British and Irish Cup Review 2024

The 2024 British & Irish Cup took place on Saturday 24th and Sunday 25th August at University College Dublin where Great Britain claimed their first ever Cup win on Irish soil. The victory was the third time that Great Britain had prevailed in the competition overall and marked the first time that they had retained the Cup.

After a shortened competition in London last year that saw each category decided over three tests and Great Britain ultimately winning by their widest margin yet, this year’s tournament returned to a two-day, five test series format to provide players with the ultimate test to determine the best tag nation in the northern hemisphere.

11 categories were in action over the weekend with eight of them counting toward the awarding of the British & Irish Cup. Great Britain demonstrated an impressively wide dominance across the competition, winning two out of three categories across each of the Women’s, Opens and Seniors formats.

Women’s Open once again led Great Britain’s charge in imperious form, turning their 2023 3-0 clean sweep into 5-0 whitewash on this occasion, becoming the first team from either nation to achieve such a scoreline away from home. All five of their victories saw them with a safe, two score buffer by full-time and they were the only GB team to win a game to nil which came in Game 4.

Women’s Seniors were playing their first internationals since winning the World Cup just over a year ago. They won their first match of the weekend before two draws in a row brought echoes of 2022 and gave Ireland the confidence to level the series with a game to go. GB’s win in the final game of the category was a performance worthy of their World Champion mantle. Along with the simultaneous Men’s Open victory, the win marked the moment Great Britain retained the British & Irish Cup.

Women’s Masters were frustrated by two final play scores from Ireland in their first two games when Great Britain were in a winning position. Ireland were able to scramble a draw with the first of these while their second game score saw them sneak a win. The Irish were then able to take two more very tight wins before GB secured a second draw in Game 5 that demonstrated how close the two sides are to each other.

Great Britain also took a Women’s U23 side over to Ireland who played two exhibition matches on Saturday. The side won both of their encounters despite not having played a competitive international match as a team prior to the trip. Later on Saturday they combined with the Men’s U23s for a Mixed match that Ireland won.

Great Britain now leads the overall Women’s categories 12-5 all-time, with Women’s Open our strongest category in B&I history with an 8-1 all-time lead.

In the Mixed categories Great Britain claimed a historic second win in Mixed Seniors, taking the category 4-1 for our first win in the category away from home. The series triumph was built off the back of an incredible second half in Game 1 where they turned a 3-0 halftime deficit into a 11-4 win that stunned the Irish. The four victories in the category were also GB’s first test wins in the B&I in Ireland as well as securing the biggest win in the category’s history.

Mixed Open weren’t able to replicate their 2022 success but still took vital steps forward with one of the youngest and newest squads that a core GB team has ever fielded. Having found themselves six points behind in Game 2 they mounted an inspiring comeback that saw them close to within a point before time ran out with the side still on the attack. The team’s fifth test win was their first in the B&I in Ireland.

Ireland now leads the overall Mixed categories 15-3 all-time.

Men’s Open played out a series that started with a draw and was tied at 1-1 after three tests. Great Britain were ultimately victorious with classy displays in the final two tests, extending their series winning streak to six, having won every year since 2018. The 3-1 final scoreline also marked their biggest category win since 2019 while their fifth test win confirmed GB would win the British & Irish Cup in Ireland for the first time.

Like Mixed Open, GB’s Men’s Seniors had an all-new coaching setup for 2024 and a vastly changed squad compared to last year. They put themselves in winning positions in each of the first three tests but agonisingly lost each by a single point. Ultimately they weren’t able to come away with a win but have established a strong base to build on for next year.

Men’s Masters were involved in the tightest category in the tournament. A draw in Game 1 was followed by an Irish win in the second. GB tied things up with a confident win first thing on Sunday morning before the Irish went ahead again after the fourth match. Going into Game 5 the side knew that their result was going to be crucial to the overall direction of the British & Irish Cup. They had to take a Game 5 win to deny Ireland the category and turn Great Britain’s fortunes around. Before the match GB were heading for a 4-3 defeat. After Az Lombardo scored a bonus box try at the death to secure a come from behind win, Great Britain were set on course for their historic 4-3 away from home triumph.

Great Britain also sent a Men’s U23 side to Ireland which played two exhibition matches on Saturday. The side lost their two games but showed immense promise in their first ever competitive international matches as a team meaning that along with the Women’s U23s the future looks bright for Great Britain Tag Rugby.

As part of the Future Teams programme a Men’s 50s side had also been assembled that won their second exhibition match against Ireland before ultimately coming up just short in their three game series. The spirit shown on the pitch was replicated in the bar later that evening as the British and Irish sides came together to celebrate their encounter.

Will Shepherd, Great Britain Programme Director said: “Our sides went to Ireland knowing that we had never won the British & Irish Cup away from home. In order to make history we had to win the first B&I contested by eight categories, each playing five tests each over two days. It was the ultimate competition to determine the best nation in the northern hemisphere and the manner in which the contest was played by everyone from Ireland and Great Britain was a testament to our sport and our two countries.

“The tournament we witnessed was one of the most engrossing, tense and inspiring displays of sport I have had the pleasure to experience and I am so proud of every single one of our teams, players, coaches and managers. The victory is testament to the passion and dedication all of them demonstrate. For our programme to once again have made history gives us immense confidence going into a home British & Irish Cup next year and hopefully some away tours before the 2026 Tag World Cup.”

The Pitch 1 and 2 live stream is available for replay now on Try Tag Rugby’s YouTube and has been split into chapters to make it easier to find the match you are looking for. The Veo recorded Pitch 3 action will shortly be uploaded alongside it.

Day 1- Pitch 1
Day 1 – Pitch 2
Day 2 – Pitch 1
Day 2- Pitch 2

Photos from the event can be found on Great Britain Tag Rugby’s Facebook.

Day 1
Day 2

Great Britain Tag Rugby thanks Ireland Tag and the Irish Tag Rugby Association for hosting us for the tournament; the International Tag Federation; the tournament streaming partners 247.tv; and the host venue University College Dublin.

Category Results and Players of the Tournament

Women’s Open

Game 1: Great Britain 6 – 3 Ireland
Game 2: Great Britain 8 – 1 Ireland
Game 3: Great Britain 5 – 2 Ireland
Game 4: Great Britain 6 – 0 Ireland
Game 5: Great Britain 7 – 1 Ireland

Series Result: Great Britain 5 – 0 Ireland

Player of the Tournament: Jess Charles (Great Britain)

Men’s Open

Game 1: Great Britain 8 – 8 Ireland
Game 2: Great Britain 9 – 5 Ireland
Game 3: Great Britain 4 – 5 Ireland
Game 4: Great Britain 9 – 3 Ireland
Game 5: Great Britain 10 – 6 Ireland

Series Result: Great Britain 3 – 1 Ireland

Player of the Tournament: Michael Fenton (Ireland)

Mixed Open

Game 1: Great Britain 7 – 9 Ireland
Game 2: Great Britain 6 – 7 Ireland
Game 3: Great Britain 4 – 13 Ireland
Game 4: Great Britain 5 – 10 Ireland
Game 5: Great Britain 4 – 2 Ireland

Series Result: Great Britain 1 – 4 Ireland

Female Player of the Tournament: Rebecca Conway (Ireland)

Male Player of the Tournament: Derry O’Donovan (Ireland)

Women’s Seniors

Game 1: Great Britain 4 – 3 Ireland
Game 2: Great Britain 4 – 4 Ireland
Game 3: Great Britain 2 – 2 Ireland
Game 4: Great Britain 3 – 6 Ireland
Game 5: Great Britain 5 – 2 Ireland

Series Result: Great Britain 2 – 1 Ireland

Player of the Tournament: Steffy Geertsen (Great Britain)

Men’s Seniors

Game 1: Great Britain 4 – 5 Ireland
Game 2: Great Britain 5 – 6 Ireland
Game 3: Great Britain 2 – 3 Ireland
Game 4: Great Britain 0 – 5 Ireland
Game 5: Great Britain 2 – 6 Ireland

Series Result: Great Britain 0 – 5 Ireland

Player of the Tournament: Mike Bloom (Great Britain)

Mixed Seniors

Game 1: Great Britain 11 – 4 Ireland
Game 2: Great Britain 4 – 5 Ireland
Game 3: Great Britain 5 – 3 Ireland
Game 4: Great Britain 7 – 6 Ireland
Game 5: Great Britain 12 – 7 Ireland

Series Result: Great Britain 4 – 1 Ireland

Female Player of the Tournament: Anita Snowdon (Great Britain)

Male Player of the Tournament: Rob Chance (Great Britain)

Women’s Masters

Game 1: Great Britain 3 – 3 Ireland
Game 2: Great Britain 3 – 4 Ireland
Game 3: Great Britain 0 – 2 Ireland
Game 4: Great Britain 1 – 3 Ireland
Game 5: Great Britain 2 – 2 Ireland

Series Result: Great Britain 0 – 3 Ireland

Player of the Tournament: Jen Griffin (Great Britain)

Men’s Masters

Game 1: Great Britain 4 – 4 Ireland
Game 2: Great Britain 3 – 7 Ireland
Game 3: Great Britain 4 – 2 Ireland
Game 4: Great Britain 2 – 6 Ireland
Game 5: Great Britain 4 – 3 Ireland

Series Result: Great Britain 2 – 2 Ireland

Player of the Tournament: Cian Liddy (Ireland)

Women’s U23s

Game 1: Great Britain 8 – 4 Ireland
Game 2: Great Britain 6 – 4 Ireland

Series Result: Great Britain 2 – 0 Ireland

Men’s U23s

Game 1: Great Britain 9 – 15 Ireland
Game 2: Great Britain 8 – 11 Ireland

Series Result: Great Britain 0 – 2 Ireland

Future Teams Men’s 50s

Game 1: Great Britain 6 – 7 Ireland
Game 2: Great Britain 8 – 5 Ireland
Game 3: Great Britain 4 – 11 Ireland

Series Result: Great Britain 1 – 2 Ireland

Player of the Tournament: David Shipley (Great Britain)