The 2023 British & Irish Cup took place on Saturday 24th June at King’s House Sports Ground, Chiswick with Great Britain claiming one of the most comprehensive victories in the history of the tournament. The victory was just the second time that Great Britain had prevailed in the competition overall.
After a two-day competition in Leeds last year that saw each category decided over five tests and Ireland ultimately winning by their narrowest margin yet, this year’s tournament returned to a traditional one-day, three test series format to manage player workloads with the World Cup only five weeks away.
Eight categories were in action on Saturday with seven of them counting toward the awarding of the British & Irish Cup. Great Britain demonstrated particular dominance across the Women’s categories, securing 3-0 clean sweeps in Women’s Open and Women’s 30s, and a 2-1 victory in the Women’s 35s which was an exhibition category in the GB team’s inaugural year. Great Britain now leads the overall Women’s categories 10-4 all-time.
In the Mixed categories Great Britain claimed a historic first win in Mixed Open, taking the category 2-0 after the first test was drawn. This also marked the first time GB had won more than one game in the category at a single tournament as well as the first time Ireland had been winless. Ireland did however maintain their winning run in the Mixed Seniors category although just like last year Great Britain’s losses were by very narrow margins before they secured a solid win after the series had been decided. Ireland now leads the overall Mixed categories 14-2 all-time.
The Men’s categories saw two victories for Great Britain, 2-1 in both Men’s Open and Men’s 40s. Great Britain had secured Men’s Open before Ireland took an impressive victory on the main live stream for the tournament while Men’s 40s came down to a deciding third test that was crucial in deciding the overall winner of the B&I. Ireland’s strongest performances once again came in the Men’s 30s category where they kept GB scoreless over the first two games and won a 3-0 series sweep. Great Britain now leads the overall Men’s categories 10-7 all-time.
Ultimately Great Britain won 5-2 in the seven eligible categories and won six out of eight including the exhibition Women’s 35s, picking up 15 total wins to Ireland’s eight to avoid any danger of repeating 2022’s heartbreaking tiebreak loss.
Will Shepherd, Great Britain Programme Director said: “This win, and the manner in which it was achieved, is a richly deserved result for our players, coaches and team managers who have put in an immense amount of work since last year’s B&I result. It is brilliant to see the direction our teams are headed in with the World Cup now just over a month away. The challenge now is to harness this momentum and drive our teams onward and upward to the ultimate prize in Limerick!”
This was the second year in a row that the British & Irish Cup had been hosted by Great Britain but the first time it had been in London since GB’s last win in 2019. To develop a festival atmosphere and to increase the exposure of the national teams, Try Tag Rugby’s social level International Cup ran alongside the tournament. The International Cup allows players of all experience levels to play in their national colours and saw Ireland Harps win the Cup competition with England Lions taking the Plate division.
The RFL’s OurLeague hosted the final three Pitch 1 matches and the awards ceremony with the preceding games and all the Pitch 2 action live streamed on Try Tag Rugby’s YouTube. All the live stream action from the respective channels can be watched now on replay. For OurLeague if you don’t already have an account it is free to set one up and can be downloaded via the App or Play store. You can also create an account here https://www.rugby-league.com/ourleague.
Photos from the event can be found on Great Britain Tag Rugby’s Facebook page.
Great Britain Tag Rugby thanks Ireland Tag and the Irish Tag Rugby Association for the tournament; our Associate Partner, Oaklin for their support; Try Tag Rugby and the International Tag Federation for their logistical assistance in running the event; our streaming partners 247.tv; the Rugby Football League for hosting the live stream; and the host venue King’s House Sports Ground.
Category Results and Players of the Tournament
Women’s Open
Game 1: Great Britain 9 – 2 Ireland
Game 2: Great Britain 4 – 1 Ireland
Game 3: Great Britain 8 – 1 Ireland
Series Result: Great Britain 3 – 0 Ireland
Player of the Tournament: Freya Wilde (Great Britain)
Women’s 30s
Game 1: Great Britain 8 – 1 Ireland
Game 2: Great Britain 7 – 0 Ireland
Game 3: Great Britain 4 – 3 Ireland
Series Result: Great Britain 3 – 0 Ireland
Player of the Tournament: Caroline Henzell (Great Britain)
Women’s 35s (Exhibition Category)
Game 1: Great Britain 2 – 0 Ireland
Game 2: Great Britain 1 – 2 Ireland
Game 3: Great Britain 4 – 1 Ireland
Series Result: Great Britain 2 – 1 Ireland
Player of the Tournament: Emma Becker (Great Britain)
Mixed Open
Game 1: Great Britain 8 – 8 Ireland
Game 2: Great Britain 13 – 8 Ireland
Game 3: Great Britain 6 – 2 Ireland
Series Result: Great Britain 2 – 0 Ireland
Female Player of the Tournament: Michelle O’Driscoll (Ireland)
Male Player of the Tournament: Marcus Campopiano (Great Britain)
Mixed Seniors
Game 1: Great Britain 5 – 9 Ireland
Game 2: Great Britain 6 – 8 Ireland
Game 3: Great Britain 13 – 4 Ireland
Series Result: Great Britain 1 – 2 Ireland
Female Player of the Tournament: Amanda Scarfo (Great Britain)
Male Player of the Tournament: Will Powell (Great Britain)
Men’s Open
Game 1: Great Britain 4 – 2 Ireland
Game 2: Great Britain 4 – 0 Ireland
Game 3: Great Britain 3 – 4 Ireland
Series Result: Great Britain 2 – 1 Ireland
Player of the Tournament: Keegan Bradley (Ireland)
Men’s 30s
Game 1: Great Britain 0 – 6 Ireland
Game 2: Great Britain 0 – 8 Ireland
Game 3: Great Britain 5 – 9 Ireland
Series Result: Great Britain 0 – 3 Ireland
Player of the Tournament: Matt Kennerson (Ireland)
Men’s 40s
Game 1: Great Britain 8 – 2 Ireland
Game 2: Great Britain 5 – 6 Ireland
Game 3: Great Britain 4 – 2 Ireland
Series Result: Great Britain 2 – 1 Ireland
Player of the Tournament: Rhys Davies (Great Britain)
Great Britain won the 2023 British & Irish Cup 5-2 on categories
Ireland now leads the British & Irish Cup 7-2 all-time
British Referee of the Tournament: Dom Collingwood
Irish Referee of the Tournament: Mark Scoyne