new teams and some exciting rivalries building up. Next week, there is a Leinster Blitz being held in Old Belvedere RFC which represents a chance for many newly recruited players and some of the brand new teams to cut their teeth at full contact rugby. I will be reporting on the day from Belvo in my article next week.
Sarah Lennon (@sarahlennon08) is passionate about all things rugby. A Leinster Season Ticket holder since the Donnybrook days, a supporter of the Irish teams home and abroad and can regularly be seen cheering on Junior Rugby at Stillorgan RFC (a labour of love). As well as spectating, she dabbles in playing a bit and is a member of Old Belvedere RFC and fully paid up member of the front row union.
