GAA star Vikki Wall set to get sevens shot at Olympic games

The Meath and AFLW star has turned her sights on the Paris Games.

ROYAL APPOINTMENT: Vikki Wall of Meath who has joined the IRFU's sevens programme. Picture: Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile

The IRFU has confirmed that Meath GAA star Vikki Wall has been part of the union’s Women’s sevens programme in recent months and that she will make her on-field debut later this year as she chases her Olympic dream.

And Gillian McDarby, the IRFU’s head of women’s performance and pathways, has explained that the code will be pushing on with its efforts to attract more Gaelic players to their banner.

Wall, an All-Ireland and All-Star winner with her native county, signed a two-year deal to play AFL with North Melbourne last year but has now pivoted to a different oval ball game in the hope of featuring in the Paris Games in the summer of 2024.

“Vicky is in the sevens programme now since the start of August so she is a contracted player. Her dream is to go to the Olympics,” said McDarby on Thursday morning.

“She is making great progress and she will get exposed to game time now in the development competitions now in Elche and Marcoussis and we will start to monitor her progress there and whether we bring her into the World Series setup in Dubai.” 

Wall is a phenomenally talented athlete but time is not on her side as she goes about earning a spot in a sevens squad that has already qualified for the Games. That said, with their berth secured, the management does have room to experiment.

The IRFU announced the appointment of eight Women's National Talent Squad (WNTS) pathway staff earlier this year. Based at five provincial centres of excellence, a central part of their remit will be to push the sevens programmes at universities in their areas of operation.

Stalls were erected at Freshers events in recent weeks with Larissa Muldoon, former Ireland international and one of the pathway staff, attending one such an event on Wednesday night at Atlantic Technological University (ATU). New players will also train alongside club teams in the universities.

“So it is just being seen, getting the exposure out there, young girls seeing what’s happening and asking the questions and being brought into the fold,” McDarby explained. “It’s just publicising the game more and more.

“If we can tap more and more Gaelic players to attract them into the system then, absolutely, that’s what we want to do, give them the opportunity to go to the Olympics or go to a World Cup in the XVs. There’s plenty of streams for them to come into.” 

Meanwhile, new Ireland XVs head coach Scott Beman has named Sam Monaghan and Edel McMahon as co-captains as he prepares a new-look squad for the Womens’ XV3s tournament in Dubai next month where they face Kazakhstan, Columbia and Spain.

Bemand and McDarby explained how the union will now accommodate what they term “ongoing transitions” between the XVs and sevens teams in an attempt to make the best use of their best resources.

Sevens players had focused more or less exclusively on that form of the game in recent years but the likes of Beibhinn Parsons and Eve Higgins will take part in the Dubai WXV3 event before concentrating again on their sevens duties.

Sevens players will also be considered for the Six Nations in 2024.

“The plan is they get reintegrated back into 7s after Dubai,” said McDarby. “Then, based on the players’ availability, based on what suits them at that moment in time, they’ll be reintegrated back into the Six Nation campaign.

“So as it stands, we are looking at them coming back in, but you just don’t know what’s going to happen around the corner, but the plan is to integrate players back in.” Bemand confirmed that the injury suffered recently by forward Dearbhail Nic a Bhaird is a significant one and went as far as to say that there is a possibility that it will keep the talented and versatile forward out of the Six Nations.

The former England lead coach was appointed to the Ireland role in mid-summer was speaking to the media for the first time and spoke about ‘unleashing the potential’ he has seen despite the team’s wooden-spoon effort in the last Six Nations.

Bemand praised the facilities and the support put in place by the IRFU already for the women’s team and signalled his intention to refresh the current squad. The decision to leave a fit and available Hannah O’Connor out of the Dubai squad was part of that.

“Having coached against Ireland women a few times, you'd never doubt the on-pitch heart and grit and graft,” he said when describing his philosophy for the team. “We want to capture that but we want to frame it a little bit differently.

“We want to fire some shots on our terms as well. I'm immensely excited by some of the capability we've got within the setpiece, the back five, and some of the running talent we've got in the backs.

“It's about connecting that up, joining it, and hopefully putting out a brand of rugby that helps grow the game. There's a responsibility to grow the game within Ireland so the brand of rugby has got to be fast-paced, exciting, and something people want to go and see.”