There were a few puzzled faces among the crowd in College Park last night as the visiting side lined out under the floodlights against a mixed DUFC panel. Hurling Club, a touring side from just outside Buenos Aires, were decked out in their green jerseys and for a moment, onlookers weren’t sure what sport was about to break out before their eyes.
There is a story behind their uniquely confusing name, one that dates all the way back to 1922, when Irish-Argentine emigrants established it, originally just as a hurling club. They soon branched out to incorporate rugby and field hockey into their repertoire and built a ground in the delightfully named city of Hurlingham, near Buenos Aires. Although the days when the team were led onto the pitch by the likes of Lorenzo Shanly and Guillermo MacDermott are long gone, the Irish influence still remains obvious in their emerald kit and and shamrock crest.
However, from kick off last night, Hurling Club appeared to be having an identity crisis and DUFC were in the mood to set them straight. They looked sharper in the tackle and were notably dominant in the scrum. The friendly nature of the game also appeared to embolden the hosts and they appeared determined to put on a show for all of those watching.
The first try arrived after just 11 minutes. A scrappy Hurling lineout just inside their 22 fell kindly for the Trinity flanker who, surely unable to believe his luck, ran in for the easiest of tries. The conversion did not find its mark, but the game was clearly there for the taking. A visibly confident DUFC were running everything, and Hurling were struggling to cope. Outhalf Bautista León was sin-binned on the half-hour mark for a deliberate knock-on, and now the gaps really started to appear. Trinty’s second try was almost a carbon copy of their first, as once again the number seven exploited a gaping hole in the opposition’s defensive line to touch down for his second of the game.
Things went from bad to worse for Hurling as a simple passing move off the top of a Trinity lineout led to fullback James McGowan crashing over in far corner. Two minutes later the visitors were left red-faced once again as DUFC added a converted fourth try under the posts. However, the prospect of a humiliating whitewash appeared to stir Hurling into life, and on the cusp of half-time they registered their first try of the game, retaining their lineout for what seemed like the first time before putting the ball through the hands for a fine try. Fullback Paul Wade, who had taken over kicking duties after León’s yellow card, failed to put over the conversion.
The Argentines could take solace from the knowledge that they had at least got themselves on the scoreboard, but the second half nevertheless had the air of a foregone conclusion. The gulf in class was painfully obvious four minutes into the second half, as centre James Hickey, on the end of a huge overlap, added a fifth try for DUFC. McGowan duly converted. Trinity were rampant. A tiring Hurling were totally unable for the exuberance of a backline now oozing with confidence, and the only question now concerned the number of tries DUFC could chalk up before the inhibiting shriek of the referee’s whistle. Two further tries in corner, the second after a sumptuous crossfield kick, went some way to answering this query.
Hurling appeared dead and buried at this point, but they showed that they still had some fight in them in the 65th minute, notching up a lovely try of their own after a well-worked move. If this was a reprieve, however, it was only a temporary one. A free-flowing Trinity breakaway finished with substitute a jogging in for his first try of the game. The number 14 put the gloss on an already impressive scoreline two minutes from time with a ninth Trinity try.
DUFC can take great confidence from the manner in which they put their opponents to the sword. By the end, however, it had become little more than a training-ground exercise, and players and coaches alike will be well aware that there will be much tougher challenges to come. For Hurling, it was a tough return to the land that played such a role in their formation 95 years ago. They can take heart from the spirit they showed even as their opponents ran riot around them, but this was hardly the “welcome to Ireland” they had envisioned. Maybe they would have had better luck playing hurling.
