Rugby Rebel by Gerard Siggins Read Free Book Online Page A

of pupils and past pupils of the schools, heaping even more pressure on the players.
    That wasn’t something that concerned Eoin, who had kept his nerve to kick a last-second conversion in front of an almost-full Aviva Stadium to win the Father Geoghegan Cup. That had been an amazing experience, which capped his first year at Castlerock – and his first playing rugby.
    It was different now – he was acknowledged as a very good player and his promotion to the JCT squad was recognition of this.
    The teams lined up for press photographs, and as they broke up Eoin gave a wave to his classmates as they fooled around in various green and white outfits, carrying banners proclaiming the greatness of Castlerock.
    The players certainly showed it on the field, romping to a 24-0 lead at half-time.
    ‘That was good work, lads,’ Mr Carey said at the break. ‘We are in good control up front, and the backs have kept everything simple. I want to empty the bench over the second half, to give you all a taste of a big crowd, but I won’t do anything till the last twenty minutes. Keep doing what you’re doing and try to build on that lead.’
    The second row, JD Muldowney, scored two tries for Castlerock and widened the margin between them and St Osgur’s, and Mr Carey brought on four new forwards half-way through the second period. He nodded to Eoin and the rest of the replacements, and opened his hand wide to show them they would be on in five minutes.
    Eoin kept his focus on the game, afraid to even think about his nerves, just preparing for his call-up.
    ‘Right, Madden, Touhy, Gillespie, warm up there. You’re on at the next break in play.’
    Eoin did a series of short sprints up the touchline, ignoring the calls of encouragement and banter that were coming from his pals, and when Mr Carey signalled them to go on, he went straight to his position.
    ‘No special instructions from coach then?’ asked Devin.
    ‘No, he just said “keep it tight and keep the scoreline blank”,’ replied Eoin.
    Castlerock’s forwards were much bigger and stronger than their opponents and every scrum, line-out, ruck or maul was a walkover. Eoin got a few passes and kicked them all upfield where the forwards were soon feeding them back once again.
    Into the last minute the lead had mounted to 39-0 when JD knocked the ball on and the St Osgur’s scrum-half gathered and galloped upfield. Eoin was quickest off in pursuit and by the time he had crossed the Castlerock 22 he was on the No.9’s shoulder. The Osgur’s player looked behind him and the sight of Eoin right in his tracks seemed to rattle him into a moment’s hesitation. Eoin struck ten metres from the line, a flying tackle knocking the player and sending the ball spilling out of his hands and rolling end-over-end across the dead ball line.
    Eoin helped the St Osgur’s scrum-half to his feet as the referee blew the final whistle. ‘Sorry about that,’ he grinned sheepishly.
    ‘Ah, sure we were well outclassed,’ came the reply. ‘We didn’t really deserve a consolation try.’
    The Castlerock fans cheered as the teams came off, and Mr Carey had a rare, broad grin across his face.
    ‘Superb stuff, men,’ he said. ‘That was a very efficient performance and you deserve to have won by thatmargin. Now, we’re in the quarter-finals and every game from now on will be a lot harder. So let’s see you all for a light run-out tomorrow after school and we’ll discuss what we can do better.’
    Later that evening, Eoin lay down on his bed, staring at the ceiling until his eyes started to feel heavy. The term was flying past, and he had trained almost every day. He felt really fit, but also needed more sleep than usual.
    ‘Eoin …’ came a hesitant voice. ‘Are you awake?’
    Eoin opened his eyes, and was a little startled to see Brian standing at the end of his bed. Brian had never come into the school before, besides one visit to the library.
    ‘Brian, what are you doing