You may remember a few weeks ago, we reported that Airtricity Customer Services employee,Graham Merrigan, had been selected to represent Ireland at the first ever Wheelchair Rugby Sevens 6 Nations Tournament, being held in Clermont, France.
Well, following an action packed tournament, filled with plenty of wheel to wheel action, great team try’s and even a number of comebacks, Graham helped Team Ireland bring home the Triple Crown following victories over Scotland, England and Wales.
Graham and Team Ireland opened the tournament, when they went wheel to wheel with Wales, making a real statement of their intent by thrashing the current ‘6 Nations’ champions 60-0. Unfortunately, the next two games extinguished Ireland’s Grand Slam challenge, following close wheeled defeats to Italy and hosts France, who were rallied by the home support.
There was however more success for the wheels in green, when they rolled out 27 -6 winners over England. The Triple Crown was secured as Ireland overcame Scotland in a one sided affair that finished up 30-8 in Ireland’s favour.
Upon his arrival back at SSE Ireland’s new corporate headquarters at Red Oak, Graham commented: “It was a great tournament, made even better by the fact we brought home some silverware. Given the positive reception the tournament received from players, supporters and even the media, I’m optimistic that we’ll be back to defend our Triple Crown next year.”
Graham finished second on the try scorer leader board with 8 tries and scored Ireland’s first ever Wheelchair Rugby Sevens try against Wales.