Pushing for world recognition

AHEAD of today’s opening duel with France in the Women’s Rugby World Cup in Canada, there is a sense of unity, purpose and burning ambition among the Ireland squad that they can finish the tournament with a top six ranking.

Rugby in Ireland has never enjoyed such a high profile through the success of Munster in the Heineken Cup and Ireland’s Triple Crowns (2004, 2006), and the Irish WRU hope this has a positive knock-on effect for young girls hoping to take up the sport.

Irish Women’s rugby is only 14 years old, but the absence of a proper schools or club structure to facilitate the important 12-18 age grade categories — ages where skills should be properly honed — is one of the reasons Ireland struggle to overcome the top three to four nations in the world.