University Ultimate 2016: Irish Intervarsity Championships

Moving to the semis, a further-weakened UL 1 team (who were now playing iron-man for the remainder of the tournament due to the loss of their junior Brian Ó Brion) were drawn against Trinity 1. The Shannonsiders were still optimistic heading into match, as Captain Dylan Ryan rallied his troops for their toughest opponent of the weekend. This optimism however, was quickly cut to shreds. Trinity were able to out-work UL almost immediately, and once the disc was moving for them it was impossible to stop. Furthermore, they found ways to dance their way around UL’s big wall, be it with cheeky pop passes to the front or huge jump-ins, such as Jack Mac Namara clotheslining himself in UL’s wall to toe the endzone. An early 5-0 lead was too much for UL to come back against as Captain David Stokes and his Trinity side marched their way to the final. Across the hall, the other semi-final saw a rematch of last year’s final as UCC 1 took on UCD 1. UCC came out hungry for redemption on defence forcing two early turns to take a 2-0 lead. UCD fought back however as Ferdia Rogers was able to lead his team back to 2-2. In the game, both teams made good use of their isolation plays, as spectators were treated to a Stephen Jones and Donnacha McAuillfe matchup. However, UCC’s man defence, be it tight on the dump by Colin Feely, or strong downfield, forced UCD to take risky puts to the end zone, allowing them to go up 8-3. This deficit ended up being too much for UCD as UCC 1 made their return to the final winning 9-5.

As 4 o’clock ticked nearer and the final drew closer, the experienced UCC 1 side prepared to claim the title they had narrowly missed out on last year. However they would have to get passed the rejuvenated Trinity 1 outfit. Trinity started on D, and entrusted the task of getting a crucial break to their new recruit; three of the starting line were freshers. This task proved well within their reach as James O’Donovan turned UCC’s offence on the first pass and managed a jump in goal for the score. The game became characterised by big physical and contact heavy bids as both teams were determined to grab any loose disc. The teams traded points for much of it with UCC’s play flowing mainly through a towering Donnacha McAuillfe, who had a height mismatch with basically all of Trinity’s players. Both teams opted for an intense man defence, which ended up favouring the Dubs as slight lapses in concentration from UCC on offence eventually allowed Trinity to open up a 9-6 lead with minutes to go. UCC refused to die however as patient, chilled dump-and-swing play picked the holes of Trinity’s wall. Ruthless man defence from David Forde and Colin Feely caused Trinity to force the disc to space that wasn’t there, allowing UCC to fight back to universe point. As the 27 minute fixture ticked into its 40th minute, both teams refused to lose. In the final point, Trinity’s O quickly worked their way to the UCC end zone. However, a nasty three player collision on a floaty disc froze Trinity’s progress, with layout bids from McAuliffe and Forde of UCC. In typical Irish fashion however, Spirit of the game prevailed as UCC conceded the foul. With Trinity retaining the disc, Stokes eventually found one of his juniors through the UCC wall for the win, welcomed with a thunderous roar from the Trinity sidelines. On the day, it was heartbreak for Captain David O’Regan and UCC yet again, but well-deserved victory for Trinity and MVP of the final, James O’Donovan.

So, what does this all mean moving forward? Well to start off, a mention is due of an improved NUIG. I feel their 7th placed finish does not do them justice, as throughout the weekend, they had a number of close games that could have gone either way. Universe point losses to UL and UCD in their quarter-finals could have resulted in a very different shape to the weekend had the results gone in favour of Captain Eoghan Staunton and the Panthers. Another point of note is the depth of UCC’s and Trinity’s Open teams. UCC 2 and Trinity 2 finished 5th and 8th respectively in efforts that UCC 2 captain Matt Cox and Trinity 2 captain Oisin Skineader should be proud of. With both teams finishing so high, and having the opportunity to go against their 1st teams outside of the training grounds, it’s likely that there’ll be interesting squads chosen for their first and second teams as we move to the outdoor season.

However, I feel the major takeaway from this weekend is the impact of the freshers. Because Ultimate in Ireland used to mainly be discovered by people once they started University, Varsities used to be a platform for the Uni clubs to showcase their recruitment and development of new players as they progressed through the years. Now however, we are seeing the fruits of Ireland’s developing youth system with the injection of experienced junior players and the boost they can give to a club, shown clearly in the case of Trinity.  Their mix of Varsity experience and sheer intensity from Captain David Stokes blended perfectly with the skill and athleticism of junior Players such as Jack Mac, James O’Donovan, and Andrew Cleary to lay the foundations of a fearsome new team for the season and years to come. With this new energy coming from first-years, not only will the overall standard of the Varsity scene drastically increase, but it will also hopefully drive Universities to enhance their own school systems, widening the player base and improving the sport as a whole. However as the Varsity season rolls from the warmth of indoors to the brisk reality of outdoors, it’s clear this division is still wide open. The only way to find out how the teams stack up against each other on grass will be to check in again at the Siege of Limerick in March. Until then!

Featured image: All Ireland Open Indoor IV Champions – Trinity 1.

Bonus video: UCC v UCD semi-final: