University Sevens Tournament Kicks Off
The University Sevens Programme kicks off today as part of a joint initiative between the Irish Universities Rugby Union and the IRFU to create a platform for the game to grow at third level.
The objective of the Universities Super Sevens Programme is to create a performance level platform for Sevens rugby for female and male players within the Universities of Ireland.
This is part of a suite of activities agreed between the Irish Rugby Football Union and the Irish Universities Rugby Union (IURU) to develop the game of rugby throughout the Universities of Ireland.
To that end, the IRFU and the IURU have confirmed a three-year plan to develop and grow a Men’s and Women’s Students Sevens Programme.
This programme is being organised by the IURU and supported by the IRFU in terms of funding, specialist Sevens coaching and event management resources.
The centre piece of the programme will be the execution of three on-campus Student Sevens blitzes, comprising of Men’s and Women’s competitions, on an annual basis.
In year one it is planned that this programme would be run over a four-week time period from the end of March to mid-April 2018. The coaches from the participating University sides were invited to take part in a customised Sevens Coaching Course at the Aviva Stadium run by IRFU Head of Coach Development, Matt Wilkie.
Men’ s Teams: UCD, Dublin University, UCC, Maynooth University, Queen’s University, DCU
Women’s Teams: UCD, Dublin University, UCC, Maynooth University, University of Limerick, DCU
Round 1: Wednesday, March 28 – MU Barnhall RFC
Round 2: Wednesday, April 11 – UCD
Round 3: Wednesday, April 18 – Coolmine RFC (hosted by DCU)