IRELAND’S HANNAH TYRRELL is hopeful that head coach Adam Griggs will be kept on after the Six Nations, when his contract comes to an end.
Griggs was appointed to the position last November on a short-term deal, which will come under review some time after Ireland take on reigning champions England this weekend in their final match of the championship.
Since taking charge of the team, the New Zealander has guided Ireland to two wins from their three home games in the Six Nations, with Scotland coming away with a win from Donnybrook last weekend.
Ireland also suffered a heavy defeat to a strong France outfit in the opening round of the competition.
At the outset of Griggs’ appointment, the IRFU said the post-Six Nations review of his position will be conducted ‘in-line with the IRFU’s ongoing strategic review of the women’s game in Ireland.’
Tyrrell has rejoined the 15′s squad in the last couple of weeks, after previously travelling with the Sevens team to a World Series tournament in Sydney in January.
She’s enjoying the new set-up under Griggs having previously worked with him before, and his hopeful that his appointment will be extended.
“I’ve only been in [the Six Nations squad] a couple of weeks, but I’ve worked under Adam before and I think he’s a fantastic coach.
He’s done quite a good job with us so far. It’s up to us to repay that faith by performing in matches, but he’d be a great addition to have if he was to stay on. Whatever the IRFU have up their sleeve, we’ll find out soon enough.”
Similar to Ireland, their opposition will also be coming into the final round of the Six Nations on the back of a defeat.
England were narrowly edged out by France at the Stade des Alpes in Grenoble last Saturday, which denies them the opportunity to defend the Grand Slam title they won at Ireland’s expense last year.
Following an error-strewn performance against Scotland, Tyrrell says Ireland are keen to rectify those mistakes this weekend, but will also be cautiously aware that England will also be aiming for the same goal when they meet in the Ricoh Arena on Friday [KO 5.30pm, RTÉ].
They’ll be hurting after last week’s loss to France. Hopefully the bodies are still a bit sore as well.
“I think they’ll be looking to make amends as well. Two teams coming off losses should be a really good contest.”
She added: “Look, we’ve had some highs and lows in this Six Nations. The girls didn’t really get the performance they wanted in France, but we got the win with Italy.
“We had a really good performance against Wales. Scotland didn’t go the way we wanted, but so far under new management, I think we’re not doing too badly.
We’ve another couple of years before the World Cup comes. We’re still building. We’ve a couple of new caps come in and they’re doing quite well. We’re building and hopefully we’ll finish off on a high this weekend.”
