FOR TOO LONG, those involved in the Ireland Women’s 15s set-up were left fighting an uphill battle.
As rival unions brought professional contracts in for their women’s 15s players, the Ireland squad were left juggling the demands of playing international rugby with living full working lives.
Thankfully, things are beginning to move forward. In late 2022 the IRFU introduced pro contracts for women’s 15s players for the first time and the effects are starting to surface on the pitch. In defeat against France last week the Irish players looked notable stronger and fitter than they did 12 months ago, a natural result of allowing athletes focus on their sport full-time.
Yet that hasn’t been the only obstacle facing Ireland when it comes to being competitive in the Six Nations. This time last year, head coach Greg McWilliams was left plotting for the tournament without quality players such as Beibhinn Parsons, Amee-Leigh Murphy Crowe and Stacey Crowe, who were instead focusing on getting the Ireland Sevens qualified for the 2024 Olympics.
The Sevens project has been a key focus for outgoing IRFU performance director David Nucifora and while the team achieved their goal of booking their place at this summer’s Paris Games, the absence of those players lingered large over an underwhelming Six Nations campaign. Pre-tournament, McWilliams described the unavailability of the Sevens players as “the elephant in the room” before Ireland went on to lose all five games, finish bottom of the table and only score three tries.
Given the size of the playing pool it’s tricky to balance resources across both programmes but Ireland’s hopes of being more competitive in this year’s tournament have been significantly boosted by the news that this time, the 15s players are to be made available throughout the competition.
The Sevens are currently preparing for next weekend’s Hong Kong Sevens while the Singapore Sevens take place a week after Ireland’s closing Six Nations game against Scotland.
“We’ll be staying with the 15s team,” said Beibhinn Parsons, speaking during a day of media duties in Abbotstown earlier this week.
“We got into a Sevens training session yesterday just to keep it ticking, so there’s still a bit of crossover and the communication is really good between both codes, but for now we’ll be sticking in the Six Nations.”
That means new head coach Scott Bemand will have Parsons, Eve Higgins, Aoibheann Reilly, Claire Boles and Katie Heffernan available throughout as he looks build on last year’s WXV3 success.
Parsons is a prime example of just what the 15s have been missing. Back in 2018, the Connacht flyer became Ireland’s youngest ever international when she earned her first cap at the age of just 16. Since then she’s gone on to win 22 caps while becoming a superstar on the Sevens stage.
The 22-year-old didn’t get her hands on the ball as much as she would have liked during last week’s 38-17 loss in France but should be more heavily involved when Italy visit the RDS tomorrow [KO 3pm, RTÉ], with Parsons one of three of the Sevens contingent set to be involved – Higgins and Reilly also start.
Coming back into the 15s mix has presented some challenges, but Parsons feels the group are beginning to find their feet.
I started off in 15s, so I was more than delighted to come back to the squad with a new coaching set-up and everything, it’s been such a privilege to play across both codes.
“It sort of fell into place and with the WXV I got a real good understanding of the game-model and now coming back its been seamless. I’m really well looked after so its been really good.
“Of course, playing your first 80 minutes after a while there’s a few things to iron out. The coaching staff have been really good and I’ve gotten all the detail that I needed. It’s been ok.”
The switch from Sevens back to 15s will ask different questions of the individuals involved, but for a player like Parsons looking to do damage on the wing, the biggest challenge is making the most of the limited space available in more heavily congested channels on the pitch.
“The kicking game is massive in 15s, it’s completely different in Sevens.
“We were playing a territory game [against France] and our 10s and our backfield really stuck to our game-model so in turn I actually didn’t get too much ball so hopefully I’ll get my hands on a bit more ball this weekend.
“But yeah, it’s definitely different, you don’t get as many one-on-one opportunities but when you do they’re like gold-dust so you really have to take those opportunities.”
