IT’S IN THE region of 50 weeks since Eimear Considine played a competitive match.
She’s hungry for another run, but more than a year will have elapsed before she collects another Ireland cap.
Her team-mates in the Ireland Women’s setup have played one match against Italy in that time. Considine, a teacher by trade, recorded an inconclusive Covid test and missed out on the win.
When the caseload around the country was low, the Women’s AIL was a competitive outlet for Irish players in the rungs below the national team. For the elite players, it was felt intensive training camps would be more beneficial. Of course, that decision was also informed by a belief there would be two Six Nations matches and a World Cup qualifying tournament before the close of 2020.
There have been positive noises about those training camps throughout, but now that a revised Six Nations has been penciled in for April, Considine says the intensity has already been ratcheted up.
“It’s great the finally have dates in the calendar and have something to train for,” Considine said as she helped launch the Aviva Mini Rugby Virtual Skills Hub.
“It’s a long season just training. I think we have 18 or 19 camps with no season in mind so it’s pretty tough to stay motivated. Even this weekend, having the fixtures announced, there’s such a bite among the team and there’s so much more competition when there’s jerseys up for grabs. It really does change everything. It was great to be back in.
“Obviously, the format is different – we’re happy to get games played. Let’s just hope that it is something that’s just this year because of Covid.”
The new format splits the Six Nations into two pools leaving each side with just three fixtures. France are the apex predator on Ireland’s side of the draw. England remain on a higher echelon compared to European rivals, but Considine feels Ireland have made the strides needed to seriously challenge Les Bleus.
Bridging the gap to England and the game’s very best sides is a far longer-term project. For Considine, the task will boil down to numbers, clubs and time on the field.
“They’ve played more games in the last year in England than I’ve played in the last three years. Because of their club system and getting the practice of playing games, week in, week out, even through Covid.”
Whenever normality can resume, the IRFU will hope to keep participation levels on the rise at grassroots level through the many clubs who don’t currently have a presence in the AIL. The Ireland back points out that the geographical spread of clubs at what we might call the middle tier in this country – five AIL clubs in Leinster, two each in Ulster and Munster and then Galwegians – provides the hurdle of distance for players from anywhere bar the main population centres.
“So if someone in west Clare wants to play AIL, it’s an hour and a half to training (at UL). If someone in Cork wants to play, what if Ballincollig isn’t close? There aren’t enough AIL clubs around the country for the system to be good enough.”
Eimear Considine was speaking at the launch of the Aviva Mini Rugby Virtual Skills Hub, which will take place over next week’s mid-term break. Families and clubs across Ireland are invited to sign up at www.aviva.ie/safetodreamteam.
