Earls adds power to women’s glory run

Don’t allow the diminutive figure of Marian Earls fool you — the Wicklow town native is a powerful force which has helped many of the Irish women’s senior team become household names this last week.

was appointed as the national side’s strength and conditioning coach last November and her mandate was to deliver individualised training programmes to every player, irrespective of where they were based.

The 27-year-old has clocked up thousands of miles since, often working from 6am to 10pm travelling to the various team bases, but for the UL graduate, fitness has always been a labour of love.

And last Tuesday, when the final whistle went in Paris following the 17-14 defeat of New Zealand, she was close to tears, as the enormity of the achievement began to sink in.

“It was fantastic and their just rewards for the hard work they’ve been putting in,” said Earls. “But at the same time, it was just another game, we’re moving forward now and it won’t mean as much if we don’t go and win the World Cup, if that doesn’t sound too arrogant. It was a stepping stone. It was great. It was historic. It was fantastic. But it will mean nothing if we can’t perform for the remainder of the tournament.”

Earls is serious about her business and sprays words around such as ‘accountability, authority, transparency and reliability’. But underneath that regimented exterior is an easy-going nature and a can-do attitude which has helped her land significant roles with the Scottish Rugby Union, Glasgow Warriors and Connacht Rugby, the latter a new role next month.

But the joker in her is never far from the surface and for a bit of banter she said she’d shave her head if they won last Tuesday...

“That was a funny one,” she laughed. “We had said that for every game we win, the manager, Philip Doyle, could set a dare or challenge so I said, ‘if we win against New Zealand I’ll shave the side of my head like Ellie Goulding’, but thankfully, Fiona Coghlan talked me out of it and instead of shaving the hair I’m getting an orange tan all over and the forwards coach, Peter Bracken, is dyeing his hair purple or shaving it as well maybe.”

Her first love was athletics, where she excelled at hurdles, but has become engrossed in rugby since her time in Scotland. And now, she sees herself as someone who can change minds and attitudes as well as change bodies.

“The role with Ireland was one I couldn’t turn down because women’s fitness is something I’ve always been interested in. So when I got it I thought, ‘this is going to be really tough but worth it’, and that has definitely been the case. I love the girls and I love what I do. We’ve such a bond and every day I come in here just happy. Happy, happy, happy.

“But it is tough going and the way it works is we have a few regional centres around the country; we have a base in Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Galway, Belfast and over with the Exiles in England. So what I’m responsible for is liaising with conditioners in each of the areas, getting weekly updates on the players.

“[The players] put 100% into everything we do; that’s how they’ve gotten to where they are. The last few months have been really hectic with the Six Nations, driving six and seven hours a day, working 6am to 10pm but it’s been hugely rewarding and this week was great to see the result I knew they were capable of.

“If nothing else, this week showed we can be effective in what we do, regardless of gender. We’ve shown that female rugby players can have pivotal roles in sport and, hopefully, this will ensure we get more involvement from girls in sport. It’s important to instil the belief that we can do it and be as effective as any of our male counterparts. That’s the biggest thing for me.”