As Irish rugby grows ever more in popularity, Bud Light Tag, the IRFU’s official Tag Rugby programme is enjoying similar heights in popularity as teams get set for the season ahead with new venues opening up all over Ireland. One of the these Bud Light Tag venues is SLIGO RFC where team registrations have now gone live online.

This venue can boast top class pitch and changing facilities, top referees and the best venue managers around. At only €495 per team, registration works out at less than a fiver per player during the nine-week season.

Taking place every Thursday from May 13^th all mixed social grades are be catered for from A level to Beginners over 11 weeks of the summer until Finals Night on Friday July 23^rd. The Mixed Social leagues will fill up very quickly given the activity going on right now. Throughout the season the club will run special social events and promotion nights, details of which will be announced late April/early May.

The aim of Bud Light Tag, the IRFU’s official Tag Rugby programme is to provide a non-contact form of rugby for both men and women of all abilities to be played at first-class rugby facilities, officiated by IRFU-trained referees and professionally organised by the governing body of rugby in Ireland. All in a fun-filled atmosphere exemplifying exactly what the phrase ‘A Game of Two Halves’ means.

To see more about Bud Light Tag, click HERE to view a clip from RTE’s RBS Six Nations coverage aired Saturday February 27^th.

Registrations are carried out online on the Bud Light Tag website (www.irfutag.ie) and to ensure a team place, register now to avoid disappointment. For further information, send an email to tag@irishrugby.ie

On the 7th of March, on a day with conditions perfect for rugby, Sligo U-16s took on Ballinrobe U-17s at Ballinrobe Racecourse in the Under 17 Plate.

Sligo started well and scored with Diarmuid O Dowd-Hill on the sixth minute after great pressure from Sligo. Enda Gavin stepped up to take the kick 5 meters out from the touchline, but missed the difficult conversion. Ballinrobe quickly responded with a try against the run of play, conversion was missed by the Ballinrobe 10. After sustained pressure from the  Sligo team, a gap was made and Eddie Connell capitalised and touched it down underneath the posts. the conversion was easily taken by Enda Gavin which put sligo up by 7 points with a score of 12-5 to Sligo.

In the second half Sligo upped their game and with great pressure from the pack and the back line constantly breaking the gain line which always gave Sligo the upper hand in this match.

The third Sligo try came from a fantastic rolling maul from the Sligo pack, which set Diarmuid O’ Dowd-Hill
for a try under the posts, conversion was put over once again by Enda Gavin.

Shortly after the restart Sligo were on Ballinrobe’s line again. The Sligo forwards took the ball on picking and driving up to the 5 meter line then Jamie Mc Goveren picked and powered over the line for Sligo’s fourth try. Enda once again stepped up and scored the conversion. 5minutes later the Sligo pack were on the Ballinrobe line again and this time it was  James Mc Gwynne powered over the line for a try. Then Ballinrobe had their own spell and Sligo couldn’t keep them out which resulted in a  7 pointerfor Ballinrobe.  Sligo quickly regained their dominance though and Eddie Connell cut in from the wing to score a try which left Ballinrobe heads down. In the final minutes of the game, at the half way line Ballinrobe conceded a penatly which was taken quickly and the ball sent out to he centre Enda Roche and with his dancing feet found the gap to score under the posts, which was easily converted and brought the game to close with final score 45-12.

Although Sligo dominated their elders their performance left much to be desired with poor tackling often. There were also many positives from this game with Fabian  Zwada making a lot of ground with the ball in hand. Sligo made many changes during this match but still they maintained their strangle hold on the game with no player playing poorly but still Sligo can still improve.

1. Jamie McGovern, 2. Matt Davey, 3.Fabian Zwada, 4. Niall O Rurke, 5.Diarmuid O Dowd Hill, 6. Callum Mc Loughlin, 7. James O Hehir, 8. Eddy Connel, 9. Ross Gordon, 10. Enda Gavin, 11.Darragh Burke, 12. Sean Finnegan, 13. Enda Roache, 14. Cian Mulligan, 15. Coner Kerins.

Subs. Patrick Saba, Karol Devaney, Aaron Donnellan, Gabriel Knect, Tadgh Cadden, Eoin Kilroy-Talbot, James Mc Gwynne.

Sligo Under 13’s made it two out of two in the Connacht Cup with another win in their clash with An Gaeltacht in Strandhill on Sunday. The conditions were perfect and in front of a big home crowd, Sligo put on their best display of rugby this season.

An Gaeltacht came out firing on all cylinders and forced Sligo back into their own half for the first ten minutes, creating a penalty opportunity which they capitalised on opening the game, making it 3-0.

Sligo responded soon after with a try from another flying down the sideline run from winger Darragh Cummings, who then converted his own try to make it 7-3 to Sligo.

Sligo then decided to put a bit more pressure on and forced An Gaeltacht back down into their own half with some impressive rucking and mauling from the forwards.

This provided the platform for number 8 Stefan Hill-Beirne to break off and burst through a tackle and across the line for Sligo’s second try of the day.  Darragh Cummings then converted the try to make it another 7 pointer.

Sligo didn’t hold back using the ball with width and creating space, stretching An Gaeltacht defence producing a gap for centre Paul Kilcoyne to burst through and score Sligo’s third try.

An Gaeltacht replied with a try of their own and converted it making it 19-10 with five minutes until half time.

Sligo weren’t finished yet and Darragh Cummings slipped away for his second try to make it 24-10 at half time.

The second half was a tough affair with the Sligo backs working hard on the defensive again.  Lee McMarrow showed his pace and the fullback scored his first try in the corner.  Sligo Captain Liam McElhinney lead by example with some strong tackling.

The elusive Ryan Feehily side stepped his way over the line for his try to make it 34-10.

An Gaeltacht replied with a strong try to let Sligo know that the game wasn’t over yet.  Sligo was put on the back foot with some strong running from An Gaeltacht.

Replacement TJ Forde announced his arrival with the tackle of the day – a bone crunching try saver to stop the big number 8 from An Gaeltacht in his tracks.

Sligo picked it up gear with a fantastic fifteen man effort letting the ball flow freely and giving Jack Cox space to sprint over the line for Sligo’s last try of the day.

An Gaeltacht closed the game with a try and a conversion making it 39-22 and capping off a great display of rugby, which the players and supporters enjoyed immensely.

Sligo lost out to a strong Monivea outfit in their final Junior league encounter of the 2009/2010 season at the Castle grounds in Monivea on Sunday. The Galway side outscored their northwestern visitors by four tries to two in a fast paced encounter played in ideal conditions.

Sligo won the toss and elected to play with the aid of the breeze in the first half. Early pressure by the forwards looked to have reaped reward when a maul was driven over the Monivea line but the referee was unsighted and the try was not awarded. Sligo did manage to get off the mark with a Paddy Pearson penalty, kicked from the 22 metre line.

Monivea reacted immediately and a well worked move saw centre Dave Prior split the Sligo defence and touch down under the posts. Outhalf Seamus Fahy added the extras.

The home side increased their advantage after 10 minutes when Sligo failed to deal with a kick through and a penalty was conceded. Fahy easily added another three points.

Pearson and Fahy then traded penalties before Sligo were dealt a hammer blow. A scrum against the head was conceded on the Sligo 22. The Monivea backline quicky moved the ball wide giving winger Brian Mc Donagh an easy run to the line for his teams second try and closing the half with a score 18 points to 9.

Sligo started the second half with an air of determination and the pack, with Jason East prominent, were beginning to impose themselves on the Monivea 8. It was the home team however who were next to add to the scoreline when, against the run of play a loose chip was collected by Prior, and the centre released winger Ger Divilly who raced unopposed to the corner.

Despite this setback and the loss of influential full back David Geritty through injury Sligo continued to press and a trademark Pearson break allowed the outhalf break the Monivea defense and touch down to the left of the posts. Jordan Farrington added the conversion to bring the score to 25 points to 14.

Monivea again attacked and some strong running put them back into the Sligo 22. The Sligo defence was stretched and as a result a penalty was conceded and substitute Julian Rippon was sent to the sin bin. The Galway man made the most of the numerical advantage by opting for the scrum,moving the ball wide and scoring in the corner. Fahy added the conversion with a superbly struck effort.

Sligo were not finished and gamely battled on. A Peter Mullan line out take on the Monivea 22 was pushed wide and winger Ted Mulvaney looped around to collect and score in the corner for the final score.

Next week sees Sligo take on Tuam in their Connacht Junior Cup semi-final. The match kicks off at Hamilton Park on Sunday at 2.30.

Sligo: David Geritty, Ted Mulvaney, Niall O Hara, Gavin Foley, Jordan Farrington, Paddy Pearson, Billy Leahy, Adrian Mc Hale, Gary Conneely, Jason East, James Wilson, Jamie Bowes, Joe Sweeney, Cathal Culhane, Peter Mullan. Reps Martin Feeney, Julian Rippon, Trevor Sweeney.

Building on hard games against Ballina, Longford and Mullingar over the past month Sligo played a very controlled game of rugby and looked like winners from the kick off.

The Sligo side had the majority of possession in the first half with Buccaneers only getting into the Sligo half 3 times in the first half. Sligo were unlucky to be only 7 – 0 ahead at half time.

Sligo first try late in the first half followed from a sustained period of forward pressure with numerous pick and drives by the pack before a fine three quarters move was finished off by Niall Connelly in the corner.

A massive kick from the touch line by out half Evan McGrath add the 2 points for the conversion.

In the second half Buccaneers changed their game plan and drove right at the heart of the Sligo back line. The Sligo centre partnership of Mark Gerrity and Eddie Weaver, with stood the challenge with on outstanding display of tackling.

Sligo second try came following a kick down field from Mcgrath which, was chased down by Sligo’s Flying wing Pat McGlone.  From the ensuing ruck, the ball was fed by Scrum Half Killian Filan to Leigh Dunne on the Buccaneers 22 who crashed through, a packed defence to score.

Mcgrath’s conversion attempt again from close to the touch line was just wide of the upright to leave the score at 12 -0

Sligo were unlucky not to go further ahead  when McGlone had outpaced the entire Buccs backline only to be called back for a foot in touch on the half way line.

Buccs increased the pressure for the last quarter and were denied their first score of the day by a try saving tackle from full back Stephen Keirns right on the Sligo goal line. Eventually Buccs did cross the Sligo line with a try from their number 8 from a 5 meter scrum. They converted the try to leave the score at 12- 7 with 3 minutes left on the clock. Bucc’s were camped in the Sligo half for the remainder of the game but were unable to add to the score line.

In the pack the front row of Conan O’Donnell , Andrew Kerr and John Walsh had their opposite numbers on the back foot at every scrum.  The second row of Darragh Cullinane and Padraig Mitchell provided the powerhouse need both in the scrum and the loose and had Buccaneers under pressure at ever y line out. The back row of Leigh Dunne, Dara Byrne and Edward Burke, work hard all day at the break down to ensure Sligo won  clean ruck ball.

The platform provided by the pack ensure the half back paring of Filan and McGrath  were able to provide the Sligo back line with clean fast ball who were unlucky not to score at least 3 more tries. Sligo Subs Rory Molloy, David McGrath and Dylan Feeney had to warm up a number of occasions for injuries but were unlucky not to get a run on the day.

We had a good deal of our core data backed up but we have lost a number of uploaded files. It will take us a while to get things back to normal – but we will get it back to normal.

So – if while reading some of our posts you notice that images or linked files are missing please bare with us.

Please accept our apologies for any inconvenience caused by this disruption.

For those of you who are curious about such things here’s an explanation of what happened- basically our copy of Wordpress (a blogging platform that we use to power this site) was let get out of date – the version we were running we discovered had a couple of security weaknesses in it which meant it was open to abuse. The software was attacked using an injection attack which added crap to our database and installed and modified some scripts which then turned our website in to a spam site. Everything looked normal and none of our own core data was affected but in order to neuter the malignant code we had to basically wipe everything out (it kept regenerating itself which meant we weren’t able to find all instances of the attack). The moral of the story? Keep your software up to date, keep regular backups, and make sure to install all those security updates!

Sligo’s U16s powered their way into the final of the Connacht U16 league with a superb team performance against a strong Buccaneers outfit at Strandhill on Sunday.

Sligo RFC’s Under 16 Squad (photo supplied by ShootingStars.ie)

The home team scored four tries without reply on their way to a convincing victory.

Buccaneers kicked off and immediately put the home outfit under pressure, but some fine driving play by Sligo forwards Diarmuid O Dowd Hill and Jamie Mc Govern gave outhalf Enda Gavin the space to clear his lines and avert the danger.

Sligo then went on the attack and began to gain a foothold in the visitors half. A penalty awarded on the 10 metre line was kicked into the corner 8 yards from the Buccaneers try line. Hooker Matt Davey’s throw was gathered by Niall O Rourke and the forwards rumbled towards the try line before being stopped short. A number of pick and drives followed before powerful prop forward Fabian Zawada collected and crashed over for the opening score. The difficult conversion attempt fell just short.

Buccaneers responded and started to use their pacy backline to try to stretch the Sligo defence but some fine tackling, particularly from flanker James O Hehir and winger Cian Mulligan snuffed out the danger.

Sligo upped the pace in the second half and their work at the breakdown was beginning to reap rewards. 10 minutes into the half a sweeping left to right move gave centre Enda Roche the opportunity to attack. Roche carried into the 22 before superbly exchanging passes with supporting no 8 Eddie Connell. The move was stopped short but the Sligo pack piled in and quickly recycled the ball allowing substitute scrum half Ross Gordon the chance to release the backline. The ball was moved to Roche who finished off the attack he started with a well deserved try. Gavin made no mistake with the conversion.

Sligo,s third try arrived 15 minutes into the half. An O’Rourke lineout was driven into the Bucc’s 22. The Sligo pack took on the challenge and sucked in the visitors defence before the ball was moved to Enda Gavin. The outhalf darted through a gap in the defence bfore linking up with Sean Finnegan who raced ahead and touched down to the left of the posts. The conversion attempt rebounded out off the post.

The final score came with 5 minutes left on the clock. A well rehearsed line out move 15 metres from the visitors line gave Matt Davey the chance to break clear and the hooker made no mistake as he burst through the cover and touched down in the corner.

Sligo; C. Mulligan, D. Burke, E. Roche, S. Finnegan, E. Kilroy-Talbot, E. Gavin, C. Kerins, F. Zawada, M. Davey, J. Mc Govern, N. O’Rourke, D. O’Dowd Hill, G. Knecht, J.O’Hehir, E. Connell, A. Donnellan, R. Gordon, P. Saba, K. Devanney, T. Cadden, C Mc Laughlin, A. Nairn, J Mc Gynne, M. Leydon, M Gerritty, J. Mc Goldrick.

A poster for the event can be found here – please consider putting this up at your place of work etc.