Members of the Parkland Pirates youth rugby program had the trip of a lifetime, recently, when they traveled to Ireland where they played three exhibition games against Irish teams.

According to program coach Aaron Miner, the team left Dauphin at midnight, Mar. 23, chartering a bus to Winnipeg. They flew out of Winnipeg at 7 a.m. for Toronto where, what was supposed to be a six-hour layover turned into a nine-hour wait before flying to Dublin.

“We landed in Dublin, hopped on a bus, drove across the country to Galway and had our first practice,” he added.

The boys and girls teams each played three games over the course of nine days. The girls did well, winning two of their three games.

“In the one game they lost, it was still very tight,” Miner said. “Girls rugby in Canada is very strong right now. We’re ranked in the top three in the world, almost at all times. So going over to Ireland, we knew we had a good chance with the girls. But they showed very well. We were just so strong. Good, old fashioned Parkland girls coming through strong, bullying through, pushing their way through rucks and mauls. It was beautiful to see.”

Miner feels the girls opened some eyes with their strong play, noting rugby in Ireland is like hockey in Canada.

“It’s their national sport,” he said, adding the men’s national team is ranked number one in the world. “I think they underestimated us by a long shot on the girls side. So happy for us to see, disappointing for them, for sure.”

The boys team lost all three games, but two were extremely close, Miner said, while the other was a blowout.

“The team had brought the captain of the under-18 national team to play on their side, not knowing what we had brought. And this kid was a phenom. He was like the Connor Bedard of Irish rugby,” Miner said. “He really showed us a thing or two. Rugby in Ireland is different from rugby in Canada, too. We have a bit of a hockey morale when we play rugby. You get tackled here, you take offence to it. You might swing or get upset. Over there, when you get tackled, it’s part of the game. There is no getting upset about a good tackle or things like that. It’s part of the game and they play like gentlemen over there from start to finish and even after the game.”

It reminded Miner of when he started playing with the Dauphin Mavericks. Road trips to Shilo or Winnipeg, ended with a dinner for the opposition team, with speeches.

“It was such a beautiful thing to see, the culture of the game that they were showing us, that we sometimes don’t get to see here because of our geography. The culture was amazing,” he said.

Besides rugby, the teams had the chance to do some sightseeing when they weren’t on the pitch.

They got to visit the Cliffs of Moher, Islands of Aran, as well as kissing the Blarney Stone.

“We took all that in, but there was always a practice or a game after a tour or before a tour. Parents and players alike were all made very aware that we’re going there for rugby and rugby is our primary thing. Anything else we get to do in between is bonus,” Miner said. “Our tour guide, George from Irish Rugby Tours, didn’t leave us a spare moment, which was good. It kept the group of 14 to 17-year-olds very busy. It didn’t leave them a whole lot of time for them to get into anything other than the culture and spirit of Ireland, which was great. It’s what we went for and we got more than we bargained for. It was fantastic.”

Many of the players play for the Dauphin Clippers high school teams and they began practicing for the trip at the end of January. So they will be in midseason form by the time the season gets underway, since most other teams haven’t started practicing yet.

“So we’re looking forward to this season. We feel as if we are very strong and we are going to be top contenders, not only in our league, but in the province,” Miner said. “The hope that all this hard work and dedication that the kids have put into it so far does pay off and we are provincial champions this year. Both on the girls and boys side. We’re feeling quite confident that the things that we’ve done will benefit us.”

Miner wishes to thank all the sponsors for their support in making the trip possible.

“The community of Dauphin stepped up once again. Dauphin is such a giving community that none of this would be possible without the community stepping up,” Miner said.