McMahon Embracing ‘Tough Thursdays’ En Route To Rugby World Cup

Ireland’s initial phase of the summer training block began last week with head coach Scott Bemand bringing together a 37-strong squad in preparation for the Women’s Rugby World Cup in August and September.

The players have the tournament very much in their sights, with the Pool C opener against Japan in Northampton on Sunday, August 24 now just 10 weeks away. The countdown is well and truly on, and the competition for places is really ramping up.

Edel McMahon, who led Ireland (sponsored by Aon) to a third place finish in this year’s Guinness Women’s Six Nations, says the extended squad has a strong base to work off, especially with some key figures, including fellow co-captain Sam Monaghan, returning from injury.

“That was a big focus point for us in the squad, making sure that this (preparation time) felt different and felt special because it’s been a long time since this team has, I suppose even for the group, played in a World Cup,” McMahon told the RTÉ Rugby Podcast.

“You want to make sure it’s not the same as a Summer Series, or it’s not the same as a Six Nations, because the World Cup is really special. It comes around every four years, and in our case one in the last eight years.

“So there was already excitement around that, but even the inclusion of a couple of newer players heading into the squad, a couple returning from injury, so that created a really good excitement around like, ‘This is starting, we’re getting going’.”

McMahon missed out on playing at the 2017 Women’s Rugby World Cup on home soil, as an Achilles tendon injury put paid to her hopes and delaying her Ireland debut to the following year.

With Ireland failing to qualify four years ago, McMahon’s Exeter Chiefs club-mate, Cliodhna Moloney, is the only member of Bemand’s current group with World Cup experience.

The experienced pair have come back into national camp reinvigorated by their recent downtime post-Six Nations, which included Moloney getting married to her partner, England international Claudia MacDonald, and McMahon getting back to her roots on the family farm in Kilmihil.

“I got a few days away to Cli and Claud’s wedding in Greece, and that was gorgeous. It was such a nice time to decompress, head away, and just enjoy those friendships you have off the pitch.

“I was joined by a few other team-mates and friends from rugby that have retired, so they were a lovely few days. I also got to go home down to Clare – honestly, I feel like it was Christmas since I actually spent more than two days at home.

“That was lovely, the weather was amazing. I just like being at home, getting a few jobs done, feeling fulfilled with your day when you’re outside during the day and getting a bit of farming done.”

McMahon is never one to shy away from hard work – often a leader of the pack in that regard – and she was back up at the IRFU’s High Performance Centre recently for bike sessions and some ‘extras’ to make sure she was ready for the first of the squad’s training camps.

While conditioning work obviously forms a big part of Ireland’s initial preparations for the World Cup, rugby balls are utilised throughout. The coaching staff have been clever in terms of physically taxing the players but with skills and competition very much at the heart of it.

For ‘Tricky’ and her team-mates, training at the HPC these last few days has been intense but rewarding. In order to put their best foot forward on the World Cup stage, their gruelling ‘tough Thursday’ sessions demand a lot and have a comfortable-in-chaos edge to them.

“Everything that’s done conditioning-based is with a ball in hand, so it requires decision-making as well,” explained the 31-year-old flanker. “While you’re under that fatigue, the cognitive function needs to be high, and that’s been really kind of pushed.

“An example of last week, Monday ‘install’ and getting through our bits, our ‘launchers’ and our set-pieces. Tuesday was a hard day for the girls between kind of sets but high tempo, high ruck speed. ‘Collision’ kind of looked after.

“Then we come into Wednesday where’s it a bit more of technical aspect again, so it’s a lower load. Then tomorrow will be our ‘tough Thursday’.

“It’s like different teams that are collecting points to add that little bit of competition element to it. Front rows, back rows, centres, back-threes, all in mini breakouts having conditioning blocks and then in between you have those conditioning games.

“So that’s where the ball, like the rugby IQ comes into it under fatigue. It’s so much easier to chase after a ball than to be running aimlessly up and down the pitch or hitting cones.

“It’s really good that that aspect of conditioning is brought in but along with the cognitive function because at the end of the day, you need to be able to think when you’re under that much stress. It’s great that we’re getting that exposure double-ended with rugby and with the conditioning.”

Ahead of the World Cup in England, Ireland will play warm-up matches against Scotland at Virgin Media Park on Saturday, August 2, and Canada at Kingspan Stadium on Saturday, August 9.

Ticket details for the girls in green’s two Summer Series games will be available soon – sign up to the newsletter for all the latest Ireland team and ticket news here. To follow Ireland at the World Cup and buy your match tickets, click here.