World Footy News

The inaugural clash between the Irish Universities and the Great Britain NUL All Stars (National University League) took place in Dublin this weekend. The concept is almost the “lovechild’ of the Fitzpatrick Cup and the NUL, bringing the best of years and years of university football development to an international level.

Many years of hard work has gone into the development of the game at university level across Great Britain and Ireland, with many people involved in the journey – and the success. To see this tournament come to fruition is testament to their hard work and passion. In many ways, the teams that took their field did so as much about recognising that effort as it was about the result.

In the end, the Great Britain team outlasted the Irish by just three points in a thriller.
That result caps a great opening year of the AFL England’s NUL, but it also points to a new Irish v Great Britain rivalry for many years to come.

The following is a brief overview of the day from the ARFLI Facebook page. All pictures courtesy of ARFLI and the Great Britain NUL team.

“What a game between the Irish Universities and the Great Britain NUL All Stars.”

“With the result going down to the wire the NUL All Stars just coming out on top by 3 pts on the final siren.”

“With a gallant final quarter by the Irish student trying to claw back a 16-pointt deficit at 3/4 time. They stood up to the task and all but got there with tremendous pressure and play, but some wayward kicking in the last 20 minutes meant the Irish team could just not get their nose in front and over the line.”

“A huge performance from the Irish throughout the 80 minutes must be recognized as it was the first time the squad played together and with a large number of the squad only taking up the game in the last year. There certainly is a bright future ahead for this group.”

Final Score
Irish Universities 11-13-79
Great Britain NUL All Stars 13-4-82

“Huge congratulations to the Irish Universities Women’s team who took out the Universities International Cup with a commanding win in the first game of the day.”