Gemma Crowley is to be named as the new Team Manager of the Irish Women’s Rugby team in the coming days.
The move represents a win for the team attracting Crowley back to a position she held between 2011 and 2014 when Ireland beat the All Blacks for the first time in either code, won the Six Nations Grand Slam and made it to the semi-final of the Rugby World Cup in France.
She left the position at the top and worked with the Men’s Rugby World Cup and Pro 14 Rugby on logistics before becoming Team Operations Manager for the British and Irish Lions on the tour to South Africa last summer.
Crowley spoke eloquently at the first Sport for Business Women in Sport Conference at UCD back in 2013 and her appointment is a positive first step into the fresh start being implemented across Women’s Rugby with the publication of a report today into issues arising from the failure to qualify for World Cup 2023.
It will be a busy start with the TikTok Six Nations getting underway in a little over three weeks’ time.
Having a strong logistics based team manager on the ticket will be a boost to the management team led by Greg McWilliams and Niamh Briggs who was part of the team back in 2012.
Ireland will play its three home matches at different venues during this campaign with game at the RDS Arena, Musgrave Park in Cork and the Kingspan Stadium in Belfast.
