He may have just led the DCU Force Rugby Sevens team to a European University title in Lille, but club captain Peter Wright remains humble.
“It was a great team effort and that’s what won it for us,” Wright told The College View.
“It was everybody not shirking that defensive effort.
“What we don’t have in size and speed, we make up for in playing with structure.”
DCU Force took on and defeated Dauphine, a Parisian team, in the cup final with Wright saying “the final was definitely our biggest challenge.”
The conditions in Lille were terrible, with the pitch essentially turning into a mudbath by the end of the tournament, but this only made Wright more proud of his team.
“What would’ve suited us were the conditions we had last year – sunny with hard ground – because we’re smaller than most teams and can sidestep and go around them,” he noted.
“That’s why I was so proud, you should’ve seen some of the hits in the final.
“Adam Swan, god bless him, is only about five foot six but he was driving players back.”
Wright gives high praise to his teammates but singles out Swan, their top try scorer with eight tries in six games.
“As much as it kills me to say it, Adam Swan was the player of the tournament,” he admits.
“He’s great in attack and he never gives up, he’s constantly working.”
The tournament featured teams from several European countries, including England, France, Spain and Switzerland, with organisers wanting the tournament to be a sociable event.
“We didn’t know the exact translation, but they gave out an award to a player for what we thought was for the best craic,” he said.
“And they gave that to Ger Young, our vice captain for the tournament, just because they wanted all the cultures mixing and for everyone to have a good time.”
While DCU Force were the eventual winners of the tournament, Wright was pleased to see that all the teams went out after the tournament and celebrated with them.
“The celebrations went long into the night,” Wright said.
“Luckily there was an Irish bar so a few Guinnesses were had. The good thing was that all the teams were there celebrating.
“There was a bit of ‘argy bargy’ between some of the teams during the games, but we got on with everyone and played rugby the way it should be played.”
He said he hasn’t had much success with DCU Force in the past but he’s happy that he can go out on a high. He was confident that DCU was ready to put a difficult past behind them and look to a more successful future.
“It’s probably my biggest achievement in rugby, and I’m glad I’ve done it with DCU because I’m leaving college this year,” he said.
“We’ve had a hard time at it for a while, but I’m glad that I’m leaving DCU Rugby, as captain and as chairman, in a better place now than when I started.”
Eoin Harte
Image Credit: Peter Wright