The Irish Rugby Football Union has announced a total of 19 women players that have now been signed up to train full time as part of the Ireland Women’s Sevens High Performance Programme.The 19 players will receive a financial award from the Irish Sports Council as part of a programme recognising Olympic potential. The money will be administered by the IRFU.
The players will now be based at Dublin City University as they prepare for the qualifying road to the 2016 Olympics.
The squad includes three Ireland Women’s Rugby World Cup stars – wingers Ashleigh Baxter and Alison Miller and centre Jenny Murphy.
The squad includes three Ireland Women’s Rugby World Cup stars – wingers Ashleigh Baxter and Alison Miller and centre Jenny Murphy.
Talent
11 of the contracted players came through previous IRFU Talent ID (TID) programmes, with a number of girls coming from different sporting backgrounds including football, athletics and hockey.
A further screening camp will take place on the weekend of November 1 at the High Performance base in DCU, presenting an opportunity for talented sporting women to become full time athletes and have a shot at Olympic glory in Rio in under two years time.
“It’s great to be training and playing rugby every day,” said Jenny Murphy. “I am looking forward to getting started on the circuit.
“I have been lucky to play with some fantastic rugby players and have learned so much from them, now hopefully I can use some of the experience I have gained in the Rugby World Cup and Six Nations in the Sevens programme.”
11 of the contracted players came through previous IRFU Talent ID (TID) programmes, with a number of girls coming from different sporting backgrounds including football, athletics and hockey.
A further screening camp will take place on the weekend of November 1 at the High Performance base in DCU, presenting an opportunity for talented sporting women to become full time athletes and have a shot at Olympic glory in Rio in under two years time.
“It’s great to be training and playing rugby every day,” said Jenny Murphy. “I am looking forward to getting started on the circuit.
“I have been lucky to play with some fantastic rugby players and have learned so much from them, now hopefully I can use some of the experience I have gained in the Rugby World Cup and Six Nations in the Sevens programme.”
Sky’s the limit
“The sky’s the limit, we have a huge challenge ahead of us to reach Rio, but we’re not the kind of team to shirk away from anything difficult. I am looking forward to it.”
Ireland have two opportunities to qualify for the 2016 Olympics in Rio. The first is an Olympic qualification tournament which will be held in Europe next July with the winners of this event qualifying for Rio.
The second is via an Olympic repechage tournament which will be held between January and June 2016.
“The sky’s the limit, we have a huge challenge ahead of us to reach Rio, but we’re not the kind of team to shirk away from anything difficult. I am looking forward to it.”
Ireland have two opportunities to qualify for the 2016 Olympics in Rio. The first is an Olympic qualification tournament which will be held in Europe next July with the winners of this event qualifying for Rio.
The second is via an Olympic repechage tournament which will be held between January and June 2016.
The nineteen players to be part of the programme are Siobhan Barrett, Ashleigh Baxter, Nicole Cronin, Nikki Caughey, Aoife Doyle, Katie Fitzhenry, Lisa Jacob, Claire Keohane, Martina McCarthy, Alison Miller, Jenny Murphy, Lucy Mulhall, Amee-Leigh Murphy Crowe, Elaine Ryan, Hannah Tyrrell, Laura Lee Walsh, Susan Vaughan, Megan Williams and Ailsa Hughes.
Tournaments
Aside from the DCU programme, the group are currently in England training alongside the England squad. Similar visits are planned for the USA and Canada over the next six months and there are tournaments in Biarritz, Dubai and Moscow coming up.
Aside from the DCU programme, the group are currently in England training alongside the England squad. Similar visits are planned for the USA and Canada over the next six months and there are tournaments in Biarritz, Dubai and Moscow coming up.
This is the biggest commitment ever in Women’s sport in Ireland and indicative of the rising tide that has seen major brands including Aon, Continental Tyres and Liberty Insurance making significant investments.
Watch out for more news of developments in Women’s sport over the coming weeks and months.
Image Credit: Dan Sheridan Inpho.ie
