The Eagle Impact Rugby Academy boys U16s have had little time to revel in their 15-12 victory over Munster.

Even though the EIRA players were up against an older group (a mixture of U16s and U17s to make up for the greater size of the American players), the tourists came away with an impressive victory. 

Flyhalf Vince Keller took charge of the attack and was very impressive in the game; Flynn O’Connell shone in the back row and Cade Gilbert was outstanding at prop.

“When I realized the back three was playing a little bit up, especially the wingers, we decided to kick especially since we had the wind at our backs,” said Keller, who plays his rugby with the Charlotte Tigers. It worked.

“Vince kicking the ball, and they couldn’t really kick back, gave us a huge advantage,” added Shea Summers, who plays with Back Bay. “And I think the key play was when our number 12 Cole [Eversole] ran a punch line into their defense and scored our first try.”

At halftime EIRA led 12-0, and they held on from there.

Going into the wind, “we decided to keep the possession in hand and score when we needed to score,” said Keller.

It was a win that required plenty of attention to detail because the Munster players are skilled and precise.

“They have a much higher rugby IQ than players we typically see in the US,” said Gilbert (SOC Raptors). They kicked a lot better. They spread the ball a lot better. So for us it was a good challenge out there.”