Fiona Coghlan’s Rugby Diary

When I returned it was straight back into training, and it was quite intense as it was interprovincial training. I was very unfit and started to get niggly little injuries, and then to top it all off I broke my hand, which had me in cast for three weeks. I wasn’t the happiest person to be around for that time. I got my cast off the day before the first interpro game against Connacht and I was eager to play, but the coach erred on the side of caution and wouldn’t play me. We won that game well.

I was firing on all cylinders for the next game, against Ulster. I was named in the starting team and was absolutely thrilled. Though the game didn’t go as we had planned, as Ulster came out very strong, we did win the game – but not in the fashion that we would have liked, so we had plenty to work on for subsequent games.

The next game up was Munster, a match we knew would be our toughest to date. Both teams are pretty evenly matched, and the game itself was very good, with Munster scraping a win at 12–8.  We meet Munster again in the interpro final, which will take place at the Sportsground in Galway next weekend. 

Throughout all of this, club training and matches have also started back. Unfortunately we lost a number of players who have decided to take a year out and travel. We have also lost Jeanette Feighery (Irish winger) and Sarahjane Belton (Irish captain) to serious injuries which could see them miss the season. 

But we have seen the return of Patrique Kelly and the signings of Laura Guest and Joy Neville, all International players of note that will help to bolster the squad, along with this a number of new players have joined the squad. In addition, we found ourselves two new coaches in Ed Torrie and Gary Walsh, who both play AIL rugby with UL Bohemians.

So as we look to defend our All Ireland title for the seventh year, there have been plenty of changes and we have a lot of work to do. We won our first two games comprehensively, but we know we will meet stiffer opposition against Blackrock and Highfield. 

On the international front, training will not commence until November. However, we have already been fitness tested and are having supervised weights sessions every week. Although this adds to my night’s travelling, it is definitely worthwhile as you have someone pushing you to reach your maximum, and there is healthy competition amongst the girls to lift the heaviest weights. I would imagine our international schedule will be very busy this year, as we have the Six Nations in February and March and then the Europeans in May, and hopefully we will have a friendly at some stage too. 

It has been a great month for rugby with the World Cup taking place, so if I wasn’t training or playing rugby I could be found watching it! I felt sorry for the Irish boys, not only as they didn’t reach the heights they would have hoped for themselves, but the media barrage against them was a bit over the top. 

No athlete goes out to lose or play badly – these things happen and I’m sure the lads will look back to try and discover what went wrong.  I have to say I really enjoyed watching Fiji play, as they just wanted to run the ball and play rugby. They didn’t kick away the ball like some of the other teams; they were a joy to watch. Also, Argentina played with such passion and pride that I was delighted to see them get the bronze medal. 

I have a week now to get my head focused on the next big game against Munster, and it will be some game, as I will be playing against all of my clubmates. But sometimes these are the more enjoyable matches, especially if you win bragging rights for club training.

Fiona Coghlan is an Irish International rugby player. Her column appears regularly in Metro Eireann