Familiar Opposition For Ireland Women’s Sevens Squad
The Ireland Women will face New Zealand and England for the second week running after being placed in Pool A for the São Paulo leg of the IRB Women’s Sevens World Series (February 21-22).
Ireland finished 12th overall at the Atlanta Sevens over the weekend, and the competing teams are now making their way to São Paulo for the third leg of the IRB Women’s Sevens World Series.
The competition between the sides is sure to go up a few notches as the World Series heads to Brazil for the first time, the country in which Rugby Sevens will make its Olympic debut in 2016.
The girls in green lie joint 12th with China and France in the current World Series standings, having picked up two points in Dubai in November and a single point for their efforts in Atlanta.
Jon Skurr’s new-look squad are on a steep learning curve at this elite level, and they have been drawn in another high-quality pool for Brazil alongside World Series leaders and Atlanta champions New Zealand, England and the USA.
Ireland lost pool games to both England (32-0) and New Zealand (36-7) in Atlanta, but recovered well to beat the Netherlands 12-10 with five international Sevens debutants on board.
Nicole Cronin, Aoife Doyle, Susan Vaughan, Laura Lee Walsh and Megan Williams were all playing for the first time at this level, with Cronin (21) and the 18-year-old Doyle both scoring tries over the two days.
Some of the current squad, including captain Shannon Houston, also played in the Series opener in Dubai where Ireland drew 12-all with the USA and lost 29-0 to New Zealand.
Skurr’s youthful side had a frustrating second day in Atlanta as they lost the Bowl semi-final to China (26-7) and were defeated 20-5 by Brazil in the 11th-12th place play-off.
The Brazil Sevens tournament takes place next Friday and Saturday at the Arena Barueri. You can watch live coverage of the matches from São Paulo on wsws.irb.com.
IRB WOMEN’S SEVENS WORLD SERIES – THIRD LEG:
BRAZIL SEVENS – POOL A FIXTURES:
Friday, February 21 –
IRELAND v New Zealand, Arena Barueri, 2.30pm local time/5.30pm Irish time
IRELAND v England, Arena Barueri, 5.36pm local time/8.36pm Irish time
IRELAND v USA, Arena Barueri, 7.58pm local time/10.58pm Irish time
Saturday, February 22 –
Cup, Bowl and Plate competitions (2.30pm-9.34pm local time/5.30pm-12.34am Irish time)
Related Links –
Ireland Women Finish Twelfth In Atlanta
Ireland Women End Day One With Confidence-Boosting Win