Recap – Wales vs Ireland International Friendlies
Posted by January 19, 2021 in NATIONALNEWSThe first meeting between the Gaelic nations saw the Ireland claim a 3-0 victory across multiple titles
The inaugural event saw Esports Wales take on Ireland Esports in Rocket League, Overwatch, and League of Legends. Following the Welsh Open earlier on in the year, both countries put forward their best players in a series of friendly matches to determine a winner.
The first games within the series saw the two nations go in a best-of-five in Rocket League, with both sides fielding a strong lineup. The Welsh team, including players Natsumi, Mechafox, Renji, with Tails and Creepy as substitutes, looked strong from the get go. And, after losing the first game in the series, fought back to equalise to 1-1. However, as the Irish side consolidated, they won the following two games, resulting in an Irish victory with a 3-1 scoreline.
The second set within the friendlies took place in Overwatch, with both sides fielding very strong teams. Wales’ side included a strong lineup of Shades, Desticius, Ender, Simba, Szvw and Foukwan, with Jules and Motion as substitutes. Ireland’s team took many players from within the well-established Irish Overwatch community, with a few players from their 2019 World Cup side.
The first two games saw Ireland taking a dominant position, establishing control over the maps and space, with Waldo for Ireland proving particularly effective within the DPS role. In a similar story to Rocket League, Wales rallied to gain a victory on King’s Row in overtime, bringing the scoreline to 2-1. However, Wales’ elation was short lived, as Ireland sought to gain victory on the final map, Rialto, bringing the final scoreline to 3-1 to Ireland.
The final games of the series were on Riot Games’ League of Legends. Wales fielded players Cother, Minz, Gregerz, Legacy God and Gizmo, with Zachary and Hawke as substitutes. Once again, an all too familiar situation saw a strong Welsh side struggle to overpower the Irish. Despite strong attempts and big plays Welsh players, even two quad-kills from Welsh ADC Legacy God, they were unable to take a single match from Ireland, resulting in a 2-0 victory to their opposition from across the sea.
Despite Wales being unable to gain an overall victory in any of the titles, they still remained happy in what the event resembled. As both organisations are still relatively young, it has demonstrated the exponential growth of esports, from grassroots level, all the way to international games.
In an open letter to the community, Director and Founder of Esports Wales, John Jackson, deemed the whole tournament a ‘great success’, especially in the development of the national squads.
And, with Esports Wales recently joining the International Esports Federation to become the official international body for the nation, the growth in the country looks set to gain even more traction.
