The Ireland touch rugby players officially launched their campaign to take European titles and were presented with their playing kit at the Louis Fitzgerald Hotel on the Naas Road on Saturday 10th July at 4pm.
The four Ireland touch rugby teams were presented with their official playing strip by the President of the Ireland Touch Association, Mr Peter Ashe-Browne.
“Our Irish players are on the home stretch of their preparation for the European Touch Championships that kick off on the 22nd July. This day will be a special day when each player is presented with their jersey and the responsibility of representing Ireland.” he said.
“The pride in wearing an Irish jersey is something special to anyone lucky enough to represent their country in sport. They have taken their preparation seriously, and we hope to see the results in Bristol at the end of July.”
The four teams representing the best male and female touch rugby players in Ireland will compete in the Mixed Open, Men’s Open, Men’s Over 35s and Men’s Over 40s divisions at the 2010 European Touch (Rugby) Championships in Bristol from 22-25 July.
“We have tough draws, with teams playing up to three matches a day over the four day tournament. A lot of hard work has gone into ensuring our teams are ready to take on the best that Europe has to offer.” Mr Ashe-Browne said.
The Men’s Open team and Men’s Over 35s team will make their first ever appearance for Ireland at a European level this year. The Men’s Over 40s team will be defending their title as European Champions that they secured in 2008.
“As touch is still a developing sport in Ireland, competitions such as the European Championships are the perfect setting to showcase the natural talent of many Irish players who have taken up the sport in the last five years,” he said.
“Touch is a unique sport where men and women can play side-by-side at an international level. We are hoping that through our participation at the 2010 European Touch Championships, we can highlight touch as an accessible sport for Irish men and women of any age.”
What is Touch?
The game of touch was established in Australia more than 40 years ago and was loosely described as a simplified non-contact version of rugby league. The game has been competitively played in Ireland for the last five years. Touch is played by both men and women, and is commonly played as a social mixed sport in most rugby nations.
Background to Touch Rugby in Ireland
The Ireland Touch Association was formed in 2007 and is a non-profit organisation. Ireland has competed at the last two European Touch Championships in 2006 and 2008. Competitive summer leagues are held in Dublin at Terenure College on Wednesday and Thursday evenings.
For more information on Touch Rugby in Ireland, please visit www.irelandtouchassociation.com or www.touchrugby.ie
Touch Rugby is one of the only sports where men and women can compete on the same team at an international level. We have a great family connection, with three siblings (The O’Byrne’s) on the team and a married couple (Eddie Devitt and Emma O’Byrne).
All of our players come from Dublin, except Mark Woolfield who travels up from Tipperary. The vast majority of the squad including the managers come from DLSP under 21 team and are very new to the sport. Daragh Devlin is an an amateur London Irish player, and Marc Smith hails from the St.Andrews SC team.
Many members of the Men’s Over 35s are new to the sport, but have embraced the challenge of coming together to compete internationally.
Most of these players began playing every Sunday in Marlay Park, calling themselves ‘The Marlay Park Tipsters.’ They have competed internationally together for many years, and are the current European Champions in their age group. The President of the Ireland Touch Association, Peter Ashe-Browne is also a member of this team.
Mixed Open: Aroha Nathan; Ashley McLaughlan; Christina Tuataga; Claire Camilleri; Craig D’Alton; Deanna O’Byrne; Eddie Devitt; Elizabeth Comerford; Emma O’Byrne; Eric Jackman; Katie O’Byrne; Michael Wills; Nathan Simpson; Shannon Tau; Simon Neale; Teresa Aldous.
Men’s Over 40s: Frank Ennis; Edward Morton; Simon McKenna; Howard Tracey; Fergus Conway; Rory Hickey; Brian Sweeney; Philip Elliott; John Gleeson; Kevin Stiles; Barry Keogh; Paul Brown; David O’Donnell; Kevin Wyer; Martin Huggard; Peter Ashe-Browne.
Men’s Over 35s: Andrew Moss; Paul Bradley; Gary Purcell; Federico Black; Mark Bagnal; Boris Darceaux; Micheal Davies; Emerson Devlin; David Dowling; Les Devlin; Garret Fanning; Garreth Agnew; Clayton Homer; Peter Gilbourne; Gerald Pelosi.
Men’s Open: David Beagon; Jack Brennan; Daragh Devlin; John Gavin; Alan Glenn; Mark Kavanagh; Adam Kelly; Nicholas Leung; Luke Madden; Kevin Masterson; Eamon McAleese; Stephen O’Connor; Shane O’Neill; Killian O’Sullivan; Lorcan Gregorian; Mark Woolfield; Mark Smith.
