Ashleigh has quickly risen through the ranks of Irish Women's rugby since playing Tag rugby as a youngster and joining Belfast Harlequins aged 18.

A graduate of aerospace engineering at Queen's University, she impressed in her first season with Ulster and Ireland in 2012 and featured on the right wing during the 2013 Grand Slam run. Ashleigh also played in the Women's Rugby World Cup Sevens last year.

The youngest member of the 2014 Women's Rugby World Cup squad at 22, she has been tasked with looking after team mascot 'Seamus' during Ireland's campaign in France.

Eimear hails from Clare, where she represented her county in football and camogie for a number of years before taking up the sport of Sevens.

Eimear studied PE and Irish teaching in the University of Limerick and teaches both subjects in Dublin.

Twitter: @eimearconsidine

Second Row Cooney studies in I.T Carlow and plays her club rugby with Railway Union, having previously played for Tullow. She made her debut for her country in Ireland’s first ever Autumn International against England in November 2015.

@CooneyCiara

Coyne is a powerful and abrasive winger, who can also cover full back. She plays her rugby with Galwegians.

She made her Ireland debut against England at The Stoop in November 2015.

Mairead played GAA county football with Galway before joining the Irish set up.
 

Nicole is from Limerick and has lined out for Shannon and Munster. She is also related to Leinster and Ireland hooker Sean Cronin.

Nicole also lined out for the Republic of Ireland at U17s soccer.

Experienced prop Egan plays her club rugby with Old Belvedere and provincially with Leinster.

She holds two Six Nations medals in her collection, having won the Grand Slam in 2013 and Ireland’s second title in 2015. She was also a member of the Ireland World Cup squad in 2014.

Egan, who is originally from Bath works as a fundraiser.

@AilisEgan

Katie has played with Ireland at in both Sevens and the 15-a-side game, having first picked up a rugby ball in secondary school. Katie was one of the founding members of the women’s team in Wexford Wanderers and now plays her club rugby with Blackrock College RFC in Dublin.

@katiefitz234

Dubliner Fitzpartrick currently plays her club rugby in the South of France with Toulouse.

The back-rower previously played with St.Mary’s College in Dublin and with Leinster.

She picked up a Six Nations winners medal in 2015.

Paula owns her own applied sports science testing and research company called STRIVE.

@Paula_Fitz

Louise has excelled across a range of sports, having captained UL Huskies to multiple titles in basketball, she also captained Ireland at underage level.

Louise has also played GAA football for her home county of Kerry, winning the Munster Championship and National League as well as representing Munster at interprovincial level. Louise is a qualified physiotherapist.

@lougalvin4

“Junior” (as she is known to team mates) plays her club rugby with Tralee and provincially with Munster.

She made her international debut against Wales during the 2016 Six Nations.

Griffin works as a teacher, but is a keen farmer as well.
 

Claire is a medical student in Queens University and balances her studies with training and playing with Ireland.

@claire__mcl
 

Claire is a doctor, based in Wales and plays her club rugby with Bristol.

She won the Grand Slam with Ireland in 2013 and picked up her second Six Nations medal in 2015.

Molloy also represented Galway in Gaelic football.

@claire_mol

Leinster and Railway Union hooker Moloney made her Ireland debut against England in November 2015.

@cmoloney3 

Larissa hails from Donegal, but is currently living in Wales, working as a health mentor.

She is known as one of the jokers in the Irish camp and while she is very serious on the field, she prefers a more light-hearted approach off it.

Larissa played a key role in the Six Nations victory of 2015 and was also part of the squad that claimed the 2013 Grand Slam.

@LarissaMuldoon

Sene has been playing rugby since the age of 13, having played with North Otago and Hawkes Bay in her native New Zealand before continuing the game in Ireland.

She is part of a strong sporting family, with her husband George playing for Connacht, having previously played Sevens for New Zealand and her sister playing with Otago back in New Zealand.  Sene has several caps for the Irish Women’s team and is a Health and Fitness Professional.

In 2016 she was named the Guinness Rugby Writers Women's Player of the Year and the IRUPA Women's Player of the Year.

Sene is one of a number of players in the Ireland Women's programme who has represented Ireland in both 7s and 15s. 

@SeneNaoupu
 

Back-row O’Brien currently plays her club rugby in the South of France with Toulouse.

Originally from Chruchtown, North Cork, she began her rugby career at Queen Margaret University in Edinburgh while studying physiotherapy. Following her move back to Ireland she played with Boyne RFC in Drogheda before relocating to Cork and playing with Highfield.

Heather was part of the Grand Slam winning side of 2013, the World Cup squad in 2014 and won her second Six Nations medal in 2015.

She also captained Munster to the interpro title in 2013.

Heather runs her own physiotherapist company.

@heathermob

Tralee born O’Reilly plays her club rugby in with Galwegians, of whom she is captain and led to All-Ireland title victory in 2014.

She has been involved in the Irish set up since 2012 and won a 2015 Six Nations medal.

Ruth is a former pupil of St John's Secondary School, in Balloonagh, and is also involved in the coaching set up in Galwegians.

@littlemissROR
 

Lindsay won her first cap for Ireland against England at The Stoop in November 2015.

She is multi-talented when it comes to sports and has won an All-Ireland title with Dublin Ladies GAA and co-captained the Irish senior women’s basketball team.

She is a PE teacher as well as basketball coach.
 

“Maz” Reilly has been playing in the second-row for her country for several years.
She has won the Six Nations in 2013 (Grand Slam) and 2015.

Maz also played in the 2014 Women’s Rugby World Cup in France, when Ireland finished in 4^th place.
By day, Maz works with Dublin City Council.

She was born in Leeds, but moved to Moynalvey in County Meath (also where Ireland men’s second-row Devin Toner hails from).

@MazzieReilly

Spence was nominated for World Rugby Women’s Player of the Year in 2015 following on from Ireland second Six Nations title win earlier that year.

Previously she had played with Ireland in the 2014 Women’s Rugby World Cup and also won a Six Nations medal in 2013 when Ireland won the Grand Slam.

Sophie is happy to play in second-row or in the back row and is an important ball-carrier for her country.

She was born in South Shiels in England, but her family come from Belfast and she made the decision to move across the water in order to pursue playing for Ireland. She currently works with DCU on rugby development, as well as coaching several age-grade sides.

@spence_87 

Donegal-woman Stapleton gives a lot of experience to the Ireland squad.

She won the Grand Slam in 2013 and picked up her second Six Nations medal in 2015. Nora also wore the number 10 jersey when Ireland defeated the All Blacks at the 2014 World Cup.

She attended UCD and plays her club rugby for Old Belvedere RFC whom she has helped to league success in recent seasons.

Nora works as Women’s Rugby Development Executive with the IRFU and has played a key role in promoting the women’s game in Ireland.

Before taking up rugby, Nora played GAA with Donegal and won the All-Ireland Intermediate Football Championship with them in 2010.

@NoraStapleton

A former Dublin GAA footballer and All-Ireland winner, Hannah won four caps for the Ireland Women's XVs in 2015 as part of the Women's RBS 6 Nations championship winning squad.

She plays club rugby for Old Belvedere and is a student in UCD.