AFTER A LONG, difficult couple of years for women’s rugby in Ireland, things are finally beginning to move in the right direction again.
August delivered a welcome series of good news stories. At the beginning of the month the IRFU confirmed it would be providing a total of 43 centralised, paid contracts to elite women’s players next season, a move which will see the Union offer professional contracts to women’s 15s players for the first time.
That announcement came on the same day Gillian McDarby’s appointment as Head of Women’s Performance and Pathways was confirmed, a newly-created role which stems from the independent review into the Ireland 15s squad’s failure to qualify for this year’s World Cup.
Good news off the pitch was followed by encouraging signs on it, Ireland beating Japan in the opening Test of their two-Test summer tour – a trip which represented a first ever summer tour for the women’s 15s squad.
While all this was happening, the women’s 7s have also been ticking along nicely. At the Seville 7s in January they made history by reaching a first World Series decider, taking the silver medal, and followed that up with bronze in Canada in April.
That progress has been significant – and much needed – following the difficulties of 2021.
This weekend the women’s 7s squad have an opportunity to make more headlines, their World Cup campaign getting underway on Friday as they take on Brazil in Cape Town.
Stacey Flood – a member of the senior 7s squad since 2015 – explains the group are very conscious of the impact weekend’s like this can have on the growth of the game in Ireland.
“100%. We want to be role models for people,” Flood explains.
“We want to see Amee-Leigh Murphy Crowe, Lucy Mulhall, Beibhinn Parsons, Erin King named in the media, because they deserve to be named in the media and they should be in the media. You watch those girls play and you recognise that.
It’s about getting people to watch and making sure the younger generation knows that it’s a viable option for them if they want to go full-time and play rugby and do it as a career. It is plausible for them. The more that (message) is out there, the better.”
Flood has been primarily focused on 7s this season, but did feature for the 15s squad during the Six Nations.
However she played no part in August’s historic tour to Japan, as the 7s players stayed at home to prepare for the World Cup. It’s not the first time the 15s squad has had to plan without their 7s stars as the two fixture calendars often clash, but Flood insists both can continue to develop alongside each other – even if depleted 15s squads have previously looked stretched against better equipped opponents.
“Seeing the girls play in Japan, I was actually more excited and proud of all they’ve done and I think that’s the more reassuring thing, rather than being jealous or snide that you’re not there,” she continues.
The team is growing and looking at all those young girls coming through, it’s exactly what we need in the world of women’s rugby in Ireland, and I think it’s only going to grow and get better when competition (in the squad) is pushing on. That’s where we need to be. I don’t think ‘Oh, we (7s players) missed out on this.’ We actually got to watch and support our teammates and I think we’re very lucky to be in the position we are in at the minute.
“I think people like to play the two (7s and 15s) against each other, but I actually think hand in hand they can work and it can be a relationship that can go forward together and both programmes can be successful.
“It’s not about ‘Oh we prefer 15s or we prefer 7s or we only want 15s to do well’, it’s about women’s rugby in Ireland doing well and growing the two programmes and making them both elite, and making sure Irish rugby is performing.”
This weekend Ireland have little room for error as the World Cup once again follows a knockout format. Flood can lean on her experience at the 2018 tournament in San Francisco – where Ireland finished sixth – and believes the group have every reason to set the bar even higher for themselves this time around.
“Obviously the goal is to win a World Cup, get a medal at a World Cup, like everyone else who is coming here,” Flood says.
You can watch all of our matches from #RWC7s in Cape Town this weekend live on the RTÉ Player! 🇿🇦
— Irish Rugby (@IrishRugby) September 6, 2022
All the @WorldRugby7s broadcast info is available here ⬇️#Ireland7s | @TritonLake
“And we have spoken about that, but I think first things first, you have to go out and win your first game because in 7s, anything can happen and it can be a hit-or-miss kind of game. So I think first things first, try get that first game out of the way and then regroup, regather and see what’s next.”
First up for Ireland are Brazil. When the two sides met back in May, Ireland came from behind to claim a dramatic win in the final minute.
“It wasn’t our finest game, but we got there in the end,” Flood says.
“They’re a tough opponent. Quite speedy, have a lot of pace and hopefully we’ve created the right game plan to beat them and get the win.
“The (knockout) structure is crazy, but at the same time, I think it suits 7s, because in 7s, anything can happen. You can win or lose in the blink of an eye, so I think that all-or-nothing kind of stakes kind of suits the game of 7s.
“Yeah, it’s tough, but four games to win a World Cup? I don’t think you hear that in many other sports.”
TritonLake, proud title sponsor of the Ireland Men’s and Women’s 7s teams, has released Episode Six of its podcast TritonLake Perform, featuring Lynne Cantwell, Women’s High-Performance Manager for South African Rugby, ahead of the biggest tournament of the 7s season, the Rugby World Cup 7s in Cape Town.
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