Simply sensational, is the only way to describe Enniskillen Royal Grammar School’s captain Leah Irwin’s performance, in the Ulster Schools’ Cup Final, at Kingspan Stadium.
The Royal girls collected their third successive Ulster Under-18 Schools’ Cup with a comprehensive 47-12 victory against St Louis Ballymena.
18-year-old Irwin, is currently part of the Irish national training squad, has represented Ulster and last year got her first Ireland Under-18 cap. On Wednesday last she showcased her talent by crossing for five tries on a day to remember for the final-year student;
“The girls helped me a lot with the scores I got but I probably could’ve played better personally, but the team helped me look better, I’d say,” she said modestly.
While Irwin was part of the 2023 and 2024 cup-winning squads, captaining the team and getting to lift the cup was extra special;
“It was such an amazing feeling. They are the best group of girls and they deserved nothing more than to win that match.
“Being captain made it a lot more exciting,” but she hastened to add, “the first and second year were exciting too. It never loses that buzz, it’s such a great opportunity to go and get to do it.”
Enniskillen Royal captain Leah Irwin scored five tries for her team.
Enniskillen knew little about their Ballymena opposition but in attack and defence they dominated their opponents from start to finish.
They now go into the All-Ireland competition where they’ll hope to go a step further;
“It’s something we’ll be aiming for. We’ve come so close the past few years but never got our hands on that reward.
“I think over the next few weeks, if we keep training the way we are, it’s definitely within reach.
“There’s so much potential and so much enthusiasm; they’re so driven to do well because they could’ve just been like ‘we’ll just go have a bit of craic’, but they all wanted it just as much as I did which makes it a lot easier.”
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