Unfortunately, it was a case of so near and yet so far for the Irish team of Ranald Milne, BJ O’Brien, Micheal O Briain, Padraig O Briain, Terry Walsh, Derek O’Gorman, and NPC Peter Goodman in the second weekend of the Camrose Trophy over the weekend of 5-7 March.
The team came into the weekend leading by a small margin, and started well, with a narrow defeat to England followed by comprehensive wins over Wales and the WBU keeping them atop the table with two matches to play. However, a heavy defeat to Scotland saw the Irish overtaken by England, who scored a near-maximum in their win over the WBU, and England maintained that position to the end, with both contenders winning their final match. So Ireland had to settle for second place, with Wales finishing third.
Well done to both host nations, Ireland in the first weekend and Wales in the second, for ensuring that the first online running of the Camrose, using the emerging RealBridge platform, went smoothly. Hopefully, the participants will be back competing in person at the table for the 2022 event.