As many of you know the Renegades recently returned from their first ever international tour. After a year of planning and fundraising, 27 members traveled to Ireland for three scheduled matches and plenty of shenanigans. The Renegades landed in Dublin and headed straight to Galway for a match that evening against Tuam RFC. After a bit of sightseeing, the ladies booted up for their first international match in cold and foggy conditions. Tuam had a very mixed squad in terms of experience, but had a few massive women that ran the ball with authority. Tuam’s forwards were ultimately outmatched and let in several tries before the half. Monmouth pack maintained possession and control of the match resulting in a final score of 32-0 with Tires scored by Jen Beckner, Taryn Sievers, Dev Brumberger, Jennifer Jones, Colleen Dwyer and Coral Lore. Bitch of the Pitch was awarded to Trischele Petach for displaying the maximum amount of aggression without getting sin binned. The drink up lasted into the wee hours of morning which was consistent throughout tour. The win felt amazing and was worthy of celebration.Monmouth’s women are back from
From Galway the Renegades traveled to Dublin to face an undefeated and unscored upon Railway Union RFC. Prior to the match the ladies joined Railway at a local middle school to promote women’s rugby to over 700 students and to assist in a small coaching clinic. The girls were extremely excited and a lucky few walked away with a good foundation of the game and some Monmouth swag. That evening the Renegades took on Tuam in what was an extremely muddy and physical game. Monmouth maintained ball possession in Railway’s half for most of the first forty minutes, but the backs were unable to execute on overloads as scoring opportunities quickly vanished. A Railway breakaway resulted in a penalty leaving the score 3-0 at the half. Monmouth came out strong but Railway started to gain momentum despite them consistently losing scrum downs to the dominant Monmouth pack. The backs let up two breakaway tries by Railways quick centers and time became Monmouth’s more eminent opponent. Powerful runs by Taryn “Baby Rhino” Sievers and Jennifer “Jersey” Jones threatened the Railway goal line, and with strong forward support a try seemed inevitable. To Monmouth’s detriment, Railway sub-ed in and inexperience prop and the ref demanded uncontested scrums which seemed all too convenient on the 5-meter line. Unfortunately, that scrum gave away Monmouth’s possession as well as our last opportunity to score. The final score was 20-0 and Bitch of the Pitch was awarded to Jennifer “Jersey” Jones for her fantastic srummaging and powerful runs. The drinkup was good craic to say the absolutely very least.
[slideshow id=14 w=550 h=250 float=center]
Railway Match Report Quote:
The Railway girls needed every ounce of effort to come out on top of a hugely physical encounter, in a game that Leinster’s Jack Hanratty said was the “best game of women’s rugby he’s ever seen in Ireland.”
Railway Match Report (link)
To bring the tour to an end the Renegades headed north to Belfast to take on Queens RFC. The weather turned brutally cold and we hurried to get the match underway before the pitch froze, although we were unsuccessful. In below freezing temperatures Monmouth played with intensity and once again an aggressive and fit pack. While Monmouth proved to have both a size and power advantage, the well-coached Queens squad demonstrated great speed and skillfulness in the back line. Once again, breakaway tries from overloads proved to be the demise of Monmouth and the weather conditions certainly took its toll. Bitch of the Pitch went to Elizabeth Taylor Hussey for her tremendous leadership and relentless play throughout the tour. Final score 27-14 tries scored by Kate Kelly and Trischele Petach.
Overall it was an amazingly successful tour and if a few minor things went differently Monmouth would have returned 3-0. Fun was had by all on and off the pitch, but the incredible experience would have never come to fruition without the hard work done by Colleen Dwyer and Aija McKenzie. Thank you to all that made this tour possible, including Coach Simon for his guidance and more importantly, his tolerance. I am honored to have played with you ladies and to be a Renegade.