Briggs Added to Irish Women’s Coaching Ticket

It is not uncommon for the men’s game to grab headlines on the eve of a major Women’s sporting event but things are a little different these days and the IRFU has just announced the appointment of Niamh Briggs as Ireland Women’s Assistant Coach ahead of the 2022 TikTok Women’s Six Nations.

Former Ireland captain Briggs joins Greg McWilliams’ Coaching Team as preparations for the 2022 Championship begin this weekend with a National Screening Camp at the IRFU High-Performance Centre.

Having won 62 caps for Ireland and been an integral part of two Six Nations winning sides, including one as captain, Briggs brings a wealth of experience and rugby intelligence to the position.

The Waterford native also represented Ireland at two Rugby World Cups, and Briggs’ appointment to the Coaching Team is a significant statement from new Head Coach McWilliams, who will finalise his management group for the Six Nations in the coming weeks.

Briggs most recently played a key role in Munster’s Vodafone Women’s Inter-Provincial success as Assistant Coach and has continued her coaching development as Head Coach of UL Bohemians.

“I am delighted to come on board as an Assistant Coach as part of Greg’s coaching team,” said Briggs. “I worked with Greg during my playing career and while it is early days in his tenure, I believe he is building something really exciting as we strive to move Irish Women’s rugby forward, both at a domestic and international level.”

“I am excited to get started, to work with Greg and the rest of the management team, and to get to know the players as we build towards the Six Nations. It’s going to be a challenging and busy couple of months, but it’s a fantastic opportunity for us to create a special environment and help players achieve their dream of playing in green.”

With under two months to go until Ireland’s opening Six Nations game against Wales at the RDS on 26 March, Briggs will get to work immediately as 41 Energia All-Ireland League based players assemble at the IRFU HPC in Dublin this weekend for a three-day screening camp.