Briggs eager to get back on duty

A firm handshake and a smile makes Niamh Briggs instantly likeable, but for the past few months smiles have been scarce for the 2013 Grand Slam winner.

A knee injury a week before the IRB World Cup Sevens in Russia last summer was crushing, while a wrist fracture in her opening game for Munster in December saw her miss the bulk of the interprovincial series and with it the majority of the club season with UL Bohs. They have been key reasons why, tonight, she is on the bench.

“It’s been a difficult few months, but if you told me it meant I’d won a Grand Slam, then I’d do it all over again,” admitted the woman from Abbeyside in Dungarvan, who has confided in Munster’s Keith Earls on the injury front.

“Do we realise what we actually achieved? Probably not. Last year we created history, but that’s all it is, history. The time is now,” she says, referring to tonight’s Six Nations opener against Scotland in Ashbourne (7.30pm).

2013 couldn’t have been any better for the 30-year-old kicker; a Grand Slam, Ireland’s top scorer, an interprovincial title, an AIL club title, and the Rugby Writers’ Player of the Year award.

Sport was always a way of life for Briggs. Her brother Shane is captain of the Waterford senior football team. Her brother Liam played county up until minor, before emigrating to Australia. Her sister Roisín played hockey for Munster until tearing her achilles, while her father, Mick, played rugby and hurling for Mount Sion, and her mum, Ger, played basketball with Waterford Wildcats.

Irish coach Philip Doyle however has probably had the biggest impact on her career. Briggs is an emotional person, she admits, and tears in the dressing room even before kick-off are no surprise when listening to his inspiring speeches.

But praise isn’t just for Doyle, it’s for the entire backroom team. The staff at their training base in Johnston House, Enfield, the groundsmen at Ashbourne Rugby Club, captain Fiona Coghlan and her work colleagues and Sgt Mick Nash, a former Limerick senior hurler and uncle of Cork keeper Anthony.

“Fiona just has no low standards. She trains as hard as she plays, if you’re not on the same wavelength as her, then you’ll know about it,” says Briggs.

“But the bottom line is I wouldn’t be able to train or do any of this if work weren’t so understanding,” said the Roxboro-based garda.

Ireland’s men play at Aviva Stadium on March 8 against Italy. Given it’s Brian O’Driscoll’s last home game it’s already sold out and Briggs is hoping the crowd stay on to view the brand of rugby the women’s national side play.

“We’re always trying to promote the game but we needed to win the Grand Slam to really gain people’s respect. We had to back ourselves up for the media to take notice.

“There’s a lot of hype at the moment about gender equality in sport and for us to put rugby in the spotlight is great, but it’s even more important to put women’s sport on the map.”

And what of Scotland tonight? “I’m wary because they’ll be tough. But I always go out to win every match, I’m driven like that, and I believe we can beat anyone on any given day.”