Ireland scrum mixing it with the men ahead of Italian test
25 March 2022; Neve Jones during the Ireland Women's Rugby captain's run at the RDS Arena in Dublin. Photo by Seb Daly/Sportsfile
IRELAND’S women scrummed down with a men’s side yesterday afternoon in a dramatic bid to improve their malfunctioning set-pieces ahead of the clash with Italy tomorrow (5pm KO, live on RTÉ2/BBC iPlayer).
Head coach Greg McWilliams happily admitted to enlisting the help of a combination men’s team from UCC (U20 and senior) to give his inexperienced pack the sort of set-piece practice and pressure they need ahead of their historic first Six Nations game in Musgrave Park.
Ulster hooker Neve Jones (23) had no worries about mixing it with men and, as chief dart thrower, will be especially vital in sorting out the lineout.
The Ballymena native has already proven she’s prepared to do whatever is necessary to improve her game.
She was the lone girl playing in her local kids team, urged her school to introduce rugby for female students and had to go to Malone RFC to join a women’s team.
Three months ago she moved to Gloucester-Hartpury in the Allianz Premiership, a decision that came at a cost to her off-pitch career.
She studied sport and coaching at UUJ and worked for Ulster Rugby, as a participation officer, before the move.
Now she works as a nanny to a little boy, a job that sounds counterintuitive for a player whose relish at “smashing people” on the pitch is plain to see.
“I still do a wee bit of coaching over at Gloucester. We have a deal with a nearby gym and I do some work with the kids there so still get that little excitement of seeing them thriving, picking up the sport that I love so much.”
The sole purpose of her move to England was “to play rugby and improve my game,” thanks to three supervised club sessions a week on the pitch and in the gym.
Training alongside international hookers like Kelsey Jones (Wales) and Connie Powell (England) has helped earn her an Ireland starting spot and eight caps to date.
“I’m absolutely loving the environment (in England) and thriving in it. The coaching is fantastic and it’s like I’ve been there my whole life.
“Playing in the Premiership I’ve learned so much about being smarter around the jackal and the tackle. I’m constantly learning and growing as a player.” Jones’ love of a thumping tackle was engendered early.
“I was the only girl with the boys in Mini Rugby, my dad had me out on the back field at home practising tackling with him. Tackling is a big part of the game and I like a challenge.”
She has already made history as Malone’s first female international and whatever pride they take in that is reciprocated.
“I’ve actually got a jersey framed to put up in the club house because Malone have done so much for me over the years and I’m so grateful to them. If they hadn’t been there when I was 13 I’d probably not be playing rugby or where I am now.”
She has reversed a trend among some of her Irish teammates who starred at Gaelic football before switching codes.
Rugby was always her first choice but, during lockdown in 2020, she took up Gaelic football with East Belfast, the first GAA team to be set up in that part of the city in nearly 50 years.
“I always say Gaelic footballers make good rugby players but it’s not necessarily the other way around!” she laughs. “I gave it my best shot, absolutely loved it and if I get the chance to give it another go I’d definitely do so.”
For now she’s a vital front-row cog in a very inexperienced team forced to learn on the fly after shipping confidence-sapping defeats to Wales (19-27) and France (5-40).
“We train to play and play to win so obviously we want to win every game. Pressure is a privilege, you take that when you put on the green jersey,” Jones insists.
“There’s a lot of strong characters in the squad and they’re very good at pulling players together and building that cohesion. Yes, we’d a tough game last week but we’ve regrouped and can’t wait to get back onto the field and put that into practise. We know as a squad what we need to do.”
L Mulhall, A Murphy Crowe, E Higgins, S Flood, B Parsons; N Cronin, K Dane; L Djougang, N Jones, C Haney; N Fryday, S Monaghan, D Wall, E McMahon, H O’Connor. Replacements: E Hooban, C Pearse, K O’Dwyer, B Hogan, A Wafer, A Reilly, E Breen, A Doyle.
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