By his own admission, Oisín Mistéil is not a “rugby man.” The Irish filmmaker plays GAA [Gaelic Football]. “I’ve been playing since I was four and am still hanging on in there, if my knees allow” he says. Nonetheless, four years ago, when the Mixed Ability Rugby World Cup was held in Cork in 2022, he was intrigued.
This is full contact rugby for players with or without physical and learning disabilities. There aren’t contested scrums, but everything else is pretty much the same as in conventional rugby.
“The concept to me seemed kind of crazy,” Mistéil recalls his initial reaction. After all, rugby is a brutally physical sport – and not one you associate with vulnerable people. He and producer Claire McCabe “went down to a few training sessions and a couple of matches” to find out more. They quickly found themselves falling in love with the colourful and big-hearted players and coaches.
This is what led to crowd-pleasing feature documentary Try!, world-premiering at Sheffield Doc Fest.
“There are so many stories. The biggest challenge for us was trying to find out which of these characters we should focus on because everybody involved in that community, just to get to the pitch, they have to overcome so many obstacles. Also, they deal with inclusion and disability in such a positive, joyful and fun way. They don’t take themselves too seriously – and I am attracted to people who don’t take themselves too seriously.”
The filmmakers worked with the coaching teams to identify potential protagonists for the film. The teams tended to be very big, with up to 50 players on their rosters. “What was important for us was that we wanted four characters who represented the broad range of people who get involved in mixed ability rugby,” Mistéil remembers.
The documentary follows players from four Irish teams preparing for the 2025 Mixed Ability Rugby World Cup (which was held last July in Pamplona in Spain).
One of the main characters is Richie Philpott, who plays for the Sunday’s Well Rebels in Cork. They’re defending champions. He is seen early on putting on what he calls his “war paint,” black paste that he smears on his cheeks to help him feel and look scary. He is autistic and was told when he was younger that he would never be allowed to play rugby – but now he is one of the stalwarts of his team.
Maeve Owens plays in the second row for the Ballincollig Trailblazers in Cork. Paul is a flanker with DLSP Vikings, a team with an almost 100% losing record as well as a never give up attitude. Tommy Crawford plays for the Malone Tornadoes. He’s a gregarious “social butterfly” but has had to overcome extreme feelings of isolation and depression.
Darkness seeps into the storytelling at times but the tone is generally humorous, affectionate and gentle.
“A lot of these characters have overcome really traumatic experiences but that is not what this film wants to focus on. This film is not about autism, Down syndrome and mental health difficulties. It’s about people who love a sport and get a huge amount out of it,” the director declares.
He adds that humour always helps whenever there is hardship. “I do enjoy that mix…” (His next documentary will profile a close friend who suffered a brain injury 13 years ago – and it too isn’t afraid to look for jokes in dark places).
Try! has taken three and a half years to complete. “It was a long, long journey. We are very grateful for how cooperative all the teams and clubs and players and coaches and families were. Some of them, I am sure, were sick of us by the end of it. But I think everyone in that community is keen to share their own stories but also that of the sport…the good will we had from Cork and Dublin and Belfast was just amazing.”
On one level, this is a typical sporting underdog story. The emphasis, though, is as much on the characters and their private lives as in what happens on the pitch.
“We wanted to get to know them as people so it was important for us to be at home with them; to see them with their families and to see them at work,” Mistéil notes. “[But] the big challenge with that is that it takes time. It takes time to earn that trust…we were grateful that we were able to put that time in.”
Early on, the camera was sometimes a “hilarious distraction” for the players. They were so intrigued by the novelty of being filmed that they would look into the lens to give a wink or a thumbs up. As time passed, though, they became “completely” accustomed to being filmed in team talks, or playing or training in the gym or hanging out with teammates. The families threw their support behind the project too.
Mistéil points to a certain tension in the sport between inclusion and competitiveness. Mixed ability rugby is open to everyone but, at the same time, the teams are desperate to win.
“This isn’t kick around or a tag rugby tournament. It is very competitive and it is very physical…it is a really interesting balance.”
Players learn to accept that if they’ve given their all, losing is never the end of the world. “When I was growing up and my mum used to tell me when I lost a match that it’s not about winning or losing, it’s about taking part, I thought that was complete nonsense…but I think in mixed ability rugby, it is completely true.”
While teams were sometimes massively disappointed at losing, they got over it quickly enough by enjoying the craic and the socialising.
Working on the documentary made Mistéil question the real reasons behind playing sport. “It is not for winning,” he suggests. “It’s actually for community, creating community. When you witness mixed ability rugby, that is a really good reminder of that.”
Mistéil shot a large amount of material. This was necessary for building trust with the main characters. He then worked closely with editor Keith Walsh in “pulling out” the storylines.
To heighten the drama, the film unfolds as a “countdown” to the World Cup. Every training session brings the event that step closer. The director’s hope is that by the time the teams reach Pamplona for the Cup, audiences will be so invested in the characters that the matches will “mean more.”
Screen Ireland Virgin Media backed the project which is executive produced by David Collins of Samson Films. The director and producer are currently taking part in an impact lab. “This is a film that really has a huge social message – so it’s really important to us that we can have as much impact as possible.”
Mistéil, whose previous credits include Ar Thóir na Crown Jewels (2019) and the apocalypse documentary Go mBeirimid Beo (2021), describes Try! as the most enjoyable experiences of his career thus far. Not that it was always easy. The World Cup in Spain was held during a heatwave. “It was 38 degrees. We were outside all day with three cameras running around…really difficult conditions for our crew – but they were brilliant. They just loved the story they were telling and the people they got to work with.”
The director is now looking forward to seeing the documentary with the rugby players when the film is released in Irish cinemas in the autumn.
“What I am looking forward to most is the first screenings we’ll have in Dublin, Belfast and Cork with all the teams down…I really can’t wait for that. That’s the screening and audience I had in mind the whole time I was making the film. At every training session, I kept thinking I can’t wait for these people to see themselves on screen!”
