*Micaela Glynn and Lyndsay Clarke.
At just 19 years of age, Lyndsay Clarke has represented her town, her province, and her country on the rugby pitch, and she will now play as vice-captain of the first ever Clare team to compete in the Energia All Ireland League 2025/2026 with Ennis RFC senior ladies team.
Coming from a GAA background, Lyndsay has played with St Joseph’s Doora/Barefield from underage up to senior level. Although she may have started late when it comes to rugby, Lyndsay says that her experience playing other sports is a real benefit to her game and has helped her adapt quickly. “I find I transfer my fitness from GAA over to rugby, it brings new skills into both sports”.
Lyndsay was first introduced to rugby at age 13 during a ‘Give it a Try’ event held in Ennis RFC to promote the newly established girls’ youth teams. After that, she began playing with the U14s team, which went on to win the league that same year. She continued to play with Ennis RFC through underage, and she has also played with UL Bohemians and Ennis/Kilrush since moving to adult rugby.
Lyndsay was first called to train with the Munster U18 panel when she was 15, making her inter-provincial debut against Ulster. She was selected to play on Ireland’s U18 squad in 2017, only four years after picking up a rugby ball for the first time.
That same year, she was included in the Ireland U18 Girls Sevens training squad, preparing for the Rugby Europe U18 Sevens Championship in Czechia. Most recently, she was selected for the Ireland U20 Women’s team for the Six Nations Summer Series, starting at outside centre in the opening match against Wales.
Now in her second year playing for the women’s team, Lyndsay has been selected as vice-captain for the season, a role she says she has always enjoyed. Playing as number 10 for Ennis, she will be leading from the back line and hopes to bring the skills and experience she has acquired from playing with Munster and Ireland squads to her home club.
Speaking about her teammates, Lyndsay says: “We gel really well together as a team; we just bounce off of each other. It’s really natural.”
Lyndsay explained that although the team has been working on fitness, strength, and conditioning since June, this week will be particularly important in preparation for the team’s first AIL match on Saturday, September 27.
She has played in AIL matches previously with UL Bohemians, scoring four tries in her first match against Tullow. She is excited to be back competing with her home club and looks forward to supporting her teammates through the competition. “You’d think I wouldn’t be nervous, but I am, especially because it’s a step up for our team, but we’re well capable, it’s excited nerves more than anything because we are making history and it’ll be an enjoyable day regardless.”
“Most teams struggle to get up, and we did it. It’s just really exciting and it’s good that I get to do it with my home club where I first started off,” she told The Clare Echo.
Looking at the competition ahead, Lyndsay’s main goal as vice-captain is to support and encourage her teammates. She explains that she wants Ennis RFC to prove they are strong enough to compete with top-level teams: “As long as we’ve worked hard and we’ve tried our best in the games, no matter what the outcome is, we’ll be proud of ourselves and we’ll have no regrets”.
