For those of you who are not familiar with Tag rugby, it is a game of non contact rugby where possession of the ball is won by pulling tags from the waist of opposing players. When a team looses six tags, possession is handed over to the other team. Tries are the only score and the ball has to be carried forward not kicked. It’s a game which requires fast hands and the speed to run with the ball while dodging opponents so as not to loose your tags. When the opposing team has the ball its all about the ability to pull tags from opponents to regain possession. For the community games competition, teams are seven aside selected from a panel of twelve. But there must be a minimum of two girls on the field of play at all times. Having been beaten in last years county final the boys and girls of Drangan and Cloneen were all out to win this one. The game was a thriller with nothing between the teams and was played in the most sporting fashion.Our boys and girls had possession from the start and after some good passing Caoimhe Ryan made a great run down the wing to score the first try of the game for Drangan and Cloneen. Moneygall fought back and soon broke our defence to equalised with a try at the other end. Frank Meagher regained the lead for our lads with a well taken try before Caoimhe Ryan added another to put us two tries clear . However Moneygall fought back to reduce the lead to one try just as half time approached. The second half started with Moneygall scoring a try and with the sides level it was tit for tat as the ball went from one end to the other before Moneygall took the lead with another try. With only three minutes left on the clock the boys and girls of Drangan and Cloneen fought desperately to equalise and were rewarded for their pressure when Eoin Ryan raced to the corner for the equalising try. Within a minute of the restart our lads had regained possession and after some great passing got within ten metres of the line. With time almost up, a quick scrum half pass back to Páuric O’Brien caught Moneygall off guard and Páuric dashed through the middle to score a try that Brian O’Drisscoll would have been proud of and which put us back in the lead again. With the game in over time Moneygall almost got an equaliser but their player was deemed to have dived over the line which is not allowed. There was huge excitement among players and spectators when the referee blew the final whistle and Drangan and Cloneen were crowned county champions. This was a huge team effort with everyone of the team panel playing their part and giving it their all. On presenting the medals Willie Jones congratulated both teams for the wonderful display of tag rugby and wished Drangan and Cloneen the very best of luck with representing Tipperary in the munster finals. We say well done to our team on their wonderful performance and also to their trainers Billy Clancy and Jimmy O Brien who have put in so much work into coaching the teams on Tuesday nights in Drangan over last good number of weeks. With our under 11 team also representing Tipperary in the munster finals they will be very busy preparing both teams for the finals which will take place on july 14th in UL Limerick. We look forward to July 14th and wish both teams the very best of luck in representing Tipperary in the munster finals.
J.R.
