Ella Roberts career has grown from strength to strength, speaking on the Rugby Show last night, she talked about Wicklow’s second season in the AIL, the league format and her meteoric rise over the past couple of seasons.
Wicklow full back Roberts is fast emerging as one of the biggest talents in Irish Rugby. Roberts only made her Leinster debut back in 2021. After making her first start against Ulster during the InterPro series last autumn, she scored two tries and has never looked back.
In July, she was named Leinster Women’s Young Player of the Year. Roberts said that she “didn’t expect it” when she heard her name called at the awards night.
Speaking on FinalWhistle.ie’s The Rugby Show, Ella said:
“I didn’t actually expect it at all. I remember at the actual dinner they were announcing Young Player of the Year and one of the other girls Alice O’Dowd said, ‘Ella that’s you’ and I was like ‘That’s not me, will you stop’ and then next thing you know I was up on the big screen.
“I actually felt like crying, but I didn’t, and I kept myself together. But yeah, that was brilliant and the support I’ve gotten from Wicklow especially and even people all over Leinster, that was the one thing I couldn’t believe. All of the messages I was getting, it was really lovely.”
Despite two defeats in their opening two games this campaign, Wicklow have shown huge signs of improvements since last season. The Ashtown Lane outfit stuck with 2021/22 AIL runners up Blackrock College up until the hour mark in their opening game and also pushed another top four side in UL Bohemian all the way in a 27-24 defeat last weekend.
Roberts said:
“I think it’s been really good to be honest with you. We’ve turned a lot of heads already. I mean we started off playing Rock and at half time we were only losing 12-10, which I mean for us was brilliant and we kind of held on for the first 60 minutes of the game and then kind of ran out of steam and they’re so used to playing at such a high intensity and we’re obviously not because it’s only our second proper season in the AIL and they just ran in a good few tries.
“Our game against Bohs was kind of the standout kind of moment for us as a team so far in our AIL two seasons, because I think finishing so close to a top four team was just brilliant. Especially since we are so new. I think for us as players it did just give us that confidence boost because even the start of last season didn’t go great for us and the start this season, I know there’s been two defeats, but we’ve had some really good performances.”
The AIL Women’s division took a huge blow just weeks before the start of the season, as Malone dropped out of the league. Roberts also spoke about the knock-on effect it had on other teams.
The full back said:
“I think Malone dropping out, kind of at the last minute and again they were in the bottom six with us (last year). They’re one of the teams that we would have been focusing on to actually go and really try to get the win. Obviously, you want to get the win in all games, but Malone was one that we were targeting and to have them gone, it’s not a blow but I suppose we had to rearrange our targets for the season.”
Last year saw the Top 4 teams in the division split into a round robin series after Christmas, with the other sides making up a conference section. Despite their being positives to the divide, Ella spoke about the negatives that the conference also brings to teams like Wicklow.
“ I think the thing with the conference and the top four teams as well, like it’s a bit of a catch 22 as well. On one hand you have the top four teams playing each other the whole time and they’re playing at such a high intensity and then to have the conference which is the lower six teams which we were in. It was really good for us and if you are in kind of those lower six teams, but then you’re not playing better teams, you’re not getting that intensity week in week out.
“But yeah, it was good for us because it gave us a bit of time to settle in, so it was good in that way running up to this season. But overall, I don’t think it’s going to be continued really, I think you have to have players playing at a high standard week in week out really.”
Wicklow do have a break from AIL action this week but face a trip south to basement side Ballincollig next weekend.
Check out Episode 1 of Season 2 of the Rugby show below with Pat Brown and Ella Roberts
Luke Delaney
Luke is a final year Journalism student in DCU. He is a Sports Reporter for Wicklow People Sport and FinalWhistle.ie.