News2Day is a daily news programme on RTE2 that is aimed at younger people.  It covers a lot of regional stories and recently called for young people to suggest stories that they might cover.  Tipperary Town girl Aine Quinn put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard) and sent an email to RTE suggesting that they feature the Clanwilliam Under 13 girls rugby team.  RTE were so taken with Aine's email that they despatched presenter Paddy McKenna and a camera crew to Clanwilliam recently to see the girls in action.

The girls put on a great display of rugby and gave interviews on all kinds of subjects.  Aine Quinn showed her talents with the RTE microphone and interviewed team Captain, Rosemary Egan.  Using tough interviewing skills she managed to get Rosemary to concede that she is a good captain because she is "bossy"!  The mixture of TV journalism and rugby made for a great morning of fun and enjoyment for the Clanwilliam girls.

Paddy was impressed by Aine's email and struck by her statement that they have no teams to play against, as most clubs do not have girls' teams.  He hoped that by doing the feature on Clanwilliam girls rugby, other clubs might be encouraged to start up girls' teams.  The item is scheduled to go to air on Friday 2nd March on RTE 2 at 5.20pm.

See www.clanrugby.ie for more details

Brendan McCormack