Irish rugby star Reggie Corrigan ready to prop Bray up in finals

Bray's Marion Corrigan and Katie Nicholson

Daily Mail
21 Jun 2009

BRAY will have the backing of a celebrity supporter if they make it through to the finals of the Irish Mail All-Ireland Trophy - former Ireland rugby star Reggie Corrigan.

For Reggie’s mum, Marion Corrigan, and her 16-year-old partner Katie Nicholson, beat Arklow on the last green to reach the last 16 of the competition. They are now just two matches away from the finals to be held at the Paul McGinley-designed Macreddin Village course in September.

Corrigan made his international debut against Canada in November 1997. He played for Ireland in the Rugby World Cup in 1999 and 2003 and captained the team on two occasions. He was a member of the Triple Crown winning side in 2004 and won the last of his 47 caps against France in the 2006 Six Nations. He was also captain of Leinster.

Marion said: ‘Over the years we travelled the world to watch him in rugby internationals, Heineken Cups and World Cups and had a ball. We went with him to the infamous 1999 match at Lens against Argentina and went to Australia for the 2003 Rugby World Cup.

‘Should we be lucky enough to get past the next couple of rounds and maybe head towards Macreddin, he would definitely be there to support us.'

Katie Nicholson, who won the Newlands Girls Trophy last year, clinched the match for Co.Wicklow club Bray with a net birdie on the 18th hole against Arklow sisters Pauline Darcy and Ellen Ivory.

Marion said: ‘We were thrilled to win. Katie is a 16 year old junior who has only been playing golf three years but has competed and represented the club with great success in inter-club junior events. She is also a very good hockey player and plays tag rugby. And I’m a grandmother with two grown-up children and three gorgeous grandsons, but we seem to click together and we are really enjoying ourselves this year. We can’t believe we have come this far, but now we don’t want it to stop.’