Having had a tremendous season, Beth Buttimer has now set her sights even higher after being selected for the Ireland Under-20 team for the first-ever Women’s Summer Series.
The Tipperary native, who is eighteen, has already assisted UL Bohemian RFC in winning their first AIL championship in six years. The forward has also played for the Clovers in the Celtic Challenge competition and has represented his home province, Munster, three times.
Buttimer, a leader in Niamh Briggs’ 28-player roster, is hoping to build on her breakout campaign as she enters the competition. The team will play three games in ten days in Parma, Italy.
Buttimer thinks her team can handle the challenge that lies ahead at Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi because they have players who can play hooker and in the back row.
“I think we’re all nervous, which is a good thing,” Buttimer said.
“It puts a bit of fire in the belly. It’s going to be a tough tournament playing in that sort of heat.
“It will be a big challenge. Three 80-minute games in two weeks is a lot with a small squad of 28.
“We are really looking forward to it, we’re really excited and just looking to put our best foot forward and put our hands up individually for the next year of rugby as well.
“We’re a very passionate team. At the end of the day this is not so much a silverware tournament. It is very much development.
“It’s a massive stepping stone for a lot of girls, because they haven’t played at this intensity at all in their life.”
On the rugby pitch, Buttimer is absolutely at home.
The 18-year-old did not start playing rugby until she was 14 years old, despite coming from a family of rugby players.
She was deemed too tough for hockey and Gaelic football, but she has thrived in the structured chaos of the rugby pitch.
As a dynamic forward, she even created history when, in the same year, she and her brother, Henry, made their age-grade debuts for Ireland.
Buttimer and her sister became the first brother and sister team to accomplish this, and Buttimer is expected to play a significant role in Italy.
There is yet more to come as Buttimer intends to challenge for a spot in the senior Ireland roster in the upcoming months.
With a third-place performance in the Guinness Women’s Six Nations earlier this year, they qualified for WXV1, which would be the fulfillment of a lifelong dream.
Buttimer stated, “Obviously, that is the ultimate goal and you have to always set your standards really high.”
“You have to continuously push yourself outside your comfort zone. You will never grow better if that is the case.
“It’s undoubtedly on your mind at the back. Many of the females on our team are attempting to submit their names for consideration for selection.
“But you need to make sure we’re still working toward that final goal and keep your head down.”
The reality in Germany is far different from that of England fans, who are perceived as knuckle-dragging idiots.
Thirty minutes prior to the start of England’s European Championship, the DJ at Trabrennbahn Gelsenkirchen gets down to business. This racetrack-turned-fanzone can accommodate 40,000 people, but the turnout has diminished due to heavy rain and a migration towards the stadium. With only about 2,000 people left, the location now resembles Glastonbury on a rainy year’s Sunday.
There’s no place these fans would rather be when the first piano notes of Don’t Look Back In Anger play, even though many pairs of trainers are destroyed. Screams and raised arms are followed by the startling appearance of twelve persons on their friends’ shoulders. The football game then begins. The excitement of the wedding reception vanished ninety minutes later, even though Serbia was defeated 1-0.
The country would be in a permanent state of summer joy a la 1996 if you could prolong the sensation inside German fanzones before England games and successfully smuggle it back through customs. Since Euro 2021 was the Covid-ravaged pan-European edition and few predicted Russia in 2018 or Qatar in 2022, England’s support hasn’t traveled in their customary huge numbers since France 2016. The tone in Germany has been lovely, in contrast to that time when most interactions with those wearing three lions felt like they could become unpleasant at any moment.
The backing from England has shifted. They were placed under quarantine on the island of Sardinia during the 1990 World Cup because of their extreme fear. When the 2021 Euros final came to Wembley, they first displayed their ability to do something similar at home by rearranging the street furniture in Charleroi in 2000. Fortunately, there hasn’t been much evidence of inappropriate behavior this summer. There have only been a few arrests related to games.
There isn’t much of a noticeable demographic difference between the 2024 class and its predecessors. As expected, there is a significant male majority in the England Supporters Travel Club’s greatest age group (18–35), according to the FA, despite an increase in the number of female members. Undoubtedly, compared to France, there appear to be a few more children traveling with them.
Nonetheless, the typical fan is still portrayed as a knuckle-dragger. The group of Spitfires that have taken over town squares at daybreak AM offer a great backdrop for TV announcements. Not everyone has complied with the request to stop playing the corny song about ten German bombers, but I haven’t seen any local Germans become upset about it yet.
Many others use more conventional forms of travel instead of prioritizing alcohol over football when watching England. After seeing England at tournaments since France 98, Simon Harris is a big fan of the Kunstpalast gallery in Dusseldorf. “I wouldn’t say that the fan base has drastically altered, which is probably related to the expense. It’s the usual bunch of young guys out on a staggy kind of thing, together with middle-aged football and travel enthusiasts like me.
It’s just everyday folks seeking a little respite outside. However, I believe that police quality has greatly improved and has become much more tolerant. It frequently goes badly wrong at the police level. Instead of the customary foreign greeting of hundreds of cops ready (and armed) for a riot, the modern approach is softly-softly, quiet conversations with the most pathetic supports from plain-clothes officers.
Orders banning high-risk fans from attending sports have been beneficial. Prior to the competition, 152 people in Greater Manchester were made to turn in their passports to the police, which prevented them from leaving the country. Many devoted followers believe that coverage of England overseas gives this minority group too much attention.
“The 1% who are covered, the 98% who aren’t,” remarks George Broadbent as he waits outside the ugly rail station in Gelsenkirchen. It’s not that there aren’t any troublemakers left. According to Broadbent’s friend Alan Weatherley, “the majority of fans are pretty decent guys but there is always an element of dodgy characters running around.” They’re always willing to jump in and ready to respond if there seems to be a little issue. I don’t think the press is necessarily terrible because, well, it’s pretty honest.
