AMATEUR FOUR NATIONS TOURNAMENT
IRELAND WOLFHOUNDS V ENGLAND LIONHEARTS
SUNDAY 16TH JUNE 2002, 10.30AM KICK-OFF
WATERFORD REGIONAL SPORTS GROUND

A GAME OF TWO SCRUM HALVES

Ireland 10 - 32 England

Waterford, the home of the world famous crystal, produced two shining performances from the opposing number sevens, Lionhearts Danny Atherton and Wolfhounds Brett Marron.  Both players marshalled the forwards and set up exciting back play in a game that was dominated by the wet conditions.  As they say in Ireland it was a `soft day' with some difficult conditions to overcome.

The sizeable support was not disappointed with the hard tackling and exciting ball skills shown by both teams. The fitness of the Lionhearts showed in the last quarter to give the visitors the start to the Four Nations they were looking for.  Ireland, however,  showed that they have come on in leaps and bounds over the last couple of seasons and the score did not reflect the closeness of the game.

The England team went two tries up from Pollard and Richards, and a penalty from Atherton saw them 0-10 after a strong first 20 mins and they looked like they were going to overwhelm the Wolfhounds.  The Irish knuckled down and pulled one back through Scott Wilson after a great break from Stand-off Declan Foy. 

Just before the half time hooter The Lionhearts were camped out on the Wolfhounds line for tackle after tackle with Rob North just failing to score and hooker Richard Smith picking up at acting back and going over for a try to make it 4-16 at half time.

The Wolfhounds started the second half as the Lionhearts had started the first with the Irish putting the pressure on the defence and scrum half Brett Marron showing his class to wraparound the advancing defence to score a great try.

Just as it looked all set for a fight back by the Wolfhounds, England went into overdrive and showed their experience to find the gaps in the tiring Irish defence to score consecutive tries with Richard Wattam getting a deserved try and scrum Danny Atherton scoring to seal his man of the match award.

With just 20 minutes remaining the Wolfhounds did not drop their heads but failed to capitalise on their efforts with another try.  Ireland's loss of concentration was matched by England's superior fitness that saw them make good ground with their sets of six.  The Lionhearts saved the champagne rugby for their final try with five pairs of hands touching the ball from the play the ball in midfield straight out to winger Richard Pollard for his second try and the last score of the game.

"This was a great performance from the Wolfhounds as a team and Rugby League Ireland in general to host The Lionhearts in the inaugural Four Nations Tournament. This is a solid basis from which  to move the cause of The Greatest Game forward in Ireland.  The Lionhearts were deserved winners and we wish them all the best in the rest of their games" said Rugby League Irelands team manager Patrick Harkins.

Ireland:1.Darragh Hughes (Dublin Blues), 2.Carl De Chenu, (East Coast Eagles), 3.Phil Coles (Dublin City Exiles), 4.Marty Hyde (Dublin City Exiles), 5.Rob Dolan (Dublin Blues), 6.Declan Foy (Cork Bulls), 7.Brett Marron (Dublin City Exiles - CAPTAIN), 8.Garret Molloy (Dublin Blues), 9.Nick Howard (Suir Valley Saints), 10.Brian Kelleher (Cork Bulls), 11.Damien McCabe (Curchtown Warriors), 12.Scott Wilson (East Coast Eagles) 13.Mark O’Connell (Cork Bulls). Subs: 14.Eugene McEntaggart (Dublin Blues), 15.Conor Hickey (Curchtown Warriors), 16.Ger Hensey (North Kildare Knights), 17.Steve Kavanagh (Curchtown Warriors)

Lionhearts:1.Graham Batty (Rotherham Giants), 2.Richard Pollard (North London Skolars), 3.Scott Roberts (Hemel Stags), 4.Gavin Molloy (Bridlington Bulls), 5.Callum Irving (Bridlington Bulls), 6.Barrie Mulholland (Manchester Knights), 7.Danny Atherton (Manchester Knights), 8.Ward Jones (Manchester Knights), 9.Richard Smith (Hemel Stags - CAPTAIN), 10.Darryl Jackson (Rotherham Giants), 11.Chris Richards (Gloucestershire Warriors), 12.Ronnie Haines (Gloucestershire Warriors), 13.Richard Wattam (Crawley Jets). Subs. 14:Gareth Martin (Hemel Stags), 15.Rob North (Rotherham Giants), 16.Chris Thair (Kingston Warriors), 17.Mark Maudsley (Manchester Knights)