Top-Eight Finish For Ireland Women’s Development Side In Dubai

The Ireland Development side won two of their three pool games on the opening day, but closed out the competition with two defeats to Arukas Queen Kumagaya (19-0) and Delta Drone Tuks (42-12) with plenty of ‘learnings’ to take forward into future tournaments.

The team was back-boned by players who have come through the Ireland Under-18 Sevens pathway in recent seasons, including the quartet of Anna Doyle, Lucinda Kinghan, Aoibheann Reilly and Dorothy Wall who won the Home Nations Sevens title in the summer.

With plenty of World Series experience behind her, captain Claire Keohane led by example over the course of the two days, particularly on a difficult second day when Arukas Queen Kumagaya, who were made up of players from the Japan national squad, knocked Ireland out of the Cup competition.

The girls in green, who were missing the sidelined Lauren Farrell-McCabe, started the quarter-final clash quite well, but the Japanese outfit were well drilled and gained control with two tries in quick succession. A third made it 19-0 at half-time and that was the final scoreline with Ireland making defensive improvements in the second half.

A line break from Keohane was the Irish attacking highlight, while Fethard ace Wall stood out for her aggressive tackling and strong carrying even though Arukas did continue to dominate possession over a scoreless final seven minutes.

The Delta Drone Tuks were next up in the 5th-8th place play-off and the highly-rated South African team ran out comprehensive 42-12 winners, hitting a performance level that the Ireland youngsters will hope to reach as they gain more experience on the international circuit.

An early Tuks try was cancelled out by a well-taken Doyle effort, which saw the Tullow starlet muscle over in the right corner. It was her second try of the tournament and Laura Sheehan, who recently made her Ireland 15s debut, matched her in the ninth minute.

Ireland trailed 21-5 at the interval but got into double figures when Keohane made a break, the ball was recycled out wide and UL Bohemians winger Sheehan showed her pace to finish off. However, the Tuks had the final say as they took their tally to six converted tries.

That left Ireland with an eighth place finish out of the 15 competing teams in the International Invitational tournament. Anna McGann and Brittany Hogan played for the Development side twelve months ago and returned this week as members of the senior squad – a path that a number of these players are hoping to follow in the coming seasons.

Dubai 7s Women’s International Invitational Results

IRELAND WOMEN’S SEVENS DEVELOPMENT Squad (2018 Dubai 7s Women’s International Invitational Tournament, Sevens Stadium, Dubai, UAE, Thursday, November 29-Friday, November 30):

Claire Boles (Railway Union/Ulster)
Anna Doyle (Tullow/Railway Union/Leinster)
Lecky Dunne (Railway Union/IQ Rugby)
Lauren Farrell-McCabe (Suttonians/Leinster)
Katie Heffernan (Mullingar/Railway Union/Leinster)
Claire Keohane (Railway Union/Munster) (capt)
Lucinda Kinghan (Monaghan/Ulster)
Emily Lane (Mallow/Munster)
Aoibheann Reilly (Ballinasloe/Connacht)
Molly Scuffil-McCabe (Railway Union/Leinster)
Laura Sheehan (UL Bohemians/Munster)
Dorothy Wall (Fethard/Munster)

IRELAND WOMEN’S SEVENS DEVELOPMENT RESULTS – DUBAI INVITATIONAL:

Thursday, November 29 –

Pool A:

Ireland Development 7 Tribe 7s 12, Sevens Stadium pitch 3
Scorers: Ireland Development: Try: Claire Boles; Con: Claire Keohane

Team: Dorothy Wall, Katie Heffernan, Claire Boles, Emily Lane, Molly Scuffil-McCabe, Anna Doyle, Laura Sheehan.

Subs used: Claire Keohane (capt), Lucinda Kinghan, Lauren Farrell-McCabe. Not used: Lecky Dunne, Aoibheann Reilly.

Ireland Development 29 Phoenix 7s 17, Sevens Stadium pitch 2
Scorers: Ireland Development: Tries: Katie Heffernan, Anna Doyle, Claire Boles, Molly Scuffil-McCabe, Claire Keohane; Cons: Claire Keohane 2

Team; Katie Heffernan, Claire Boles, Lucinda Kinghan, Claire Keohane (capt), Molly Scuffil-McCabe, Anna Doyle, Laura Sheehan.

Subs used: Lecky Dunne, Aoibheann Reilly, Lauren Farrell-McCabe, Emily Lane, Dorothy Wall.

Ireland Development 33 Germany 0, Sevens Stadium pitch 1
Scorers: Ireland Development: Tries: Claire Boles, Laura Sheehan, Claire Keohane, Katie Heffernan, Emily Lane; Cons: Claire Keohane 4

Team: Dorothy Wall, Katie Heffernan, Claire Boles, Claire Keohane (capt), Molly Scuffil-McCabe, Anna Doyle, Laura Sheehan.

Subs used: Lucinda Kinghan, Aoibheann Reilly, Emily Lane, Lauren Farrell-McCabe, Lecky Dunne.

Day 1 Round-Up – Top-Eight Finish For Ireland Women’s Development Side In Dubai

Friday, November 30 –

Cup Quarter-Final: Arukas Queen Kumagaya 19 Ireland Development 0, Sevens Stadium pitch 6
Scorers: Ireland: –

Team: Dorothy Wall, Katie Heffernan, Claire Boles, Claire Keohane (capt), Molly Scuffil-McCabe, Anna Doyle, Laura Sheehan.

Subs used: Emily Lane, Lucinda Kinghan, Lecky Dunne, Aoibheann Reilly.

5th-8th Place Play-Off: Ireland Development 12 Delta Drone Tuks Ladies 42, Sevens Stadium pitch 4
Scorers: Ireland: Tries: Anna Doyle, Laura Sheehan; Con: Claire Keohane

Team: Claire Boles, Lucinda Kinghan, Aoibheann Reilly, Emily Lane, Claire Keohane (capt), Anna Doyle, Laura Sheehan.

Subs used: Molly Scuffil-McCabe, Katie Heffernan, Dorothy Wall, Lecky Dunne.