On taking home the Rosie Stewart memorial Cup in April; Cooke could not have ended the season in a more positive way and were on a good footing to do well in the oncoming Lombard Ladies Tens tournament in Carrick the following month.
Coming back to Carrick to defend their 2007 title the team were ablaze with excitement for the day of rugby which was to unfurl. Having won their pool games with some ease against UJJ, Leeds Met and City of Derry; the powerful Cooke team did not concede a try, for the second year running, and went on to beat the Wimbledon Ladies by four tries to one in the semi final (which was the only try they conceded in the whole tournament). The team then went on to thrash the Welsh side Merched Dolgellau by seven tries to nil in the final.
 Lombard Ladies Tournament Winners. |
It was a great team effort with every player really giving their all in every single match. Carrick is a great opportunity for Cooke to consolidate their position within Ulster as the top team but also for the girls to display their skill and passion to those who do not rate the women’s game and I believe that for the second year running the girls have done more than enough to prove themselves!
Lombard Ladies Tournament Scorers:
Suzanne Fleming and Imogen Porter each scored a try.
Catherine Maguire, Laura Stewart, Una McKay and Emma Lowe all scoring two tries.
Joni Swanson (Most Valuable Player) scored three, Skipper for the tournament Cathy Craig and Laura Nicholl both scored and converted three tries with seven solid conversion from Lucy Fagan.
Congratulations to Amie Davies, Rachel Boyd and Suzanne Fleming who played for the Irish Vixens in the Kinsele Seven’s Tournament. The team came finished runners up, only narrowly losing out to the Wooden Spoons. Suzie managed to play for the Irish Vixens and be back home to play for Cooke in the Carrick tournament…all in the same weekend, this Lady never ceases to amaze me!
Amie and Rachel (aka RB) accompanied by Joni Swanson, Cathy Maguire and Laura Nicholl from Cooke all went to Stockholm to take part in another Seven’s tournament with the Irish Vixens, winning every single match and going on to win the whole tournament.
Amie Davies also started for the first time for Ireland during the European Championships earlier this summer and we hope this will be the first of many many times that this talented young player will start for her country. She was also talent spotted during the Kinsale Sevens tournament and approached to play for the British Universities team. So double congratulations Amie … I have a feeling that we may hear a lot more about you over the coming seasons!
 Suzanne with Fitzy at the FRU Awards. |
After the Carrick and the various tournaments the girls went off for a much earned break before the annual tour to France in June. With this break came an opportunity for some of the Ladies to swap their stud for stilettos with the Front Row Union’s Award Ceremony and the Shaw’s Bridge Sports Association end of season Ball, not to mention the Ladies End of Season Dinner!
Skipper Suzanne Fleming was awarded with Player of the Season at the Front Row Union Dinner. Just a token of the team’s appreciation for all that she does for the Club. Playing for Cooke for over 12 years, and with numerous Ulster Caps and Over 48 Irish caps as well as captaining squads at every level; Suzanne’s contribution and experience is invaluable to Cooke.
The amount that Suzie does for the club and for Women’s rugby as a whole is colossal; still playing for Ulster and Cooke Suzie manages to Captain, manage, mediate, Coach and promote both Junior and senior club rugby, complete her level one coaching qualification, sit on Ulster committees and much much more. She does often joke that to get everything done she’s going to have to give up her job and take up rugby full time!
Despite the vast amount that Suzie does, she is very through in all that she does and she is an absolute credit to the club. After stepping down from playing internationally; Suzie has turned her attention to developing future stars and is extremely proactive in developing girl’s rugby. She is a bench mark and inspiration for the younger generation of players who are lucky enough to be coached by her as well as a guide to those blessed to play alongside her. Her warm and welcoming personality combined with her dedication, commitment and humbleness make her an absolute treasure and we want her to know that all of us at Cooke are extremely proud to play alongside such passion and knowledge and that her love for the game is undying and infectious!
Rive De Gier
 Where’s those gins? |
Cooke’s annual tour to France took a different direction this year as the girls headed to Rive De Gier.
As with any Cooke tour there was plenty of craic, singing and drinking involved! Dublin airport didn’t know what had hit them when at stupid in the morning the Cooke Ladies made their way to the bar for the first of many gins. Safe to say it wasn’t long after that the song books came out and departure lounge D was serenaded with ‘Irelands Call’, ‘I tell me ma’ and many variations of Sister Acts songs (including harmonies).
Once on location the girls got to know the host team with a party in the town hall with more singing and even some ‘dancing’. The French seemed determined to get the Cooke team drunk feeding them with copious amounts of wine, beer and gherkins … although the girls weren’t exactly complaining.
Staying in a picturesque little school in the mountains the girls took in the view as they devoured croissants and pain au chocolate (such athletes) for breakfast and enjoyed strolling around a nearby lake in the mornings. However, once arriving at the club they had two hard days of rugby ahead and were only beaten by the Parisians; the Cooke team came runner up in the tournament.
 Rugby – Get the Habit! |
With “Ruby’s not a habit, it’s a religion” as the tour theme – the girls donned nun outfits and partied with the other teams until the early hours (our stomachs lined with even more gherkins).
I can tell you some of the team were a sight for sore eyes the following morning as they headed back to the club for another days rugbying. Sensibly the Rive De Geir club decided to play tag for those who could handle it. There were some who couldn’t e.g. Laura Nicholl, who was unfit to play and resorted to beer as her medicine!
It was a fast paced game and player of the match must go to Cooke’s manager Gillian McAlister who joined in and scored a hat trick of dazzling if somewhat dubious tries.
The girls then put on their surf outfits (as you do when you’re in the middle of a French town which is nowhere near the coast) got out the coconuts and the inflatable palm trees and had a quieter final night in a buffalo grill and bar … quite a strange sight I would imagine.
 Let’s go surfing now! |
With a sober and very quiet team (as many had lost their voices) the girls said their goodbyes and headed home with some hilarious memoires and high expectation for what next years tour will entail!!
As ever with Cooke a new season brings a turnover of players. We said a sad farewell to centre Heather Tomlison who after two years with the club has returned home to Canada and we also say Goodbye and good luck to Clare Conor who has gone to Switzerland to teach for a year, Jess Limbert who is moving back home to Derby, Estelle McElroy who has moved to Manchester along with Tess O’Hara and Emma Lowe who are leaving us to study at Manchester University.
 Rachel prepares for motherhood? |
We must also say goodbye to Rachel Reid who although isn’t deserting the country, has hung up her boots and retired this season in order to finally start a family. For those who are asking…who’s Rachel? I am referring to Physco as she is more commonly known to her rugby friends! Although training sessions will now be a lot shorter due to the fact Rachel will no longer be around to ask copious amounts of questions and analyse plays and moves in great depth she will be sorely missed from many angles.
Rachel has been an absolute corner stone to Cooke for more than a decade- In fact she helped to found the women’s team. Not only is she a real asset to the club but to Ulster and Irish Women’s rugby.
I promised Rachel I would not turn this into an obituary but I feel I must highlight the vast amount of work that she has put in to the sport during her career.
Since 1997 she has held many positions of responsibility:- she has been Captain, Treasurer and sat on the Executive Committee for Cooke. Captained Ulster, Captained the Irish Mixed Tag Rugby Team for 2 Test Series v Australia and gained her IRFU Foundation Level Coaching Qualification. She also has managed the Irish Women’s Rugby team since 2004 after stepping down from playing at the top level herself. Having numerous caps for Ulster and 24 caps and scoring 66 points for Ireland; Rachel’s contribution as both player, leader and general organiser has been vast and diverse.
Highlights of Rachel’ career include; playing for the first Cooke team to ever beat Blackrock in November 1997, playing for the first ever Ulster team against the Scottish Universities in January 1996. Playing for Ulster in the first interprovincial series in October 1996 and captaining Ulster to victory when they won the interprovincial in 2001. She was also the highest point scorer in the competition that season. She is also proud to have captained the first (and only so far) Irish mixed Tag team and thinks she might hold the Irish Women’s record for the 150 metre multi-sprint fitness test (while she cannot remember the exact sore she beams that is was well over 700).
We wish Rachel all the best in her retirement (that’s if she doesn’t pull herself out of it for ‘just one more season’) and hope that she has the first of her many babies very soon!
As well as the goodbyes we have had to say this summer the new season also brings new players and we look forward to welcoming them to the club and are sure they will fit right in! With pre-season now well and truly under way I am confident there will be many more success stories from the Cooke camp over the coming season!
And finally - Congratulations goes to Lauren Day, Jess Limbert, Emma Lowe, Cathy Maguire, Joni Swanson, Imogen Porter, Rachel Boyd, Kerry Maxwell, Suzanne Flemming, Laura Nicholl, Cathy Craig, Amie Davies and Una McKay; who have made the cut for this season’s Ulster squad and we wish them all the best against Munster this weekend.
Kick off at Ravenhill. 1.30pm on the 13th of September.
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