RUGBY
Keith Mason and Stephen Weldon modelling the new kit.
RUGBY’S RETURN The DFB Rugby Club is looking forward to getting back on the pitch, Keith Mason tells Adam Hyland
A
s with most other clubs within the Dublin Fire Brigade, the DFB Rugby team has had to put a lot of activities on hold during the pandemic, but hopes are high that members will once again be able to take to the field in the coming months to represent the organisation. “We have to wait for things to return to a bit more normality and see how members are fixed in terms of family arrangements before we can finalise any fixtures, but we’re definitely working hard to get a few
games organised this side of Christmas, so there should soon be some solid dates that we can work towards to get playing again,” FF/P Keith Mason tells me. Apart from some home fixtures against other organisations being in the pipeline, Keith says that the team is also looking further afield, should restrictions on travel lift.
GAMES “We have our eyes set on the World Firefighter Games in Lisbon in April next year,” he says, “and the World Police and Fire Games in Rotterdam in July, as two possible trips. These will of course be dependent on a few things, but we are looking to see if there is interest there, and whether we can get the numbers to go. “We would be competing in the Rugby 7s tournament, which is a bit of
a different kettle of fish, but we can try to adapt. We’d be hoping to get a team, and then some more support and reserves to make up a group of around 12 people. “That’s the long-term plan so far, but we hope to get some other fixtures organised for the end of this year, and then some more for early next year to coincide with the Six Nations, when there is a break in club fixtures and more players will be available. “We know people are keen to get going again and to have a match, but we also know we are all in the same boat in terms of circumstances, and everybody has to look at getting time off, etc, and it can be a big challenge to organise those fixtures and make sure we have enough bodies to fulfil them. But we are hoping…”
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