A Tour To Remember !

SWORDS Rugby Club embarked on their first end of season tour under their new banner, swopping Fingal for the American west coast and San Francisco. A touring party of 30-odd players, past players and nearly past-it players set out at the beginning of May for a week long tour and arrived at the Hilton Hotel, Fisherman¹s Wharf in San Francisco on Thursday, May 4.

The next morning, the players swopped their scrum caps for golf clubs as the joined the host club, San Francisco Golden Gate RFC, at their fundraising golf day. Niall Kennedy proved his sporting prowess as he finished the highest of the tourists. That evening, the club were guests off the local netball team for a function in San Francisco GG¹s club house.

Saturday was match day with an afternoon clash against the hosts. In a game of contrasting styles, Swords dominated the forward exchanges (especially at lineouts and mauls), while San Fransisco had the edge in the backs. In what turned out to be a cracking contest, the sides finished level at 37-37. Peter Keating and Emmet O¹Donnell each grabbed a brace for the visitors, while the hosts backline - which was awash with South Seas islanders and a former Edinburgh outhalf - contributed most of their points.

The Swords pack used their rolling maul to great effect, grinding out hard yards time and time again - so much so that the American side asked whether Swords were in fact from Munster (who¹s mauling technique is renowned) and not Leinster!

Swords trailed by 12 points with 10 minutes to go and pulled back a try, which Alan Butler couldn¹t convert. Another try in the last minute gave Butler a second chance and he slotted over from a similar spot with the last kick of the match to get the draw.

A crunching tackle on his opposite number from centre Mike Finnegan was another highlight of a pulsating encounter. Following the post-match festivities on Saturday evening, the party made a memorable trip to Alcatraz prison on Sunday. The reminder of the week was divided between shopping, a tour of the city (taking in the Golden Gate Bridge) and more sight seeing. The group flew home on Thursday, May 11, tanned, relaxed and more than eager to begin the off-season!

Swords RFC would like to pay special thanks to Ronan Somers, Paul Clifford, and Alan Butler for organising a memorable tour.

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