Irish Eyes Were Smiling on Greenwich OGRCC Rugby

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Members of the Old Greenwich Riverside Community Center’s rugby team traveled to Ireland in November to battle some of the best teams from around the area, and also took in some sights and sounds of Limerick and Shannon as well. (photo courtesy of the OGRCC)
Members of the Old Greenwich Riverside Community Center’s rugby team traveled to Ireland in November to battle some of the best teams from around the area, and also took in some sights and sounds of Limerick and Shannon as well. (photo courtesy of the OGRCC)

It was far from a relaxing trip overseas, but for the Old Greenwich Riverside Community Center rugby team, they wouldn’t have wanted it any other way.

In five short days, head coach Scott Lieshman’s team traveled across the pond, toured Ireland and played rugby against some of the most prestigious clubs around. Although it was a whirlwind tour, OGRCC wouldn’t have traded it for anything.

“The kids had a great time,” Leishman said. “There are five or six kids on the team that were born in Argentina, so there’s an International flavor on this team already. There were a lot of spots on our trip to Ireland, like the Cliffs of Moher, where there were a lot of gasps. They had a great time on the beach at Lahinch, had lunch and had a quick game of touch rugby.”

The OGRCC rugby team takes to the field against Christian Brothers College during their five-day trip to Ireland. (photo courtesy of the OGRCC)
The OGRCC rugby team takes to the field against Christian Brothers College during their five-day trip to Ireland. (photo courtesy of the OGRCC)

While the sights were nice, the team was there on a mission to play rugby at a top level.

“This was an amazing experience,” Eastern Middle School eighth-grader Francisco Liguori said. “To bond with the team and getting to play against a different game of rugby was great. Rugby is played differently there, because they use more of the big guys to run instead of using the back. We use more forwards.”

Greenwich wanted to show what OGRCC rugby was all about, and on the second day of its trip, they played the first of two teams.

The first team the Old Greenwich Riverside Community Center rugby team played was Shannon Rugby Football Club out of Limerick, which has been around since 1884.

“It was a lot of fun and it was great to see how good our guys could play in a professional setting,” said rugby player Graham Ung, a Greenwich High School freshman. “It’s even better doing it in a place where rugby is taken so seriously. The highlight for me was when I scored, but it was also fun to see how we stand in terms of how good our teams are.”

The exciting thing about that game was that OGRCC was able to compete on a field that lay next to Thomond Park, a 26,000-seat stadium where the professional teams from both Shannon RFC and Munster Rugby plays. Greenwich scored in the first 22 seconds of the contest and didn’t look back, winning 21-7.

“We beat them pretty handily and we were really surprised,” Leishman said. “At the beginning of the season, the coaches got together and asked if we should even go to Ireland. The kids didn’t get it together. But they really got it together for Ireland and played well. The scrum were great, the backs moved the ball and we had really good team play.”

Liguori couldn’t be more proud of the way his team stepped up.

Although the OGRCC rugby team was in Ireland to battle some of the toughest competition it has faced, there was still time for some sightseeing. (photo courtesy of the OGRCC)
Although the OGRCC rugby team was in Ireland to battle some of the toughest competition it has faced, there was still time for some sightseeing. (photo courtesy of the OGRCC)

“We went in afraid and everyone on the team thought we were going to get destroyed by the other teams,” Liguori said. “Even the coaches on the team thought that would happen. Before that first game though we all had a team talk in the locker room before we went out on the field. We had a very good talk about our game and the 100 percent effort that we were going to put in.”

On the last full day of its tour, OGRCC traveled to Cork, Ireland for a game against the Christian Brothers College. Leishman said that the team was going to be a big step up from what OGRCC usually sees. The team started its B-side against Greenwich, and OGRCC handled them quite easily in the first half, en route to the 41-12 victory.

“You could see as the score got more and more in our favor, larger and larger kids started to get subbed in,” Leishman said. “By the end of the game, they had a lot of their big kids in, but we were still playing really well. I was very pleased with how we played. That’s a school where rugby is their top sport. They also had a beautiful grass field in perfect condition.”

Liguori said that competing against teams that take the sports of rugby so seriously is a huge honor.

“This was a great opportunity for us to go to Ireland and play Irish teams because here in the United States, they don’t take it as seriously. People rather play football or soccer. It was great because I come from Argentina and I see the competition that there is there. It’s really different and I have always wanted to play against a team like that. It’s what I got to experience in Ireland and it was amazing.”

For Liguori, the highlight of the trip was playing rugby, but also how the team bonded while watching Muster’s senior squad battle at Thomond Park.

“The Muster game we got to see was great and we got to bond as a team,” Liguori said. “We got to make new friends there as well. There were kids from other teams from around the town and we got to talk to them about their rugby too. We got to bond with our team and make new friends.”

And what made Leishman, and the rest of the parents thrilled about the trip was how well-behaved the team was during its adventure.

“They were great for a group of 13- to 14-year-old kids,” Leishman said. “The whole tour was so well-organized. From the beginning to the end, everything was extremely easy for the kids and that made the trip that much better. We all had numbers and every thing during the trip was numbered. Pants, shirts, papers and more were all organized and it was great.”

For teams to travel all over the globe is quite common in rugby. It’s actually a rugby tradition to travel to other team’s venues.

Leishman is well-versed in playing in different areas. Competing with the Albany Knickerbockers, he traveled to Ireland, the Caribbean and other places.

As the head coach, Leishman has traveled with OGRCC and his squad actually hosted a team from Florida, the Key Biscayne River Rats, this past spring.

“The parents and coaches stayed in hotels and the kids stayed with kids here,” Leishman said. “It was a great experience. This was incredible and it could not have worked out better.”

For Ung, winning both games overseas was icing on the cake and capped off his tenure with the program on a high note.

“My personal expectation was to try my hardest and try being the best guy on the field at all times,” Ung said. “I think I could have tried harder in the second game we played, but as a team I wanted our guys to play their hardest and see the good things that they could do. It was a great last experience for me on the team. I know that I won’t be able to play with these guys again until maybe high school, but I thought it was a great way to say good-bye to the program overall.”

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