UL Bohemian find extra gear against Railway Union to claim AIL title
Twelve months on from the historic first Women's Division decider to be held at the Aviva Stadium, UL Bohs prevailed again on a 29-24 scoreline despite being without Aoife Corey and Jane Clohessy, Ireland's two debutants against Scotland yesterday.
Table toppers Railway Union, who had put together a terrific 19-match winning run, led this enthralling encounter on three occasions. Caoimhe McCormack converted replacement Katie O'Dwyer's 63rd-minute try for a 24-17 advantage.
However, Fiona Hayes' UL side displayed their mettle with replacement Gráinne Burke burrowing over before Cahill did likewise to take the Limerick club's record haul of league crowns to 15.It was final heartbreak for Railway for a third year running, and this one will cut the deepest. They trailed 12-10 at half-time, with Laoise McGonagle and Chisom Ugwueru replying to unconverted tries from Laura Sheehan and Lindsay Peat.
Railway had the upperhand when a levelling penalty try, coupled with Éabha Nic Dhonnacha's yellow card, cancelled out a Chloe Pearse score. O'Dwyer's effort on the hour mark was not enough though, as a never-say-die UL came out on top.
Early interceptions from Rachel Allen and Sheehan made for a lively start, with a crooked lineout throw robbing Railway of prime position. They hit back immediately by winning a scrum against the head. Some robust defending from UL Bohs, combined with Kate Flannery's right boot, lifted the pressure off the title holders, but only briefly. Teenage full-back McCormack's classy counter-attacking run saw her bring play back into the opposition 22.
Champions! 🏆♥️💙
— UL BOHEMIAN RFC (@ulbohemianrfc) April 27, 2025
As Railway remained on the front foot, Claire Bennett and Allen's breakdown work typified UL's resistence. They could not hold out, their forwards defending stoutly before Leah Tarpey released Sheehan to open the scoring in the 18th minute. The Railway winger soon came to their rescue as Bohs threatened a quick response. She intercepted Flannery's pass after Aoibhe O'Flynn and player-of-the-match Stephanie Nunan had launched a dangerous break.
However, good hands out to the right saw UL neatly convert a 26th-minute overlap. Nic Dhonnacha and Lily Brady did well to put Abby Moyles into space and the supporting McGonagle was uncatchable, giving Flannery an easier conversion to make it 7-5.Railway turned to their forwards to bludgeon back into scoring range. They fought hard to retain lineout possession, carrying infield where Peat plunged for the line, absorbing two tackles but showing her experience to get the grounding.
The tit-for-tat exchanges continued with UL making it two tries each in the 36th minute. Moyles offloaded for the jet-heeled Ugwueru to brilliantly shrug off Sheehan's tackle and squeeze over in the left corner ahead of two more defenders. Bohs drew further encouragement from a Nic Dhonnacha turnover penalty and a scrum penalty, either side of the interval. TMO Mark Patton ruled out a potential try for Pearse, with influential Railway lock Aoife McDermott managing to force a knock-on.
Nonetheless, with a penalty in their favour, Hayes' charges attacked smartly through their maul and there was no denying Pearse this time, the forwards driving her over to extend the lead to seven points. Just over two minutes later and inspired by a 50:22 kick from Ailsa Hughes, Railway delivered a big maul of their own.
Peat had the ball at the back and appear to get it down, but she was denied her 25th try of the season as referee Jonny Erskine awarded a penalty try instead. As UL also adjusted to the temporary loss of Nic Dhonnacha for coming in at the side, Belgian Sevens international Mira Broeks continued to impress in defence for Railway.
She landed some bone-crunching tackles, including an expertly-timed one on Flannery.A Tarpey-led attack ended with Méabh Keegan knocking on inside Bohs' 22, just before Nic Dhonnacha's return. Tarpey were becoming increasingly influential, and she spearheaded another attack that had the Mike South-coached Dubliners knocking on the door again.
Rhiann Heery also gained a good chunk of ground out on the left, and when Railway's reinforced pack got close to the posts, Keegan stormed up close, setting up O'Dywer to squeeze over from the ruck. McCormack tucked away the conversion. Back came the Red Robins, with their own bench providing plenty of energy and impact.
Full-back Moyles sliced through initially, Clara Barrett ran hard on the right, and then youngster Burke drove in low to touch down with 69 minutes on the clock. Crucially, Flannery was unable to convert from a difficult position on the right, leaving it 24-22 to Railway with 10 minutes remaining. A clever move off a lineout had the tireless Peat piercing through, putting UL on the retreat.
The Sandymount-based outfit made sure they held a territorial advantage for the closing stages. A textbook lineout steal from McDermott kept Bohs pinned back until a frantic last-minute breakout, with Barrett and Ugwueru both getting a chance to stretch their legs.
Last year's champions were suddenly flooding forward into Railway's 22, with replacement scrum half Muirne Wall maintaining a high tempo. Ciara O'Dwyer cleverly worked the ball wide to Ugwueru, who was caught high by Peat for a penalty. Pearse took up the baton by tapping and going from 12 metres out.
Five phases later, Railway's defence was worn down enough for prop Cahill to wrestle her way over for her 18th and most important try of the campaign, topped off by Flannery's well-struck conversion.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The 42
8 hours ago
- The 42
Dan Sheehan's very clever and somewhat confusing try
WE'VE GOT LOTS of different examples of Dan Sheehan finishing tries in recent months but he surprised all of us, including the Wallabies, with his latest big play. Most teams task their hookers with being the person to tap five-metre penalties. Sheehan is good in this role. He has the size, acceleration, and bravery to thrust himself at the tryline, generally making a few metres for Leinster, Ireland or the Lions before the other forwards take over. Sometimes Sheehan is involved in trick plays where he needs to dummy a carry but instead pass, or leave the ball for someone else to tap. All in all, Sheehan brings a nice variety in this area of the game. When most players tap and carry, they do their best to stay low to the ground, attempting to drive in under the defenders as they race up off the tryline. Getting caught upright is a recipe for disaster into what are usually double or triple tackles. We get an example of that low-carrying approach from Sheehan in last weekend's first Test win over the Wallabies just before Tom Curry's try. Sheehan places his left foot ahead of the ball, bringing himself closer to the tryline, then uses his right foot to tap it. He scoops the ball up as he accelerates off his planted left foot. Sheehan's acceleration takes him over the first couple of metres and then he starts to dive down towards the ground before tacklers James Slipper, Allan Alaalatoa, and Harry Wilson can make heay contact with him. The idea of dropping in low is that Sheehan can burrow under the tacklers, rather than getting rocked back by them. Essentially, his decision to drive low in the carry means he can bank those first three metres he has made off the tap. Curry scores a crucial try for the Lions two phases later. Fast forward to the second Test in Melbourne on Saturday and Sheehan uses the same approach on the first occasion the Lions decide to go for a five-metre tap penalty. Sheehan taps with his right leg, races over the first few metres and dives down into the tackle from Slipper and Wallabies hooker Dave Porecki. The Lions then try a 'Leicester' play – something Ireland and Leinster also use, inspired originally by the Tigers – by switching into the shortside with Andrew Porter, only for the Wallabies to read it well and stop him. A few phases later, the Wallabies are caught offside and the Lions decide to go for another five-metre tap. As Sheehan stands over the ball, we know what the Wallabies are expecting. But he pulls out a new move that catches the Australians off guard. Sheehan again taps and accelerates but this time, he doesn't dive in low to get under the tacklers. Instead, he dives straight over the top of them for the tryline. It's clearly something the Lions had discussed and planned. We can see Maro Itoje grabbing Sheehan's shirt and looking to propel him forward just as the hooker dives for the line. Advertisement Itoje wants to add any additional velocity he can to Sheehan's dive for the tryline. We can see how the two Wallabies tacklers who Sheehan drove under on the earlier tap penalties – Slipper and Porecki – are expecting him to do the same again. Porecki and Slipper are both dropping in low to try and complete the tackle, expecting Sheehan to be down there too. Instead, he clears both of them on his way to the tryline. It's very clever from Sheehan and the Lions, who show the Wallabies one picture with the hooker's tap and low carries before they spring a completely different picture on them. Referee Andrea Piardi awards the try, but the Wallabies immediately appeal, claiming that Sheehan has illegally jumped over the tackle. 'He's allowed to jump to score the try,' says Piardi as Wilson vehemently tries to get the try overturned. World Rugby issued a law clarification around this kind of thing back in 2022 at the behest of New Zealand Rugby, following two incidents where players jumped as a defender tried to tackle them. In the first instance, below, World Rugby ruled that Chiefs number eight Pita Gus Sowakula should have been penalised for jumping to hurdle the tackler, Aaron Smith of the Highlanders. World Rugby said that Sowakula's actions here were against Law 9.11, 'Players must not do anything that is reckless or dangerous to others including leading with the elbow or forearm, or jumping into, or over, a tackler.' Wales' Blair Murray was penalised for the same offence during this year's Six Nations. The same month, Moana Pasifika wing Kyren Taumoefolau was not penalised for the incident below, but Super Rugby bosses later admitted that this should have been a penalty against Taumoefolau. As World Rugby underlined in 2022, 'jumping to hurdle a potential tackler is dangerous play' and should be penalised. In each of these instances involving Sowakula, Murray, and Taumoefolau, they are clearly jumping to clear the defender, with each of them landing again before continuing upfield. They are not diving for the tryline. The other incident that New Zealand Rugby asked for clarification on in 2022 was Jonny May's memorable try against Italy. Frustratingly, World Rugby didn't actually say whether this finish was legal or illegal. They rather confusingly said that players should be allowed to dive to score, but also that defenders may attempt 'safe and legal tackles' in these instances. World Rugby added that in rare situations like this one, 'match officials have to make a judgement call as to which actions have taken place' and that 'if there is any element of dangerous play, in line with the above ruling [re. Sowakula], then a try cannot be the reward.' It's very rugby for the governing body to simply say it's up to the officials to decide in the moment. Just last month, World Rugby had another request in this area from its own high performance referee manager, Joël Jutge. 'At a ruck/breakdown close to the goal line, the attacking scrum-half picks up the ball and dives forward over the ruck in an attempt to score a try,' read the request. 'Is this legal or should it be sanctioned?' Lions skipper Itoje was involved in one of the incidents examined. World Rugby said that these incidents were 'potentially dangerous actions, so a player who attempts this and makes any contact with players already on the ground can be sanctioned' with a penalty. World Rugby did refer to its 2022 clarification in underlining that in these 'specific ruck situations, it would be difficult to either dive safely, or then be tackled safely.' So diving over a ruck to score was confirmed as illegal, as long as the diving player makes contact with other players already on the ground. But of course, Sheehan doesn't dive over a ruck for his Lions try, so really the 2022 clarification on May's try was the most relevant thing for Piardi on Saturday at the MCG. He knew it was a judgment call from his point of view. The Italian referee decided that Sheehan was making a genuine dive to score the try, rather than dangerously hurdling a tackler. And that's the bottom line here – World Rugby basically said that the referee's judgement call in this kind of situation is the law. Piardi decided it was a try, so it was a try. Wallabies boss Joe Schmidt – a former World Rugby director of rugby – expressed his concerns about the score post-match. 'It's illegal to jump the tackle, but he dived over,' said Schmidt. 'What it now challenges World Rugby to do is that if we have two guys going in low and a guy dives over that, he is pretty much headfirst. 'So what do we do to stop him scoring, apart from stopping his head? There's not much else you can do.' It's a fair point from Schmidt and underlines how willing Sheehan was to put his body on the line for the Lions. If one of the Wallabies defenders had stayed up high or popped upwards late, it could have been a nasty collision. But they didn't. The Wallabies tacklers were lured down into low positions by Sheehan's previous set-up plays and he soared right over the top of them. Piardi was happy and Andy Farrell's men had five crucial points.
The 42
18-07-2025
- The 42
Munster name Maeve Óg O'Leary as new captain
MAEVE ÓG O'LEARY has been named as Munster captain ahead of next month's Women's Interprovincial Championship. The versatile back-row makes her provincial return this season after an extended break due to knee injuries. The Tipperary native took up rugby at 15 with Ballina-Killaloe, making her name as a fly-half/centre before moving to the back-row with Blackrock College. O'Leary went on to win an All-Ireland League title with the side in 2022. Advertisement She made her Munster debut in 2021, the same year she became an Ireland international, and was part of the team that won Interprovincial Championships in 2022 and '23. Chloe Pearse and Stephanie Nunan will serve as this year's vice-captains. 'It's great to be back this season and an absolute privilege to be leading the girls alongside Chloe and Steph,' O'Leary said. 'We are all looking forward to the Interpros kicking off with plenty of opportunity in this year's competition. 'We have been training hard these past number of weeks and have been growing and connecting as a team on and off the pitch. 'There are a number of new faces and great talent coming through in camp this season, and I look forward to seeing our potential going forward as we continue to learn and grow.' Their campaign begins at home to Connacht at Virgin Media Park on Sunday, August 10th.
Irish Examiner
16-07-2025
- Irish Examiner
Dan Sheehan has no issue with Henry Pollock's Aussie riling comments
Dan Sheehan has no problem with Henry Pollock firing up the Wallabies by stating the aim of the British & Irish Lions is to sweep the Test series starting this weekend. He just knows the tourists now must go out there and do it for three Saturdays in a row. The Ireland hooker is expected to be named by head coach Andy Farrell on Thursday morning in the starting front row for the first Test against Australia at Brisbane's Suncorp Stadium. One of the safer bets for selection given his barnstorming comeback from knee reconstruction following last summer's Test series with the Springboks in South Africa and his electric start to the 2025 tour when he scored the first try on Australian soil in the first minute against Western Force, the 26-year-old was nevertheless as hungry for recognition as the next man in Farrell's touring party. 'It's just an exciting week,' Sheehan said. 'These are the three games you think about when you talk about a tour. Everyone has been trying to put their best foot forward to be selected and it is a bit of an anxious wait to see what the selection is, but all we can do is put our best foot forward in training and do what's best for the team as a collective. 'Everyone has gone up another level, and the hunger is there to make sure you're on the team-sheet and produce a win on Saturday.' That Pollock, the 20-year-old back-rower, raised the temperature of the tour by getting Aussie hackles up with his statement of intent that a 3-0 series clean sweep was 'on the table' as the 2025 tourists bid to become the best Lions team ever merely cements that motivation with the camp, for Sheehan at least. 'Every team in the world wants to be the best team they've featured in. It hasn't changed in my mindset. 'I don't think that's anything too crazy. It's obviously everyone's goal to win a Test series, and to try to be a step beyond the last squad. The way rugby has evolved, every team should be better than the last, and it's a massive goal of ours to make sure we reach our potential. 'I think if we do reach our potential we have the possibility to be one of the best teams. I think they're fair comments.' Now it has been put out there, and doubtless used as motivation in the home dressing room, Sheehan's attitude is to roll the sleeves up and get on with delivering on the bravado. "I suppose it gives you a responsibility to go out and do it. No one is going to shy away from it, our aim is a Test series win and I don't think anyone should be afraid of saying it. "At the end of the day, everyone knows it. I don't think any team really goes in saying 'oh yeah, one game at a time', 'hopefully we'll win the next one, the next one'... there's a clear gameplan to have a dominant series and win. "It's the way I was brought up in my career, to be very clear in what you want out of a season or a campaign and then you have to attack it. There's a bit of a responsibility on you, you've said it out loud so you have to go do it." As for riling the Wallabies, Sheehan was expecting a tough series of encounters anyway. "We've seen it the last couple of years, they've probably been written up as underdogs and they've put in some massive performances, shaken some big teams. "So, yeah I think of course there's going to be a bit of fire and they'll feed into that. "But that's out of our control in some ways and we need to make sure we come out firing and stamp our gameplan on them early. "I'm sure there's going to be some big collisions, some big heated moments in the game. We need to be ready for that and get back to process."
