What A Corker!
IT STARTED with two guys from the Edinburgh team. Dancing on the concourse by the side of the main pitch, enjoying the music on the PA system. A couple of female Spanish players, from UR Almeria we think, joined in, and people nearby laughed as the quartet did a ‘wave’ movement by shrugging their shoulders and arms in sequence. Suddenly more Almeria players were there too, dancing happily, and soon a conga emerged, the group snaking along in front of the filled main stand where spectators clapped along in approval. Integration, energy and joy – all in one spontaneous moment.
Welcome to IMART Cork 2022, a kind of World Cup for the phenomenon that is mixed ability rugby. RW previewed the tournament in 2020 and wanted to be there when it was finally able to take place this summer. It blew our socks off.
Mixed ability rugby allows people with learning and/or physical disabilities to play the game alongside able-bodied team-mates or ‘facilitators’. Contact situations are carefully managed, with a less-able player often carrying gently off first phase and being allowed to go to ground and lay the ball back without impediment. A phase later, you might see a different carrier get tackled hard.
A player breaking through might opt to score or might decide to slow down and pass to a team-mate for whom scoring would mean the earth. Conversion attempts are often
