Next week sees the first ever Wheelchair Rugby Six Nations Championship take place in the Auvergne region of France. The inaugural championship  features teams from Ireland, Wales, Scotland, England, France and Italy and runs from 18th – 22nd June with a round of matches being played each day in a hectic schedule.

This isn’t the “murder ball” type rugby, played on a basketball court, that many may have witnessed in the Paralympics, but a more faithful representation of traditional  rugby played on a 40m x 20m court  in two halves of 40 minutes each. Each team has seven players consisting of hooker, lock, flanker, scrum half, centre, wing and full back and there are three substitutions allowed out of a squad of 12.

The teams use a regulation Size 4 ball and tries are scored by the ball being touched down in the in goal area. Conversions, and penalties, are taken by a GAA style “punch” of the ball and the game incorporates it’s own adapted versions of scrums and line outs.

It’s a journey into the unknown for the Irish team that only came together in April of this year but with a mixture of basketball players, rugby enthusiasts and recent Paralympians there is no shortage of skills and determination.

The team will be captained by an old friend of the FRU, James McCarthy, the reigning Irish shot put champion, recent Paralympian, fanatical supporter of Munster and full time mentor to Paul O’Connell. James brought us up to date with feelings in the Irish camp:

“We don’t know what to expect, but we have trained hard we are going over to win not for any holiday, we have put in too much work for that and my winning mentality and competitive streak will not allow for anything but full effort, as captain I will be leading by example. We have gelled as a squad and we have very good skill sets and have a few surprise plays up our sleeves.”

As for James’ thoughts on being made captain, “I was honoured and proud as I come from very much a rugby family. I’ve always wanted to play the game but, being born with a disability, this was not possible until now and to be doing it and captaining my country team really is humbling”.

“I will be playing wing/full back due to my watching rugby since I was very young I am able to read the game, I can cover the ground and the fact that I am one of the quickest on the team is a help, even if I am probably the oldest too. It is an exciting challenge, a journey into the unknown, but we do know we set high standards for ourselves and will do our best to make Ireland proud of our efforts and hope to emulate our able-bodied Women’s Rugby team and win a Grand Slam.”

Ireland Six Nations Squad: Nicky Hamill (Manager), Lisa Kelly (Coach), Will Thornton (Asst. Coach), Pat O’Neill, Graham Merrigan, Paddy Forbes, Bill Byrne, Raisa Carolan, Kenneth Caulfield, Padraic Hayes, Derek Murphy, James McCarthy (C).

The teams will be competing for the “Beautiful Betty” trophy with matches played in Moulins, Montlucon, Randan and Thiers as follows:

For more information please see Tournoi Six Nations Fauteuil page on Facebook, plus of course we’ll be bringing you regualr updates on The Front Row Union.