Ireland

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2023

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Captain Lucy Mulhall, Ashleigh Baxter and Louise Galvin picked up knocks during last week's Rugby Europe Sevens Grand Prix Series tournament in Malemort where Ireland secured their best ever finish of third. The trio have been replaced by Claire Boles, Chloe Blackmore and Niamh Byrne.

Enniskillen youngster Boles, who was a UK School Games bronze medal winner with the Ireland U-18s last September, and Railway Union out-half/centre Byrne join Anna McGann, who was the 13th player in Malemort, as the uncapped players in the squad.

Boles, Blackmore and McGann have all come through the Ireland underage Sevens set-up before joining the senior programme, while Byrne did likewise this season having impressed at club level. Audrey O'Flynn will captain Ireland this weekend in the absence of Mulhall.

Commenting on the changes, the squad's head coach and IRFU Director of Women's and Sevens Rugby, Anthony Eddy, said: "This weekend provides an opportunity for some players to gain valuable World Series exposure, and also as a result of playing two tournaments in a row, it is important we have some fresh players ready to perform.

"In a physical opening round of the Grand Prix last weekend, Lucy, Ashleigh and Louise picked up knocks, so while we could have pushed to have them available for this weekend, we made the decision to include Claire, Chloe, Anna and Niamh to provide them with some game-time and valuable experience."

IRELAND WOMEN'S SEVENS Squad (HSBC World Rugby Women's Sevens Series - Leg 6, Gabriel Montpied Stadium, Clermont-Ferrand, Saturday, June 24-Sunday, June 25):

Chloe Blackmore (St. Mary's/Munster)
Claire Boles (Enniskillen/Ulster) *
Niamh Byrne (Railway Union/Leinster) *
Claire Keohane (UL Bohemians/Munster)
Stacey Flood (Railway Union/Leinster)
Kim Flood (Railway Union/Leinster)
Katie Heffernan (Mullingar/Railway Union (dual status)/Leinster)
Anna McGann (Buccaneers/UCD (dual status)/Leinster) *

Amee-Leigh Murphy Crowe (Railway Union/Munster)
Audrey O'Flynn (Ireland Sevens Programme) (capt)
Hannah Tyrrell (Old Belvedere/Leinster)
Megan Williams (St. Mary's)

* Denotes uncapped player at this level

IRELAND WOMEN'S SEVENS Fixtures -

Clermont 7s - Pool A:

Saturday, June 24

USA v Ireland, Gabriel Montpied Stadium, 12pm local time/11am Irish time
New Zealand v Ireland, Gabriel Montpied Stadium, 3.06pm local time/2.06pm Irish time
Ireland v Japan, Gabriel Montpied Stadium, 5.29pm local time/4.29pm Irish time

Sunday, June 25

Play-Offs

For more information on the HSBC World Rugby Women's Sevens Series, click here..

Monday was community legacy day at Women's Rugby World Cup 2017 as the IRFU's 'Spirit of Rugby' programme brought together some local disability rugby players from DLSP Eagles, Seapoint Dragons and Westmanstown Wasps, and a number of WRWC players and coaches from the competing nations, for a fun-filled coaching/training session and Tag rugby games.

Marie Louise Reilly joined her Ireland team-mates Nora Stapleton and Lindsay Peat at a recent Dublin City Council event in support of the upcoming Women's Rugby World Cup. Reilly, who works as a DCC Sports Officer, said: "The team are coming together really well, we're working hard and hopefully August will be really memorable not just for us but for the whole country."

Speaking ahead of Saturday's second Test against Japan, Ireland tour captain Rhys Ruddock said: "We've been happy with the results so far, and there's been bits of the performances we've been really happy with and some bits that we're looking to improve on. Tomorrow marks the last opportunity to go out and do that, so we're all really excited about getting out there now."

Speaking about working with the provinces and monitoring players' progress, Ireland head coach Joe Schmidt told RTE Radio 1: "For us, having the best quality of performance within the provinces, getting some really good coaching from the provincial coaches, which we know is happening at the moment, that's the foundation that we need because in the end we get the players in a match week pretty much."