ireland team 2010

Current teams for 2010 Season
Leinster League
• Athboy
• Carlow Crusaders
• Dublin City Exiles
• Laois Panthers
• North Dublin Eagles
• Tullamore Knights
• Wicklow Vikings
Munster League
• Bruff
• Cork
• Treaty City Titans
• University of Limerick Bohs
Ulster league
• Ballinahinch Rabbitohs
• East Belfast Bulldogs
• Fermanagh Redskins
• Portadown Pumas
• Strangford Sharks
• Mid Ulster Mercenaries
Teams in past seasons of the league
2001
• Leinster Conference: Dublin Blues, Dublin City Exiles, Clontarf, Churchtown Warriors
• Munster Conference: Cork Bulls, Suir Valley Saints, Carbury Crusaders, West Munster Kings
2002
• Cork Bulls, Dublin Blues, Dublin City Exiles, Churchtown Warriors, North Kildare Knights, East Coast Eagles
2003
• Cork Bulls, Dublin Blues, Dublin City Exiles, Churchtown Warriors, North Kildare Knights, East Coast Eagles
2004
• Leinster Conference: Dublin Blues, Dublin City Exiles, Churchtown Warriors, East Coast Eagles, Clontarf Bulls, Kildare Dragons
• Munster Conference: Cork Bulls, Middleton Devils, Kilkenny Wildcats, Waterford Vikings, Kerry Kings, Treaty City Titans
• NB: Middleton Devils never started the season.
2005
• Leinster Conference (West): Kildare Dragons, Tullamore Knights, Portloaise Panthers, Athlone Arrows, Athboy Longhorns
• Leinster Conference (East): Dublin Blues, Dublin City Exiles, East Coast Eagles, Ashbourne
• Ulster Conference: Portadown Pumas
• Munster Conference: Cork Bulls, Kilkenny Wildcats, Waterford Vikings, Kerry Kings, Treaty City Titans
• NB: Ashbourne and Athlone Arrows failed to start the season and therefore the Leinster (West), Leinster (East) and Ulster conferences were merged into one Leinster Conference.
2006
• Kildare Dragons, Tullamore Knights, Portloaise Panthers, Athlone Arrows, Athboy Longhorns, Dublin Blues, Dublin City Exiles, North Dublin Eagles, Portadown Pumas, Cork Bulls, Kilkenny Wildcats, Waterford Vikings, Treaty City Titans, Malahide Lions
• NB: Cork Bulls and Malahide Lions failed to start the season with Carlow Crusaders being brought in as a replacement for Cork Bulls.
2007
• Elite Division: Carlow Crusaders, Treaty City Titans, North Dublin Eagles, Dublin Blues, Kildare Dragons
• North Division: Dublin City Exiles, Portadown Pumas, Athboy Longhorns, Athlone Arrows, Tallaght Tigers
• South Division: Tullamore Knights, Portlaoise Panthers, Kilkenny Wildcats, Galway Tribesmen, Carlow Crusaders B
• NB: Galway Tribesmen failed to start the season and were replaced by Treaty City Spartans. Kildare Dragons and Athboy Longhorns failed to complete the season.
2008
• Elite Division: Carlow Crusaders, Treaty City Titans, North Dublin Eagles, Dublin City Exiles, Portadown Pumas, Tullamore Knights
• National Conference: Landsowne Blues, Athlone Arrows, Tallaght Tigers, Portlaoise Panthers, Kilkenny Wildcats, Carlow Crusaders B, Ballinahinch Bulls, North Dublin Eagles B, Western Warriors
• NB: Landsowne Blues, Athlone Arrows, Ballinahinch Bulls and North Dublin Eagles B failed to complete the season
2009
• Elite League: Carlow Crusaders, Treaty City Titans, North Dublin Eagles, Dublin City Exiles, Tullamore Knights, Laois Panthers
• Rugby League Merit League: Tallaght Tigers
• Northern Ireland League: Portadown Pumas, Ballinahinch Bulls, East Belfast Bulldogs, Strangford Sharks
2010
• Ulster Conference: Portadown Pumas, Ballinahinch Rabbitohs, East Belfast Bulldogs, Strangford Sharks, Antrim Storm, Fermanagh Redskins
• Leinster Conference: Carlow Crusaders, North Dublin Eagles, Dublin City Exiles, Tullamore Knights, Laois Panthers, Tallaght Tigers, Athboy, Wicklow Vikings
• Munster Conference: Treaty City Titans, Cork Bulls, Bruff, Cashel
• NB:Antrim Storm, Tallaght Tigers and Cashel failed to start the season. However, University of Limerick Bohs replaced Cashel in the Munster Conference
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ireland rugby league

Rugby league in Ireland History
In May 1934 Wigan beat Warrington 32-19 in an exhibition match in Dublin. Twenty years later, in May 1954, Warrington were again defeated by Halifax in both Belfast (34-15) and Dublin (23-11).
Several Irish rugby union players have crossed the Irish Sea to play in British Championship, most notably Irish forwards Robin Thompson, in the 1950s, and Ken Goodall a decade later.
The first club side to actually play in Ireland, Dublin Blues, were not formed until 1989. They consisted mostly of rugby union players who wanted to test themselves in the other code. The Blues competed against touring teams from Britain and surprised many of the touring sides with the quality of their play, scoring many memorable victories over British amateur opposition.
In early 1995 the Rugby Football League development arm financed the position of a Development Officer for Ireland, providing a boost to the development of the game. This laid the basis for the formation of the national Ireland side, which played its first ever game on St Patrick's Day 1995, in Washington DC, defeating the USA 24-22.
Competitive matches were established between teams in Leinster and Ulster: Schoolboy matches were played between Dublin and Belfast schools, Open Age Clubs competed against each other in the All-Ireland Challenge Cup. Teams included Belfast Wildcats and Bangor Vikings from Ulster.
Governing body and competitions
Main article: Rugby League Ireland
The governing body is Rugby League Ireland (RLI), though the Rugby Football League (whose remit covers the United Kingdom, and therefore partially overlaps with the RLI) provide funding and support for the game in Ireland.
Having experimented with a dual conference set up for several seasons, whereby teams from Munster and Leinster played in provincial conferences with the top teams going on to compete for the national title, the RLI changed to an All Ireland competition for the 2006 competition so as to guarantee more games for all teams and avoid repetition in the schedules as had been experienced in previous years, with Dublin based sides facing eath other as many as three times in the one season.
For 2007 the league has reverted to a conference style competition for fifteen teams, five in the top division, and ten in the second division, themeselves spit into two geographical conferences of five teams. One of these ten lower teams, Carlow Crusaders B, is from the same club as its namesake in the top division, so in total 15 teams will represent 14 clubs in the 2007 league.
The creation of a Rugby League club in the province of Ulster, the Portadown Panthers, has further increased the scope of the domestic competition and has led to hopes of the spread of the game in the north of the country. This left the western province of Connacht as the only unrepresented region of Ireland in the Rugby League Ireland competition.
Despite the creation of Portadown, early expectations of RLI success in Ulster were dampened when Portadown were severely beaten in their first and only game of the 2006 season by the North Dublin Eagles, 24-66. Portadown, apparently embarrassed after this defeat, left the remainder of Rugby League Ireland season, leving some other clubs in Ireland without games. However, Portadown did play in the 2008 elite league season but from 2009 will compete in the brand new Northern Ireland rugby league competition.
Hopes for a Connacht based Galway side appear to have been fulfilled, as the Galway Tribesmen have replaced the departing Waterford Vikings in the league for 2007.
Treaty City Titans won the 2009 Carnegie league defeating the Carlow Crusaders 33-26 in extra time.
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ireland national team

The national team
Main article: Ireland national rugby league team
There are in fact two Ireland teams: the full Ireland side is dominated by players of Irish ancestry from Super League and the NRL, whilst the Irish Wolfhounds side is made up of players from the domestic Irish competition.
Until recently the Great Britain team were known as 'Great Britain and Ireland' and Irish players were able to play for them. Brian Carney (rugby footballer) is a rare example of a player who played in the Irish league and then gained a professional contract with Super League club Wigan Warriors, he went on to play for Great Britain and Ireland.
Ireland also has a strong students Wolfhounds team who competed in the 2008 Students world cup and finished 2nd in the student's 4 nations tournament in 2009.
History
The seed of modern-day rugby league in Ireland was sown when in 1989 the Dublin Blues were formed and founded by Brian Corrigan. They consisted mostly of rugby union players who wanted to stay fit over the summer. The Blues competed against touring teams from Britain and surprised many of the touring sides with the quality of their play, scoring many memorable victories over British amateur opposition.
In early 1995 the British Rugby Football League development arm financed the position of a Development Officer for Ireland, providing a massive boost to the development of the game. In the same year Ireland formed its very first competitive team to play against the USA in Washington DC on St. Patrick's Day. Ireland won 24-22.
Competitive matches were established between teams in Leinster and Ulster: Schoolboy matches were played between Dublin and Belfast schools, Open Age Clubs competed against each other in the All-Ireland Challenge Cup. Teams included Belfast Wildcats and Bangor Vikings from Ulster. From Leinster there were Dublin-based Dublin Blues, North Side Saints, Tallaght Tiger, Churchtown Warriors, Seapoint Sharks and Bray-based East Coast Panthers. From Munster the Cork Bulls were formed under the guidance of Ex-Dublin Blues stalwart Peter McNamara. Northside Saints and Cork Bulls had their successes but the long-established Dublin Blues were always pre-eminent and there or thereabouts when it came to the trophy presentations.
The modern-day Rugby League Ireland was formed in 2001 initially in Leinster and Munster conferences, prior to this the competition was known as Ireland Rugby League, though after a season the league reverted to a national competition for two seasons before the conferences were reintroduced for 2004.
In 2006 the Leinster and Munster conferences were abandoned in favour of an all-Ireland league, but conference play was reintroduced for the 2007 season, this time on a North/South basis, below the Elite division.
For 2008 two national divisions operate, the Carnegie League and the Emerald Rugby National Conference.
In 2009 the Emerald National Conference has been replaced by the Emerald League run on a merit league basis. However, the Emerald League is unlikely to run in 2009 and it is hoped it will run in the future. Also a separate Northern Ireland league has been re-established.
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ireland past championship

Past champions
1997 - Dublin Blues 1998 - Northside Saints 1999 - Dublin Blues 2000 - Churchtown Warriors 2001 - Cork Bulls 2002 - Dublin City Exiles 2003 - Dublin City Exiles 2004 - Clontarf Bulls 2005 - Treaty City Titans 2006 - Treaty City Titans 2007 - Treaty City Titans 2008 - Carlow Crusaders 2009 - Treaty City Titans
League in Northern Ireland
The early stages of a competition in Northern Ireland are under development and progress was made when the RFL, RLI and members of the puplic met in Belfast in autumn 2008. The response to the meeting was positive and the competition is likely to kick off in the summer of 2009. Confirmed teams so far include:
• Ballynahinch Rabbitohs
• Belfast Bulldogs
• Portadown Pumas
• Strangford Sharks
• Fermanagh Redskins
• Magherafelt Mercenaries
Ballynahinch Bulls won the 2009 NI conference defeating East Belfast Bulldogs in the final.
Media
There are two weekly rugby league newspapers in the UK Rugby Leaguer & League Express and League Weekly and two monthly magazines, Rugby League World and Thirteen Magazine. Most of their content covers the sport in Britain, Australia and New Zealand but Irish rugby league is also covered. These publications are usually only available by subscription in Ireland.
A rugby union publication called Emerald Rugby covers rugby league in Ireland each month.
BBC Sport own the rights to broadcast a highlights package called the Super League Show which was first broadcast in Northern Ireland in 2008. Prior to this it had only been broadcast in the North of England. Rugby League Raw is not broadcast in Northern Ireland despite the BBC owning the rights to do so. The BBC covers the Challenge Cup from the rounds in which the top clubs enter.
BBC Radio Five Live and BBC Five Live Sports Extra carry commentary from a selection of Super League matches each week,.
Sky has the rights to show live Super League games; one or two live matches are broadcast often fronted by Mike Stephenson and Eddie Hemmings. Sky also hold the rights to show the Rugby League Tri-Nations live, whilst highlights are shown on BBC Sport. Australia's National Rugby League and State of Origin were shown until 2005-06 season when Setanta Sports outbid Sky for the rights.
Setanta Sports Ireland broadcasted highlights of the 2005 and 2006 pre-season Dublin challenge matches, and the 2005 European Nations Cup, on its Sports Weekly and Sports Monthly programmes.
Manchester based Channel M show some National League and amateur rugby on their Code XIII programme.
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Ireland match result

Results

Ireland

Ireland has played in 22 full internationals, winning 14 and losing 7 with 1 draw. As it is not a full member of the Rugby League International Federation, these matches are not considered to be tests. Ireland has also played friendlies against USA, Scotland and Australia that are not included in these results.

• Lebanon def. Ireland 40-16 (8/11/09) 2009 European cup
• Wales def. Ireland 42-12 (1/11/09) 2009 European cup
• Ireland def. Serbia 82-0 (18/10/09) 2009 European cup
• Fiji def. Ireland 30-14 (10/11/2008) 2008 Rugby league world cup quarter final
• Ireland def. Samoa 34-16 (5/11/2008) 2008 Rugby league world cup group game
• Tonga def. Ireland 22-20 (27/10/2008) 2008 Rugby league world cup group game
• Ireland drew with Lebanon 16-16 (2/11/2007)
• Wales def. Ireland 31-10 (30/10/2005)
• Ireland def. Scotland 12-6 (23/10/2005)
• England A def. Ireland 36-12 (7/11/2004)
• Ireland def. Scotland 43-10 (29/10/2004)
• Ireland def. Wales 25-12 (17/10/2004)
• Russia def. Ireland 64-6 (16/5/2004)
• Ireland def. USA 74-16 (10/5/2004)
• Ireland def. Scotland 24-22 (26/10/2004)
• France def. Ireland 26-18 (11/1/2003)
• France def. Ireland 56-16 (26/6/2001)
• England def. Ireland 26-16 (11/11/2000) Quarter Final of 2000 World Cup
• Ireland def. New Zealand Māori 30-16 (4/11/2000) 2000 World Cup
• Ireland def. Scotland 18-6 (1/11/2000) 2000 World Cup
• Ireland def. Samoa 30-16 (28/10/2000) 2000 World Cup
• Ireland def. Scotland 31-10 (31/10/1999)
• Ireland def. Wales 24-17 (15/10/1999)
• Ireland def. Scotland 17-10 (18/11/1998)
• France def. Ireland 24-22 (4/11/1998)
• Ireland drew with France 30-30 (13/5/1997)
• Cook Islands def. Ireland 10-6 (24/10/1995)
• Ireland def. Morocco 42-6 (24/10/1995)
• Ireland def. Moldova 48-26 (16/10/1995)

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ireland history

History

Ireland formed its very first competitive team to play against the USA in Washington on St. Patrick's Day in 1995. Ireland won 24-22 with Wigan legend Joe Lydon coming on as a replacement. He had gone to the US as a manager but was drafted in to play. Terry Flanagan, Huddersfield coach and former Great Britain player, along with Niel Wood, Director of British Student Rugby League, coached the team. In August 1995 Ireland beat Scotland at the RDS in Dublin. The game was played as a curtain raiser to the British Charity Shield encounter between Wigan and Leeds. The Irish team that day included former Great Britain player Des Foy. These two victories ensured that Ireland were included in the Emerging Nations World Cup in the Autumn of 1995. Coached again by Flanagan and Wood, the Ireland team beat Moldova and Morocco but lost 22-6 to the Cook Islands in the final held at Gigg Lane, Bury in England. In February 1996 a Senior Irish squad travelled to Fiji to participate in the Inaugural Super League World Nines. Ireland managed to finish 8th out of 16 nations. During the tournament Ireland played Japan, France, New Zealand, Samoa and Tonga. Following discussions between Mal Meninga and Ireland's Niel Wood (this was actually a game of touch football as final preparation for the Nines Tournament which started the next day), an unofficial 'test' was organised between Ireland and the World Champions, Australia on 20 February 1996.

The match was played at the Fiji National Stadium and was won by Australia 20-12. Australians playing that day included: Laurie Daley (Capt.), Ricky Stuart, Andrew Ettinghausen, Brett Mullins, Wendell Sailor, Jason Hetherington, Simon Gillies, Robbie Beckett, Mark Geyer and Steve Renouf. In 1996 a second St. Patrick's Day match was played against the USA. Try scorers that day were Thomas "Tom" McCabe and Des Foy. Phelim Comerford kicked 3 goals to ensure another 2 point victory by 14-12. In August 1996 the Ireland team lined out against Scotland and were beaten 26-6. Both teams fielded a few professionals: Scotland included Alan Tait, Matt Crowther, Danny Russell and Darren Shaw.

The Ireland team included Martin Crompton, Bernard Dwyer and James Lowes. The rest of the Irish team was made up of a few professionals from the lower divisions in England, a couple of ex-professionals, a few amateurs from the English amateur leagues and players from the fledgling Irish domestic competition. 1997 saw more England-based Super League players making themselves available by use of the grandparent rule. The Irish team improved its standards but this development gave less opportunity for Irish-based players to get a chance to play. However, Irish-based players were included in the Irish squad for the triangular tournaments in 1998 against France and Scotland and 1999 against Scotland and Wales. Their success was enough to earn a place in the 2000 World Cup. Finishing top of their group, the Irish eventually lost 26-16 to England in the quarter-finals, but the performance set the scene for future developments in Ireland.

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Ireland rugby league team

The Ireland national rugby league team represent the island of Ireland (i.e. both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland) in rugby league football. Ireland are accredited as an affiliate nation of the Rugby League International Federation. The representative team is dominated by players from Super League and sometimes includes players from the Australasian NRL. Ireland is also represented by an Ireland A side, which is made up of players from the domestic Irish competition.

Since Ireland began competing in international Rugby League in 1995, it has participated in the Emerging Nations Tournament (1995), Super League World Nines (1996), World Cup (2000 and 2008), European Nations Cup (since 2003) and Victory Cup (2004). Ireland A compete annually in the Amateur Four Nations competition (since 2002) and the St Patrick's Day Challenge (1995–2004).

Irish players have in the past been selected to play for the Great Britain side, one recent example being Cork-born Brian Carney. However, since the Great Britain team was split into individual nations in 2007, it is unlikely that this situation will arise again

World Cup 2008

See also 2008 Rugby League World Cup qualifying See also 2008 Rugby League World Cup

Ireland were drawn against Lebanon and Russia in Europe's Qualifying Pool Two. Ireland topped the group with a 16-16 draw with Lebanon at Dewsbury on 2 November 2007. The draw meant Ireland qualified for the 2008 World Cup on points difference from Lebanon as both nations gained the same number of group points.

At the World Cup in Australia, Ireland were in Group C along with Tonga and Samoa. They lost to Tonga on 27 October in Parramatta, Sydney, but were victorious against Samoa, again in Parramatta, on 5 November and topped the group on points difference. As the group winners, they played Fiji, winners of Group B, for a chance to qualify for the semi-final. Fiji won 30-14 and so Ireland were eliminated.

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