Tom Tierney building for the future

A new home, the RBS 6 Nations title to defend and changing priorities make for a challenging year for Niamh Briggs and her Ireland women’s team but head coach Tom Tierney is relishing the opportunity to strike the right balance.

Ireland, ranked fourth in the first official global ranking system for women’s test rugby unveiled this week by World Rugby, begin their championship defence this afternoon against Wales. They will run out not at Ashbourne RFC, their Meath home since 2010 but instead make camp at Donnybrook in Dublin, hoping to bring the women’s game to a wider audience in the continuing effort to grow participation and ensure a conveyor belt of talent finds its way into the international set-up.

These are good times for women’s rugby in Ireland but for Tierney the success of both the XVs and Sevens brings its own issues. Ireland will be staging the 2017 Women’s Rugby World Cup in 18 months but the Test team must embark on the 2016 campaign knowing Olympic qualification for the shorter format’s introduction to the Games in Rio in August is taking precedence.