Niamh Briggs adopting a hands-on role for the betterment of Irish rugby

BRIGHT FUTURE: Ireland assistant coach Niamh Briggs at Musgrave Park as Pinergy announced their commitment to the long-term support of Munster Rugby’s sustainability strategy. Briggs says “The intensity and the quality of the AIL is getting better every week. Picture: Dan Sheridan

Niamh Briggs has revealed why she didn’t sign the infamous letter from Ireland’s top female players (past and present) that threw such a bomb under the IRFU before Christmas.

“I thought ‘what is the best way I can effect change and help things move forward?’ For me, that was on the pitch,” says the legendary international who was appointed assistant coach to the Irish senior women’s team earlier this month.

“My feelings haven’t changed, I want to move forward. I’m a very positive person and I try to find silver linings in every bad situation. That wasn’t a good situation at the time,” she admits.

“But the flip-side is we have an opportunity now to develop on the pitch and look forward to creating a new legacy for this group. We’re too busy giving out about things that we don’t stand back and look objectively at the talent that is coming through. It makes me really excited to be able to work with them,” she added.

“I’m at every All-Ireland League game every weekend. I see all the underage games. I’m an absolute rugby nerd and I know there is genuinely a huge amount of work going in on the ground, on the domestic side.”

Speaking at a press event with the same conviction and passion that made her Irish captain and the top point-scorer in the 2013 and 2015 Six Nations, Briggs says professional contracts will not solve the problems of Ireland’s transitional women’s side right now.

“If we go and jump and just throw a load of money at a lot of players we won’t have any substance underneath that, in terms of foundations,” she stressed.

“You’re looking to build the All-Ireland League so that it’s incredibly competitive and your best players are playing week-in, week-out. That games are incredibly tight and coaching and S&C is good, so that by the time they get to international rugby they’ve played a lot of rugby at a high level throughout the year.”

Being coached by Fiona Steed and Sarah-Jane Belton in her early Munster career had a lasting effect on Briggs yet she never envisaged becoming quite so enthralled with coaching.

“I definitely was way too intense as a player. I couldn’t imagine coaching 30 of me!” she joked.

“I fell into coaching by accident in 2019 and realised I had a huge passion for it and it almost became obsessive.

“I wouldn’t take this job on if I didn’t think I could effect change but, also, if I didn’t think that there was enough talent there to work with, to get Irish womens’ rugby back into the upper echelons of world rugby,” she stressed.

She said the chance to work with new Irish coach Greg McWilliams was an offer she couldn’t refuse.

“He was my coach from 2013-15, one of the best I ever played under in terms of energy. He’s so positive and enthusiastic and has an ability to bring out the best in people, on and off the field.”

Briggs hinted that Ireland will feature some new names in this year’s Six Nations but emphasised that fans will need to be patient. Finding an international kicker as brilliant and metronomic as herself in her prime is one of her tasks.

“That is part of my remit as a backs coach,” she confirmed. “To be fair, Stacey Flood has done a very good job, Enya Breen and Nicole Cronin are kicking for their clubs and Nikki Caughey with Railway.”

There is definitely enough talent there so it’s about drawing it out.

“When I was playing for Ireland, it was about going down to a field by yourself or watching YouTube videos. Now the time we have together means you can get moments during camps when you can work on stuff like that.”

Briggs is a big fan of the new rotating home venues and separate international window (March 26-April 30) for the 20222 women’s Six Nations, not least because it has allowed most of Ireland’s top players to concentrate on the AIL and to carry that fitness and touch into the international season.

“The intensity and the quality of the AIL is getting better every week. By the time the final rolls around at the end of February I hope people will be pleasantly surprised as how good it can be when the best players are playing in it.”

She is juggling all her coaching roles with UL Bohemians, Munster and Ireland with her full- time role as a garda in Limerick.

“I love my job. We’re still on Covid shifts, four days on, four off, with 12-hour days. That’s due to change but you just try to juggle as many balls as possible and hope one doesn’t drop. I’m definitely all in for both my job and the rugby at the moment.”