However, this team had one piece of gear your average rugby players does not have - a wheelchair. It was a training session for the Gaelic Warriors - Ireland’s only wheelchair rugby team.

While Eddie O’Sullivan and the Irish panel prepare for next weekend’s clash with France, this group are every bit as committed and dedicated. I mentioned at the outset that a few arrived a bit late for training, this is hardly surprising when you consider that one travelled from Carraroe, the far side of Galway city and another is from Dunmanway in West Cork.

The lucky ones had only to travel from Dublin and Nenagh. A little luckier was John Finn who only had to travel the 15 miles from Portlaoise. The real lucky one was Garret Culliton who came about a mile from his home in Clonaslee.

But this is not always the way. The team alternates its training between Clonalsee and Dublin. It is no easier for games. As the only team in Ireland they play in the British League, and next weekend they travel to Liverpool for a number of games.

“One of the reason we alternate training is because we have players from all over, like Michael " Flaherta, our captain, who is from Carraroe. Clonaslee is more central and with Garrett being a local and the great facilities here, Clonaslee became one of out homes,” explains John Finn.

The Warriors have a core panel of 12 to 14 players all of whom put in a huge effort and commitment to their sport.

Wheelchair rugby combines elements of basketball, American football and ice hockey and it is played on a basketball court. The sport was originally called murderball due to the aggressive nature of the game.

The teams are formed by four players and up to eight substitutes. Players may have various disabilities that preclude their play in able-bodied sport competition. Players must have a combination of upper and lower extremity impairment to be considered as eligible to participate. Most of the players have sustained cervical level spinal injuries and have some type of quadriplegia as a result.

A volleyball is used and it can be carried, dribbled, or passed in any way except by kicking. The ball must be bounced at least once every 10 seconds. Athletes try to score goals by carrying the ball over the opponent’s goal line. The game is played in four eight minute (stop-time) quarters.

John Finn explained that a team scores by carrying the ball over the goal line and while that sound very simple, let me assure you, it is not.

While body contact may not be permitted this is most definitely not the case with the wheelchairs. These are no ordinary machines. I would describe them as wheelchairs with bull bars.

The ferociousness of the ‘tackling’ and ‘blocking’ was best judged by the constant clattering of metal on metal that echoed around Clonalsee Community Centre. This was no place for the faint hearted.

It is not uncommon for sides to call for timeouts while running repairs are carried out on the wheelchairs and as I saw on Sunday a hammer is an integral parts of any team’s equipment.

The game has been played in Ireland since 1996 and the Warriors have had their share of success. “Our biggest win to date was the Schwaben Cup in Ulm, out-side Munich in Germany last July. Teams from Germany, Czech Republic and Ireland played in it,” said John Finn.

“Now we have qualified for the Europeans which take place in Belgium at the end of this month. Our first game is going to be against the UK, so it’s going to be tough going.”

Another difference between this and the normal game is that males and females play together. “Females can be an integral part of the team and are shown no favours,” said John. “They are marked, as regards their disability, the very same as their male counterparts.”

Garrett Culliton first discovered the game while in Canada. “I spent a year and a half playing it in Canada. There are 70 teams or so over there and it is bordering on the professional. I leant a lot from that so when I came home I linked up with the others and we joined the GB league.

“This has helped us a lot but the Europeans will be the real test. We hope to move up a few places in the rankings and there’s no reason why we can’t.”

One of the problems faced by the Warriors is the fact that they can only get together once a week, at best. “The big thing, as with any team game, is to be playing together and getting used to each other. You could have the best individual players but unless you are playing and training as a team you will suffer.

“We find that we always improve when we go away for league games or tournaments because you get four or five games together.”

Garrett explained that it is called Wheelchair Rugby because of the contact but technically it is very like American Football. “You have your very fast guy, who would be your most able, and he is usually your highest point scorer and basically the rest of us are trying to burrow a hole for him to get through.”

Officially the game is called Quads Rugby. “The game also has some aspects of basketball to it,” says Garrett. “Basketball has been there for years for paraplegics who have full use of their hands. It was there also for quadriplegics but obviously with the greater physical disability it was harder to compete.

“The a couple of Canadians around 1977 or ‘78 devised this game. You have to have some hand dysfunction. So for us it is a more level playing field than having to compete against some one who has full use of their hands.”

This was all too much for me. Here we had the, socalled lesser abled quadriplegics playing a far more physical game than their paraplegic counterparts. It was hard to comprehend.

 

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