EIRA Girls Showcase Skills, Tenacity in Win over Leinster
EIRA Girls Showcase Skills, Tenacity in Win over Leinster
The Eagle Impact Rugby Academy girls fielded a combined U16/U18 team to face Leinster U18s Tuesday in Dublin, Ireland.
The EIRA side opted for the combined side in part because their U16 players have shown themselves to be able to front up physically against older Irish girls.
That proved to be correct as the EIRA side won 48-7.
"The players are looking great," enthused Coach Lindsey Mahoney. "They’ve built connection with each other quickly. In training [with the combined side] it was some of the fastest and decisive rugby I’ve seen in a while. They have speed on attack and work edge-to-edge with multiple levels of attack."
That was certainly on display in the game on Tuesday. But more than that, as the players will attest, it was about not letting up and translating training into the game environment.
“We’ve been working really really hard in practice and for this game we went full-tilt," said Fallbrook No. 8 AJ Haughey. "We went extra energy in everything that we did.”
Carmel (Indiana) center Celia Watson praised her team's focus.
“We’ve been setting out really specific goals this entire week and we kept pushing them and pushing them and every single person on this pitch came together today and made sure we achieved every single one of those."
“There was no low-point in the game," added Charlotte Cardinal flanker Lennox London. "The energy was up the entire time and we stood on their necks the entire time and I love that."
Being on tour is a key part of this experience, and this is a new experience for many of these players. EIRA has been moving deeper and deeper into the girls rugby sphere and duplicated their skill-development, scouting, and touring plan with the girls.
“We’ve all come a long way from home," said Orchard Park (NY) inside back Annie Henrich, who is one of the U16 players who played up. "So this win today was fueled by passion, gratitude, and a little bit of American spice."
@EagleImpactAcad impressive in girls U16/U18 combo team's win over Leinster U18. pic.twitter.com/PnCw3YhYtU
— Alex Goff (@goffrugbyreport) July 26, 2022
