‘Try!’ review: Crowd-pleasing Irish doc celebrates the community spirit of Mixed Ability Rugby

Dir: Oisín Mistéil. Ireland. 2026. 88mins.

Oisín Mistéil’s documentary about the Mixed Ability Rugby World Cup is a group hug of a film that celebrates the pure joy of friendship and community. Beginning 250 days before the championship, the documentarian follows members of four Irish teams – three male and one female – as they prepare before heading to Pamplona, Spain, for the competition itself.

We learn about the players as people, with none defined by disability

Produced by 2023 Screen Star of Tomorrow Claire McCabe’s Pipedream Productions, Mistéil’s debut feature has its Irish premiere at Galway Film Fleadh after bowing at Sheffield DocFest, and further festival play is highly likely for this emotionally vibrant crowdpleaser.

The rules for mixed ability rugby are essentially the same as regular rugby union, except that it does not have contested scrums and features rolling substitutions to ensure everyone gets a chance to participate. In all other regards it is a full contact sport, based on ability, with teams comprising members with and without physical and learning disabilities. In short, as someone puts it: “It means no one gets left behind”.

The defending champions are Sunday’s Well Rebels, from Cork. Richie Philpott plays as a loosehead prop for them, putting on his “war paint” before matches and arriving with a boom box strapped to him to show the opposition he means business. Maeve Owens is a stalwart in the second row for the Ballincollig Trailblazers, also based in Cork, while Paul Deacon is a flanker for the DLSP Vikings in Dublin – which involves him taking a 136-mile round trip to practice from his home in County Wexford. The fourth focus is Tommy Crawford, who plays for the Belfast-based Malone Tornadoes.

Mistéil smartly avoids labelling from the start. While autism, Down’s syndrome and depression are just some of the features of the teams’ lives, backstories and families are introduced gradually – meaning that we first learn about the players as people, with none defined by disability. There’s an earthiness to the training sessions, with swearing obligatory and an emphasis on doing your best. “The truth is we’re not fit, but we will get there,” is indicative of the attitude all these players bring to a sport where the concept of taking part being more important than winning is not a trite sentiment, but a defining feature.

The Vikings, for example, have not won a match in the five years since they were founded but that hasn’t stopped their enjoyment of coming together to train and support one another. The idea of belonging is a key aspect for the players, many of whom have spent years being told they couldn’t play sports, facing discrimination or being treated with kid gloves. Helped by pacy and attentive editing from Keith Walsh, Mistéil is less interested in capturing the ball crossing the line than showing the hand slaps of the team when they succeed, and the reaction of the crowd who come to cheer them. That team spirit flows well beyond the sidelines, into shopping trips, icy charity sea dips and shared drinks and banter.

A few more details on the current health of mixed ability rugby and the wider aspects of the sport would be welcome, but what Mistéil loses in context he gains in intimacy. Amid Try!’s positivity, interviews give a sense of how lonely some of the participants have felt in the past, and how being part of a team makes them more resilient. Needle drops including HousePlants’ ’No Stopping Me’ and ‘Now You See It’ by Susan O’Neill emphasise  the emotions, but Try! is moving enough because of the honest and open feelings being articulated.

The inclusion of several clubs adds to the communal tone. And when, in the second half of the film, the players head to Spain, Mistéil continues to keep the focus on the team interactions rather than the competitive element. Some will lose, of course, but there’s a genuine feeling that everyone’s a winner the moment they sign up.