Timing, communication, and instinct all collide in a split second when the ball is fed in. It is a position built on understanding. For Ballincollig RFC, that understanding has an unusual twist for the last number of seasons, with twin magic in the front row.
When Aoife Fleming packs down at hooker, with Ciara Fleming alongside her at loosehead prop, the connection between them goes deeper than hours of training or shared game plans.
The pair are twin sisters, 22 years of age, and their rugby journeys have unfolded almost entirely side by side. From their first steps in mini rugby in Fethard to the Energia All-Ireland League Women’s Division.
Now, as Ballincollig approach the final stretch of the season with a Conference semi-final looming on the horizon, the Fleming twins find themselves at the heart of a team determined to finish strongly and carry momentum into the knockout stages.
Last Saturday’s 24-19 win away to Cooke was a significant moment in that pursuit. It was Ballincollig’s first victory in three rounds, and the result in Belfast was earned in difficult circumstances against a side known for its physicality and resilience.
“It was absolutely great to get the win against Cooke,” said Aoife. “We came up there and our goal was to get four or five points out of it, and obviously going up to Cooke is a huge challenge in itself. Playing against them, it is always a hard battle.
“We set our goals and we analysed the game, and we stuck to our game-plan and we got the rewards out of it. So we were absolutely delighted.”
The bonus point triumph did more than deliver points. It restored confidence at a crucial moment of the season. Ballincollig occupy eighth place in the table, a position that might not initially suggest a team chasing post-season success.
However, the structure of the competition means that the Conference semi-finals still afford lower-ranked teams a shot at silverware. For the squad, that opportunity has been central to their motivation all year, admits Aoife.
“At the start of the season we set our goals and the Conference semi-final was 100% one of those. I know eighth place in the table for us isn’t where we ideally would want to have been, but we still have the chance now to be in the semi-final.
“We are going to take that with both hands and give it our best shot. We’re going to put our best foot forward for it.”
There is a sense around Ballincollig that the team is still evolving. Santiago Gonzalez came in as head coach last summer, assisted by lead player coaching consultant Eugene McCarthy, and former Ireland internationals Laura Guest and Leah Lyons, who were part of the previous coaching ticket under Helen Brosnan.
“I suppose with Ballincollig now this season that we’ve had a switch up of coaching staff too, we’ve been lucky in taking everything on board with that, so we’re kind of trying to play a new style of game and it’s paying off for us now.
“It’s taken a while but we’re on the better side of it and we’re trying to build up, I suppose, on our momentum from the win this week and playing our next two games, hopefully getting a good performance out of both of them and then driving on to the semi-finals.”
Those next two regular season fixtures, against Munster rivals Ennis at home and Galwegians away, carry enormous importance. Both opponents are also targeting strong finishes ahead of the Conference semi-finals, meaning the margins will likely be tight.
For Aoife, the memory of their earlier meeting with Galwegians when they suffered a 29-19 defeat at Tanner Park still lingers.
“We’ve played Galwegians already at home this season. I suppose we were kind of unlucky not to come out on top maybe by the end of that game. We were really proud of our performance that day.
“We were just on the bad side of the result towards the end. We have a chance now to show ourselves again against Galwegians, our last game of the (regular) season, and really put it up to them. Just be in a really good position then going in the semis.”
Before that, however, comes the challenge of Ennis, the league newcomers whom they lost to in round 2 – 17-12. While Aoife admits they will enjoy the rest week, it will be about putting in another strong performance when the campaign resumes tomorrow week.
“It’s always good to get a bit of a rest week, but no, we’re all raring to go. We’re really, really looking forward to our game now against Ennis, just so we can just really show ourselves.
“I feel like it was definitely a game that we left behind us (in the early part of the season). There’s a few games that we felt that way, but it is our chance to prove ourselves and just have a good performance.”
The recent win over Tullow carried an added layer of significance for the Fleming sisters. With the weather forcing the game away from Cork, the match was relocated to Fethard Town Park, just 40 minutes from the twins’ hometown in Tipperary, and the result was an ideal one in the end, admits Ciara.
“I know it was good at least the match could get played and I know the weather conditions weren’t great, so at least there was an astro available for us,” she said.
“It was a bit more of a fast-paced game then, which I suppose suits us down to the ground in Ballincollig, so you know it was good at least it was played and we got the result we wanted out of it.”
For the Flemings, the road to Ballincollig began years earlier with a different club and a different inspiration, their older sister Katelyn, as Aoife recalls.
“Kayelyn started it when she was in school, so she went to Cashel when they had a girls team. Then me and Ciara said we’d give it a try as well, so we went to Fethard and we just started from there and we absolutely loved it.”
At the time, the twins were only ten-years-old, but the sport immediately captured their imagination. They began their rugby journeys in the minis with Fethard before moving to Carrick-on-Suir RFC at underage level, where the sisters would spend some of their most formative rugby years.
“Then Under-15 we moved to Carrick-on-Suir when our sister moved there, and then our mother (Kathleen) got involved in Carrick as well. She was the women’s officer there, so we just all followed suit and we absolutely loved it there.”
Carrick became a second home for the twins. Alongside team-mates from Thurles, Dungarvan, and Fethard, they built a tight-knit group that grew together through the age grades.
That continuity paid off on the field. The team, as Carrick-Thurles, captured back-to-back Munster Cup titles at U-18 level, a period that remains one of the most cherished chapters of the twins’ rugby story.
In their final year, Aoife captained the side with Ciara alongside her in the pack. The moment symbolised how far the twins had come since their first training sessions as curious ten-year-olds. Success with their cub side soon opened the door to interprovincial rugby.
“We were lucky enough then to get onto the Munster U-18 squad for two summers. We absolutely adored that team. We did a bit of Munster Sevens, and then we both moved on to the Munster senior squad. We were both on the squad this season which we were absolutely thrilled about.”
Aoife won her first senior cap for Munster against Connacht last August in the opening round of the Vodafone Women’s Interprovincial Championship. Ciara also earned a call-up from head coach Matt Brown, which was a dream come true for both.
The sisters’ progression has been built not only on playing but also on giving back to the game. Coaching has become a significant part of their involvement in rugby, reflecting the same community spirit that shaped their early years.
“We do a bit of coaching as well, so we helped out in Carrick when we were there doing the IRFU’s ‘Give It A Try’ programme. We did the Munster Sevens as well for the last few years, so the Munster U-16 Sevens, it’s absolutely great.
“We’re both now coaching inside the Ursuline Girls Secondary School. We’re both coaching the Junior Cup teams, they’re now into a Shield final, so we’re absolutely thrilled with that too.”
If rugby has always been a shared experience for the twins, playing together in the Ballincollig front row has added even more enjoyment and occasionally confusion. There are moments when even referees struggle to tell them apart.
Ciara commented: “I love playing with Aoife, we play the exact same style of rugby. If I had to give a tip-on (pass), I know she’d be there. I know last year I was out with my ACL, so Aoife had to battle on by herself. At least I’m back now this year, we’re both flying it playing together again.
“I suppose there’s a bit of twin telepathy going on maybe on the pitch, or if a ref doesn’t know there’s two of us then he’d be looking around, ‘Jeez, number 1’s all over the place’, or number 2, and then he’d go to scrum time and he’s like’, Oh jeez, there’s two of you’. But it’s funny anyways.
“It is good playing with your sister because it’s just easy to play. When Katelyn played this year, she played a few games (in the back row), it’s great having the three sisters on one team.
“We don’t kill each other too much sometimes, but if there’s one bad mispass or something then there will be a few words, but we’re fairly chill anyway.”
Now, as Ballincollig prepare for the final few weks of the campaign, the focus is simple. Build momentum, improve performances, and carry confidence into the Conference semi-finals.
The Fleming twins will continue to anchor the scrum for Gonzalez’s charges, two sisters who started the sport together more than a decade ago, now binding side by side at the heart of a team chasing a strong finish.
“These last two weeks of training are going to be huge for us building on the performance from Cooke, and then analysing the games from Ennis, analysing the games Galwegians had, and just bringing that into the next two weeks,” explained Aoife.
“Definitely been unfortunate leaving a few points behind us and missed opportunities, but we’re definitely going to be focusing on those and trying to input those into points now for the next few games.
“It’s just about building performance each week, just building on what we have already, just the foundations and then just consistently getting better. That’s our goal, just to continuously put out good performances that we’re proud of.”
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Photos 2,3,4,5,6,8,9 courtsesy of Ronan Ó’ Riain