YONKERS, NY - After a 18-14 win for the Lansdowne Rugby senior team on the road at Central Jersey Exiles, the Yonkers / Woodlawn based rugby side return for the Spring Home Opener this Saturday, hosting the 3rd Annual New York Irish Rugby Invitational at Tibbetts Brook Park. This special tournament involves multiple Rugby clubs of Irish origin in a round-robin tournament in a greater effort to promote Irish culture in Rugby, while raising money for "Answer The Call" a benefit fund for the widows/widowers and children of NY Police & Fire first responders. In the historic first edition in 2022, All-Ireland League 1A side St. Mary's College flew in from Dublin to NYC to take on Lansdowne RFC NY and other invited sides.
In the 2024 edition of this tournament, NYPD's Rugby team and Morris Rugby (of Morris County, NJ) will be competing. Both clubs have a rich history of Irish and Irish American players, and are equally as proud to support the cause for first responder families. The ceremonies will begin with a special color guard and USA and Ireland national anthem singers. Every match will be abbreviated from the standard 40 minute halves to 20 minutes so that all the matches can be played between 11 AM - 3 PM. There will be a special edition "Old Boys" match, meaning the players will consist of legends over the age of 35, between Lansdowne and Morris. Admission is free, and the entire event will take place at the grass field on the south end of Tibbetts Brook Park. All attendees are encouraged to make a donation to "Answer The Call." For those who cannot attend, the matches will all be livestreamed by New Logical Sports.
Lansdowne Rugby Football Club New York is an Irish American and Immigrants based Rugby Club. Originally founded in the Bronx in 1993, the O'Brien cousins named the club after their favorite Rugby team, Lansdowne FC in Dublin, Ireland, and invited members of the former New York Irish Rugby Club along with other interested bodies. They were originally based out of "The Lansdowne" Bar, which was actually named after the original Lansdowne FC as well, and the bar itself inspired the name for Lansdowne Bhoys (now Lansdowne Yonkers) who were founded 4 years later. The club is now based off of McLean Avenue and now operates a rapidly growing Youth Program, with registrations almost doubling every year. The first team is coached by former player and Lansdowne Legend Sean McCarthy.
Irish Invitational Match Schedule
11:00-11:45: Lansdowne vs NYPD11:50-12:35: NYPD vs Morris12:40-1:25: Lansdowne Legends/NYPD Old Boys vs Morris Masters1:30-2:15: Landowne vs Morris
Link to watch Irish Invitational - https://youtube.com/live/
Lansdowne RFC website - https://lansdownerfcny.com
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