Ireland Tour Kick-Starts St. Augustine Hermits' Season
Ireland Tour Kick-Starts St. Augustine Hermits' Season
St. Augustine out of New Jersey just returned from a very successful tour of Ireland.
The tour was run by GRR sponsor Irish Rugby Tours, and took them through a series of competitive games, high-level coaching, and cultural experiences.
"The tour was fantastic!" enthused Head Coach Brendan Towell. "We have used Irish Rugby Tours four times and each time they put together a tour that allows for high level rugby and educational experiences. They partner with Mannings Coach Bus Company which also does a terrific job. This time they did so for a massive group of 79 total (players, coaches, trainers, and some family members). This meant navigating two buses and sometimes two hotels—they did it masterfully."
The team had four separate rugby clinics, two with Trinity College coaches, including Head Coach (and former USA assistant coach) Tony Smeeth, and two with former Munster flyhalf Johnny Holland. They also played three matches.
"Each team offered outstanding post match hospitality and exchanged and swapped gear with our boys," added Towell.
The Games
The first match of the tour was evenly-contested but featured some mistakes by the touring Hermits.
"If we were to circle back and play that one over by the end of the tour, it would have been a very different story," said Towell.
The second match was less close and Towell acknowledges his side was outplayed.
"That group was comprised of mostly senior players who had been together for years, and it showed," he said. "You learn a lot from matches like that and you especially learn that you don’t want to repeat them. The final match was absolutely the highlight. The two teams were very evenly-matched in many ways, but some technical errors around the breakdown came back to haunt us. What I can say is that in each match—in all three—we were the more physical side."
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The technical side of the schoolboy game in Ireland is often an eye-opener for touring teams and a great way for coaches to show what can be done—passes are accurate, always; tackling is low and effective; kicking is on-point; their skills over the ball are exceptional.
"Technically speaking, we got better every match and that is what we hope to bring back to our season—a team that remains very physical but now is also balanced with the technical skills and the rugby IQ necessary to take on US competition," said Towell. We feel very good about that balance post-tour."
The Experience
Outside of the rugby-specific games and sessions, the players and families toured EPIC (the Irish Emigration Museum), the Aran Islands ust off the western coast near Galway, Spike Island, and Blarney Castle.
Since the tour was over March 17, the team not only attended a St. Patrick's Day parade but participated in the parade in Cobh City, which is jsut south of Cork on the southern coast.
"We represented both St. Augustine Prep but also the United States," said Towell. "We were very welcomed by the people of Cobh and even the Lord Mayor stopped us to chat. It was a great day."
All of this will be fuel for the fire as St. Augustine returns to its regular season. Along with their Rugby New Jersey opposition the Hermits will face off with Gonzaga and Georgetown Prep on back-to-back weekends after Easter.
