I am going to write about something different this week. The week before last I was in Pamplona, Spain for the mixed ability rugby world cup. Mixed ability rugby sees players with disabilities (star players) and non disabled players on the same team. Everyone has equal weighting on the team, there is no dispensation given if you have a learning disability, have Downs Syndrome or are hung over from the night before. We all play for the same team and we all work equally. I had played in a mixed ability world cup before but this is the first time my team, the DLSP Vikings had entered a team.
The touring, the matches, the drinks afterwards are all great craic, something that you experience on any tour. It is the emotion and the inclusion that makes the IMART World Cup so special.
One of our players Gordo loves music and is a DJ’s. Unknown to him, his dad arranged at the last minute for him to play a set as part of the evening entertainment. He just told him to bring his USB with him that evening. Gordo was in his element playing absolute bangers as the dance floor filled.
Gordo is a quiet lad who can be a bit stand offish at the best of times. When he finished his set, he was straight up to his team mates and with massive hugs, something none of us expected from Gordo! The day after we got home, the first thing Gordo said to his dad was “I wish I was with the team”.
Fernando plays for Yaguares Mixed Ability Rugby from Ecuador. He is a wonderful young lad who is deaf and dumb as well as having other disabilities but he is full of love and a great rugby player. We had an absolutely brilliant match against Yaguares. They had some really big forwards and the hits were going in, get up, go again (the backs were putting on the sun cream and tanning while the forwards were slugging it out in the 32 degree heat! 🥵).
It was arranged that with 1 minute to go in the match, we’d get the ball to Fernando to score a try. When the ref told us there was a minute left, Yaguares had a lineout on their own 5 metre line, so only the 95 metres to go! Yaguares worked the ball up the pitch, only using star players, going from ruck to ruck, before getting to our 22 where Fernando broke and scored under the posts. Another star player converted and the game was over. Cue an explosion of joy from both sides as everyone piled onto the pitch, with chants of “Ecuador, Ecuador” and “Irlanda, Irlanda” being chanted by both sides. The match scheduled after us was delayed as we sang and celebrated the game on the pitch.
The second last night was fancy dress which saw the Vikings dress up as bananas!! Getting off the coach, we marched two by two to the disco, being clapped in by a load of clowns!! As the night went on, a lot of our Yaguares friends loved the plátano costumes, so we were giving them away to anyone who wanted on. No one loved his banana outfit more than Daniel from England. The next day at the finals, in the sweltering heat, was Daniel in his banana costume. His mum said he would have slept in it if it was allowed to and put it on again first thing.
One of our newer players, Kev, who plays for the DLSP 1st XV said that “this is my best experience in rugby”.
I have been lucky enough to play in two mixed ability world cups and I am looking forward to playing in the next one, this time lining up beside my son.
Steven Barrett
7 July 2025