Ireland Women’s Sevens Squad Confirmed For Sydney Tournament

IRFU Director of Rugby Sevens, Anthony Eddy, has confirmed the 12-strong Ireland Women’s Sevens squad to compete in the Sydney 7s this Friday and Saturday at the Allianz Stadium in Sydney.

The selected Ireland squad, which will be captained by Lucy Mulhall, sees three changes to the one that competed in the first stage of the 2016/17 HSBC World Rugby Women’s Sevens Series in Dubai in December.

Susan Vaughan, Chloe Blackmore and Louise Galvin are the new inclusions this time around, and they will line up alongside Mulhall, Ashleigh Baxter, Katie Fitzhenry, Emma Murphy, Megan Williams, Kim Flood, Stacey Flood, Hannah Tyrrell and Amee-Leigh Murphy Crowe.

Ireland have been drawn in Pool B with Fiji, tournament hosts Australia and Brazil. They will face Fiji in the first game of the day at 1.14pm local time on Friday, before taking on Olympic gold medallists and current World Series title holders Australia at 4.18pm local time. They will finish day one at the Allianz Stadium against Brazil at 6.38pm local time.

Speaking ahead of the tournament, Anthony Eddy said: “We’ve had some good preparation time in Sydney ahead of this weekend’s competition. The players trained well in Narrabeen last week and continued to push themselves in training this week ahead of the Sydney Sevens.

“We’ve got three tough pool games tomorrow. Fiji are always a dangerous and unpredictable side to play against, while Australia will be looking to perform in front of their home crowd. We end the day against Brazil, who are a team with a lot of pace and can really punish you if your defence is not solid.

“So it’s set to be an exciting and challenging day tomorrow, but one that the players have prepared well for, so now it’s all about them performing to the best of their ability on the day.”

IRELAND WOMEN’S SEVENS Squad (HSBC World Rugby Women’s Sevens Series – Sydney Sevens, Allianz Stadium, Sydney, Friday, February 3-Saturday, February 4):

Ashleigh Baxter (Cooke/Ulster)
Chloe Blackmore (St. Mary’s/Munster)
Katie Fitzhenry (Blackrock/Leinster)
Kim Flood (Railway Union/Leinster)
Stacey Flood (Railway Union/Leinster)
Louise Galvin (UL Bohemians/Munster)
Lucy Mulhall (Rathdrum/Leinster) (capt)
Emma Murphy (Railway Union/Leinster)
Amee-Leigh Murphy Crowe (Railway Union/Munster)
Hannah Tyrrell (Old Belvedere/Leinster)
Susan Vaughan (Railway Union/Leinster)
Megan Williams (Ireland Sevens Programme)

IRELAND WOMEN’S SEVENS Fixtures –

Sydney 7s – Pool B:

Friday, February 3

Ireland v Fiji, Allianz Stadium, 1.14pm local time/2.14am Irish time
Australia v Ireland, Allianz Stadium, 4.18pm local time/5.18am Irish time
Ireland v Brazil, Allianz Stadium, 6.38pm local time/7.38am Irish time

Saturday, February 4

Play-Offs
 
For more information on the HSBC World Rugby Women’s Sevens Series, visit here: http://www.worldrugby.org/womens-sevens-series.