A 26-player Ireland Women’s U20s squad, sponsored like the Men’s squad by PwC, will next month travel to Italy to play the host nation and Scotland in a series of training matches.
This is the first time an Ireland Women’s U20 team has been brought together and is a positive step being announced as the Me’s U20 team competes in their World Championship off the back of a Double Grand Slam.
That is the kind of development pathway that is needed to catch up to the rest of the world, an action that is clearly needed after two years of disappointment in the TikTok Women’s Six Nations.
44 players recently assembled at the IRFU High-Performance Centre in Dublin for a screening camp overseen by IRFU Women’s National Talent Squad and Talent Identification Manager, Katie Fitzhenry.
Players selected were identified for their performances from this season’s Energia All-Ireland League, Celtic Challenge, Vodafone Interprovincial Championship, as well as the 2022 U16 and U18 Sevens Interprovincial Championships and the U18 Women’s Six Nations Festival.
The Ireland Women’s U20s side will be coached by Neill Alcorn (Head Coach) and Matt Gill and Larissa Muldoon (Assistant Coaches), three of the recently appointed Women’s National Talent Squad (WNTS) Pathway staff.
A final squad of 26 will be selected next week, with the panel coming together for a week-long camp back at the IRFU High-Performance Centre on Monday, 16th July before travelling to Rome on Friday, 21st July.
Ireland Women’s U20s will train against Italy and Scotland at Stadio Tommaso Fattori in L’Aquila, before going head-to-head in two 40-minute matches on Friday, 28th July, exposing the players to valuable training and match time against international opposition.
“We’re delighted to be adding another important layer to our Women’s Pathway with an Ireland Women’s U20s squad coming together for the first time this summer,” said Fitzhenry
“The National and Provincial Talent Coaches have been working hard to identify players from all levels of our Pathway structure in recent months and we had 44 players come together last weekend for a really positive screening camp.”
“It is an exciting opportunity for us to further accelerate the development of our best young talent, with players not only being exposed to a High-Performance environment and high-quality coaching, strength and conditioning, nutritional and medical support whilst in camp in Dublin, but then being given the chance to test those skills against their peers from Italy and Scotland.”
“At PwC we fully support the addition and development of the Ireland Women’s U20s team,” said Managing Partner Fergal O’Rourke.
“Nurturing and recognising excellence in talent is paramount to the future success of all of our communities.”
“Sponsoring the team strengthens our support of Irish sport and, in particular, reinforces our commitment to increasing the profile and participation of women in sport. We wish the team every success in the upcoming tour to Italy.”
