Carrickmines Croquet and Lawn Tennis Club, Co. Dublin, Ireland June 6-7th 2026
The 2026 AC Home Internationals returned to Ireland for the first time since 2022. The visiting teams from England, Scotland and Wales were met by customary mildly inclement weather and an air of excitement: the Irish hosts were desperate to make up for the nail-biting finish and wafer-thin loss to the English in the 2025 tournament at Budleigh Salterton. Having lost by a single game on that occasion, they were keen to take advantage of familiar conditions in Carrickmines.
Angharrad Walters of Wales, managing the event once again to extend a long sequence in the role, drew the opening match-ups of England vs Wales and Ireland vs Scotland. The overnight rain had left some standing water on Lawn 4, but otherwise the courts were remarkably well drained, which was a testament to the Club’s recent investment. Tournament veterans David Maugham and Simon Williams got off to rapid starts, each going a game up on their opponents in short order. David quickly put the first point on the board for England with a +24TP, +26TP victory over Chris Williams, but Simon’s opponent, Stefan Colling, dug in in game 2 and fought to earn a 1-1 match position around lunchtime. Meanwhile, Andrew Johnston, the event’s highest-ranked player and Irish number 1, was in a similar battle with Alastair Burn-Murdoch, leaving the match delicately poised with Danny Johnston and Martin Murray beginning their late start and Sandy Greig a game up on David Houston. Irish debutant Tim O’Donnell had also begun a strong start to his Home Internationals career after competing in the Silver Medal for the first time earlier this year, taking the first game off David Magee playing in the number 4 position. Danny managed to get in early in both games vs Martin, and put an Irish point on the board at roughly the same time that Simon eventually got over the line against Stefan, with the win over Scotland rounded out by debutant O’Donnell in two games. The English and Welsh were still trading blows, with Euan Burridge and Dayal Gunasekara’s match being notably back-and-forth, but ultimately wins from Andrew Winn and Nick Parish got them the points they needed to allow the event to move on to Round 2 as the sun began to shine in earnest on the Saturday afternoon.
Next up, Ireland were pitted against Wales and Scotland against England. Sandy took an early lead over Rich Waterman of Wales in their match, going a game up early in the evening. Andrew returned to winning ways against Chris Williams in two games to put a welcome point on the board for Ireland. Rick Harding replied to this with a 2-0 win over Simon Williams in what is becoming a recurring fixture in this event. Tim chalked up a second point after a very impressive win over stubborn opponent Dayal Gunasekara, with a solid TP in the first. This was becoming a debut to remember, and it felt like it may prove to be a vital point as Rich pulled a game back on Sandy to level their tie. In the gloaming light, Danny and manager Angharrad began their match on Lawn 1, having ceded an earlier free lawn to David and Alastair’s match – managing a tournament with teams of 5 and 4 lawns is a complex business. The match started well for Danny, getting early innings and taking a lead, but Angharrad battled back into the game. Neither player could get their triple peel finished as the smell of pizza wafted down from the clubhouse where the rest of the players had retired, England having secured a 4-0 win over Scotland with David Fuller and Stefan Colling’s match left unfinished. Finishing on peg and rover, Angharrad settled for a relatively aggressive leave, which Danny summarily hit and, after taking his remaining hoops, elected to peg off two and leave his partner ball 3 yards west of the peg. Angharrad picked up her rover ball to A baulk, but the shot did not hit its target, leaving Danny to finish and sit 1-0 up overnight.
A sunnier and brighter Day Two began with the final round, leaving some overhanging matches to be completed – most notably from Ireland vs Wales. Scotland took on Wales, with Alastair continuing a strong showing in the event by beating Chris Williams with an STP in game 1 and an emphatic game 3 win. Sadly, this was to be their only point in the tie, with Wales taking all the remaining matches needed for the 3 points relatively quickly. England vs Ireland proved to be a very exciting contest, with some highly interactive matches. Simon played David Fuller and looked to be staring down the barrel of defeat in game 2 before an unexpected error from the Englishman got him back on the lawn. Taking full advantage, Simon went on to reply with a TP turn and level the match. Things were looking rosy for Ireland at this point, with Tim continuing his form to dig out a +2 win over Euan Burridge to go a game up, Andy winning his first game of his now annual meeting with David Maugham and Danny going a game up over Nick Parish. However, Danny quickly slipped back to 1-1 after failing to take croquet in game 2 and Nick started to hit every long roquet he was presented with, and Sandy went game down to Andrew Winn who was quietly having an excellent tournament. It was Sandy who took the initiative and stirred the resistance, coming back with a silky +23TP win to level his match and keep an English point off the board. Danny on the other hand, tired of his opponent hitting everything in Game 3, decided upon gaining the innings that he would do a TPO. Nick, however, did not see this as an obstacle and played some excellent shots to take advantage of poor 2-ball tactics and win +14OTP, putting England’s first point on the board. Andrew had already replied for Ireland with a satisfying 2-0 victory over David with two triples, regaining some of the excellent form he had shown in his recent run at the World Championships in Florida. Tim again held his nerve against Euan, whose shooting had reached another level towards the end of the match, but who was not converting opportunities. Tim calmly dispatched game 2 to round out a remarkable debut, winning 6 games out of 6 and scoring 3 critical points. It was left to Simon, who, having been given his chance in game 2 vs David, never looked back and went on to win the clinching 3rd point for Ireland.
With Ireland’s Round 3 matches complete, it was now up to Sandy and Danny to try and gain the 3rd crucial point from the unfinished matches against Wales to win an historic victory under the rich afternoon sun in South Dublin. Danny, fresh from his chastening defeat to Nick, started poorly and fell to a rapid -26TP loss to manager Angharrad on Lawn 2 to leave the tie 1-1. Having so narrowly failed to hit the passing grade in last year’s event, he appeared desperate to rectify the errors with this year’s effort. He got the early innings in game 3 and after Angharrad missed the lift, was cruising for a win with a delayed TP until a duff shot on the north boundary put him the wrong side of the peelee at penult. From here, he recovered to set up a straight double finish as the crowd began to gather expectantly. The straight penult peel went only as far as the peg, setting up a tricky rush to rover. Carrickmines’ rover on Lawn 2 has sent many tournament wins to the graveyard, and it seemed that Ireland’s chances may have been going the same way when Danny’s peel jammed, leaving him a hampered jump to continue the break. Alas, the striker’s ball would not climb, and Angharrad was in with a break. She went 4-back calmly and set an NSL, but her final shot joining partner went short, leaving a potential double from A-baulk. Danny girded himself and shot from A-baulk, hitting the roquet and jumping into the air with delight as his teammates cheered on from the bank. From here, he finished out and sealed Ireland’s 5th Home Internationals win in the tournament since it began in 1985.
Huge credit must be given to Angharrad for managing the event so effectively, and to Sandy Greig who managed the local arrangements, including wonderful catering on both days. Carrickmines was resplendent and the lawns were more than able to withstand the previous week’s weather due to years of care and attention and investment from the club. From the perspective of the Irish captain, huge credit must go to Tim O’Donnell who we were delighted to welcome to the team and who matched his incredible on-court performance with his charming company and enthusiasm for the game off it. We look forward to seeing him a lot more in the years to come.
Report by Danny Johnston, Irish Team Captain.
