Stacey Flood: ‘I don’t think we showed even half our potential last weekend’

Should Ireland lose to Italy, and Scotland fall to the Spanish, it won’t just be the automatic ticket to New Zealand in 2022 that is beyond them, but the runners-up spot as well

Ireland’s Stacey Flood in action during the shock defeat to Spain in round 1. Picture: INPHO/Matteo Ciambelli

It's five years since Stacey Flood’s parents got to see their daughter play rugby in the flesh.

Life on the global sevens circuit doesn’t lend itself to fixtures on home soil and the Dubliner’s recent migration into the ranks of the 15s national side has coincided with the pandemic and the behind-closed-doors nature of life that sport has had to endure because of it.