A long road ahead to continue taking women’s sport to next level

Twelve months on from Ireland’s historic win over New Zealand, what has changed for Irish women’s sport, asks Mary White.

On the morning of August 5, 2014, a year ago today, Andy Weir sprayed a dressing room in a Parisian suburb with the exact same air freshener he uses in the changing rooms in Ashbourne, County Meath, ahead of the Irish women’s rugby team’s home games.

The provincial flags the kitman from Bangor placed on the walls in Marcoussis at the 2014 Women’s Rugby World Cup are also in the exact same spot, but the sign above the door is the most important of all. It reads: ‘The winning qualities of this team will be reflected by the standards we set’.