Irish Tour Energizes KC Jr. Blues

04.20.2026HS Boys

The Junior Blues enjoyed coaching sessions and challenging games on tour in Ireland with Irish Rugby Tours.

Author: Alex Goff

Fresh off a tour of Ireland, the KC Junior Blues is back on US soild and embracing some challenges.

The Blues played three matches in Ireland, and this is one of the key features of what Irish Rugby Tours does—find excellent competition for touring teams.

"The tour was excellent and provided great competition and experiences for all players, coaches, family and supporters," said KC Head Coach Casey Cummings. "Each match showed us a different level of play and challenged the team in different ways. Seeing the improvement day by day was exciting. We had coaching sessions with coaches from Connacht, Munster and Trinity University and the team soaked up each session and were given great instruction."

They played three matches, beating Mullingar 31-24, losing to Presentation Brothers 17-12, and then beating Portloise 39-27.

So, two matches decided by a try, and another that was almost as close. George Hook and his staff at Irish Rugby Tours are very skilled at listening to their clients and finding close games for them.

No one wants to lose by a blowout, and no one wants to win by a blowout. The perfect situation is to be challenges, and that's what happened to Kansas City.

Coming back to the USA was a bit of an adjustment and the Junior Blues ended up losing their first match back home, with the Wichita Barbarians taking a 29-10 decision.

They then beat Gorilla 68-7 before also defeating rivals St. Thomas Aquinas 57-5. They followed that up with a convincing win over St. James Academy in which the Blues ran out a lineup with a number of younger players.

April 12 Denver East capped off a very successful trip to the Kansas City area with a 21-0 win over the Blues in the rain and mud. But the Blues rebounded this past weekend against Christian Brothers and Raptor Rugby in a small gathering in Memphis,

Despite missing several starters, the Blues beat Raptor 24-12 and Christian Brothers 36-10. That Raptor game was a rematch of the Tier II 3rd-place match from the 2025 HS Nationals tournament.

Cummings said his team was a bit error-prone against Denver East, but overall, since returning from Ireland the Blues are 5-2 and much, much improved.

Touring works.