Leinster representative action.

It was a buy weekend on the Leinster Rugby front with plenty of Longford players in action.

First up it was the Leinster U18 girls who defeated Connacht in UCD to clinch the Interpro series. On show were Diana Izekor at 13 and she nabbed two tries to add to her four the previous weekend. Isabella Larkin also played and although she didn’t follow up on her try scoring the previous week, she had a very solid performance and was fully deserving of her selection. Unfortunately, the third of Longford’s representatives, Mia Rowan, missed out as she continues to recover from injury.

On Sunday, down in Virgin Media Park, Cork, Shane McGuigan played at No 6 for the Leinster U19’s as they clinched their Interpro campaign with a 47-18 win over Munster. Another member of the Leinster squad with Longford connections was Tom Reynolds, son of James Reynolds, Dublin Rd, who played and coached at under age level with the Club.

Last, but not least, on Saturday our own Mini player, Michaela Marlowe, was the mascot for the Leinster Senior Women’s team in their Interprovincial fixture against Munster in Energia Park, Donnybrook. Unfortunately, despite Michaela’s presence, Leinster lost the game 50-15.

It’s another full weekend of action on the representative front with the Leinster U18 girls in action against Connacht in UCD, kick off on Saturday at 2.45pm, in what is a repeat of last weekend’s round robin fixture, but on this occasion it’s “winner takes all” in what is now the Interprovincial final. Two of our girls have again been selected (Mia continues with her recovery from injury), Diana at 13 after her Player of the Match performance last weekend, bagging four tries and a conversion in the process. Isabella gets her just rewards with a place on the bench following impressive performances when she came on as a sub for her Interpro debut against Munster in Energia Park the weekend before last and followed it up with a full game against Connacht last weekend.

Leinster’s U19 boys seek to round off an impressive Interpro campaign to date with their final game against Munster in Virgin Media Park, Cork, on Sunday where once again Shane McGuigan has been selected at No 6.

Meanwhile, it’s Midland League action for the Senior men on Friday evening in Mullingar when they will hope to follow up on an impressive performance against Tullamore last weekend, which in itself followed their first round win over Edenderry the previous weekend. For their part, Mullingar had a narrow victory over Edenderry in their last game.

Pictured above is Joe McCollum, Head Coach of the Senior Women’s team.

Longford Senior Women will be playing in Division 3 of the Leinster League this season and the Table with the participating Clubs and the list of fixtures has been published. Click on the links below for the table and the fixtures for this season. Longford open the campaign with a home tie against Ashbourne on the 5th October.

League Table

Leinster League Women’s Division 3

It’s a full weekend of action on the representative front with the Leinster U18 girls in action against Connacht in Corinthians, Galway, kick off on Saturday at 12.30pm. Two of our girls have been selected to start (Mia continues with her recovery from injury), Isabella at 14 and Diana at 13. Isabella came on as a sub for her Interpro debut against Munster in Energia Park last weekend and was instrumental in the scoring of the two tries in the final few minutes which clinched the win for Leinster. Indeed the match report namechecks Isabella as having been “excellent off the bench”. Diana is restored to the team having played in the first game against Ulster a fortnight ago.

Leinster’s U19 boys seek to follow up on their win against Ulster last weekend where Shane McGuigan played the full game at No 6 and was on the scoresheet in the 33-8 win in Belfast. Their game against Connacht is in Energia Park on Sunday with a 3.00pm kick off. The team for the game on Sunday is yet to be announced but hopefully Shane will be involved again.

Meanwhile, it’s Midland League action for the Senior men on Friday evening at Precision Health Park (kick off 8.00pm) when they will face into what will likely be a stiffer test against Tullamore following their first round win over Edenderry last weekend. For their part, Tullamore had a comprehensive victory over Mullingar in their first round game, 53-5.

Best wishes to our Senior Women’s player, Sara-Lee Greene, who is representing Longford in this year’s Rose of Tralee Festival.

Sara-Lee’s bio on the Rose website reads:-

My name is Sara-Lee Greene, and I am privileged to call myself the Longford Rose for 2025. I am a 25-year-old hailing from Edgeworthstown in County Longford. After spending four years in the lovely city of Galway I qualified as a mental health nurse. Following my qualification, I accepted a job in the mental health services in Sligo. I have spent the last two years working and living in Sligo and I am happy to call it my home away from home. I love living in Sligo as there is so much to enjoy on my days off. I really enjoy my job as it is an honour to be able to work with those who need empathy and compassion. I enjoy music and singing and love opportunities to take part in various music groups. I also enjoy playing sports and love playing Gaelic football and rugby. I am really looking forward to representing Longford as their rose and I cannot wait to share this experience with all the other Roses!