The Continent of Europe beat Great Britain and Ireland in both the Jacques Leglise Trophy and the Junior Vagliano Trophy at The Island in Dublin on Saturday, completing a double on Irish soil after two days of tight match play.

Pierre Relecom’s under-18 boys won the Jacques Leglise Trophy 14½-10½, a seventh consecutive European victory in the match. In the under-16 girls’ contest, Europe edged the Junior Vagliano Trophy 9½-8½ to claim the silverware for the ninth time in ten stagings.

GB&I Singles Surge Falls Short in Jacques Leglise Trophy

Europe carried a four-point lead into the final day of the boys’ match, having led 8-4 after Friday’s play, and the Saturday morning foursomes were shared 2-2 to keep that cushion intact.

Niall MacSweeney’s GB&I side then made a charge in the singles, taking three and a half points from the opening four ties.

“That got the hearts racing and there was excitement that maybe the impossible could become possible,” MacSweeney said.

Scotland’s Aidan Lawson set the tone for the home surge, playing nine-under-par golf in a 5&3 win over Louis Klein of the Czech Republic. But Europe found a foothold at the top of the order, where Iceland’s Óliver Elí Björnsson, the newly crowned R&A Boys’ Amateur champion, halved with Aaron Moody. Björnsson had been four down after eight holes before making three consecutive birdies on the back nine to square the match on the 18th.

“To push a match that is four-down all the way to the 18th gave the rest of the team a lift,” Relecom said.

From there the Europeans steadily regained control. Tao Pemerika, the 16-year-old European Young Masters champion, beat Ben Sessions by one hole to take his side to the 12½ points required to retain the trophy. Václav Švub then sealed the win outright with a 3&2 defeat of Adam Fahey, holing a putt of more than 30 feet on the 16th. Švub had also delivered the trophy-clinching point in last year’s match at Royal Hague.

“GB&I came out of the blocks very quickly and they were ready to fight, but the birdies eventually came for us too. The level of play was very high and I’m so proud of my team.”

Said Relecom, who has now won three matches in a row as captain and has said he would like a fourth term.

MacSweeney said, “Hats off to the Europeans, they have been deserving winners.”

The Jacques Leglise Trophy dates to 1977 in its current form, named in memory of the former French Golf Federation and European Golf Association president. Its alumni include Sergio Garcia, José María Olazábal, Justin Rose and Tommy Fleetwood, and Europe’s current run of seven wins stretches back through victories at venues including Chantilly, Falsterbo and West Lancashire.

Bastoni Bunker Shot Decides Junior Vagliano Trophy

The girls’ match was tighter still, with GB&I beginning the final day two points ahead. Europe won the morning foursomes 2-1 to cut the deficit to a single point before the singles.

The afternoon session swung back and forth, and the trophy remained undecided until the final matches on the course. Rut Diaz Garcia’s 2&1 win over Alicia Kelly took Europe to the mark needed to retain the trophy, before Elea Bastoni won it outright by getting up and down from a bunker on the 18th to beat Mariella Buchanan on the last green.

“The best bunker shot of my life,” Bastoni said.

Europe’s captain, Myrte Eikenaar, was leading the side to a second successive victory after last year’s 11½-6½ win at Royal Hague.

“It was very nerve wracking, a real nail biter. I knew it would be close, but I had total faith in my players. It’s amazing to see what they can do at such a young age. We are maybe not used to links golf, but I saw the confidence in the players grow over the week and we became more and more comfortable with this type of golf. We had to come from behind after every session, but we kept believing that we could pull it off.”

Her GB&I counterpart, Becca Hembrough, said, “It will hurt for a little bit but that’s competitive golf. We knew it would be tough as the Europeans are quality players led by a quality woman.

“We dug in and I’m so proud of them. It went to the wire, and it showed the standard of junior girls’ golf throughout Europe.”

The Junior Vagliano Trophy, inaugurated in 2011 as the under-16 counterpart to the Vagliano Trophy, is now staged annually, and GB&I’s sole win in the series came in 2024. The R&A selects the GB&I teams for both matches, with the European Golf Association picking the Continent of Europe sides.