Pride for Two Manx Rugby Players in Bingham Cup

Two Manx athletes have recently competed in the largest amateur rugby tournament in the world; the Bingham Cup.

Taking place this year in Rome, the Bingham Cup is a biennial international tournament for inclusive amateur rugby union clubs.

It’s held in memory of 9/11 hero Mark Bingham – one of the passengers who fought back against hijackers on-board United flight 93 – and organised by UK charity International Gay Rugby (IGR) which promotes inclusion in sport.

Mikey Nolan from Douglas showed his skills as Full Back for The Yorkshire Roses as they won the Challenger Bowl at the competition.

The Roses are formed from members of the four inclusive rugby union clubs based in Yorkshire and ended up beating competition from more than 3,500 players drawn from more than 100 IGR clubs across 15 countries.

This was the first time a combined Yorkshire team had competed at the Bingham Cup with players drawn from the four inclusive rugby clubs in Yorkshire: Leeds Hunters, Sheffield Vulcans, York Templars and Hull Roundheads.

Against the backdrop of the Eternal City, the Yorkshire Roses competed for the Challenger Bowl in the third tier of the competition. Mikey was formidable in defence, making some fantastic match saving tackles, helping lead the team to an undefeated first day at Rome. They saw straight wins in the group stage against Panteres rogues (Barcelona, Spain), and Liverpool Tritons (North-West England).

The Flying Monks (Vienna, Austria and Munich, Germany) also went undefeated on day one thanks to the assistance of their secret Manx weapon speedster Conor Powderly from Crosby.

Day two saw the Manx men go head-to-head. Mikey and Conor were facing off against one another for a place in the semi-final.

It was the Yorkshire Roses who just about managed to snatch the win 19 – 12. The Roses awarded Conor their player of the match. With a place in the semi-final secured, they went onto defeat Crescent City Rougaroux (Louisiana, USA). Next up, the final. And a tense victory against Muddy Gotham Legends (New York, USA and Toronto, Canada) 10-7 in the Roses favour.

In light of Pride month just beginning, Mikey left rugby at 16 due to not feeling comfortable with the sport and his sexuality. Fast forward to Mikey at 19 and he was welcomed into Vagabonds’ Rugby Club with open arms. As well as Vagas, on Island Mikey also played at Vikings, and, during his time in the UK, competed for Loughborough RUFC, Newbold RUFC, Royal Wootton Bassist, and Northampton Outlaws.

Mikey says:

‘To play in a Bingham cup has been a pipeline dream from the beginning of my rugby journey and couldn’t have happened without the support of my first rugby family, Vagabonds. Anyone inspired to play rugby should speak to their local team.’