How North Meath player Dara Yore answered Ireland's Call
When your country calls you have to answer. At least that was the way for Dara Yore who achieved a notable milestone in local rugby circles when she became the first player from North Meath RFC to be selected for an Irish squad.
Yore, plays in the second-row and is from the Carnaross area was selected for the Ireland u-18 girls squad that travelled to Scotland a few weeks ago to take part in a training camp. Also included in the squad's schedule was a training game against their Scottish counterparts. A student at Eureka, Kells, Yore was part of the Leinster u-18 team last season and her performances at provincial level clearly attracted the attention of those involved in selecting the national squad. Also involved with Leinster set-up were two other North Meath players - Emily Jo White and Lauren Patterson.
Yore, however, was asked to answer her country's call and she was one of three players from north-east Leinster included in the national u-18 squad that travelled to Scotland. Others called up were Nina Hajamers and Caoimhe O'Callaghan, who both play for Dundalk RFC.
The Irish squad was based in Largs on the west coast of Scotland with the training camp aimed at giving the players experience in different types of coaching as well as workshops and training.
As part of the development of players for international duty an original squad of 36 players from around the country were asked to attend back-to-back training weekends at the IRFU High Performance Centre in Blanchardstown under the guidance of head coach Brian McClearn and his management team. From the 36 players a squad of 24 was selected to make the trip to Scotland - including Yore.
North Meath RFC fields girls teams at u-18, u-16 and u-14 levels. They also have a senior women's team which they field as part of an amalgamation with Swords RFC. Yore is the latest player from Eureka to be selected to play for Ireland, following in the footsteps of Molly Fitzgerald who was selected for the Irish u-18 girls squad for the 'Home Nations Sevens' rugby tournament.