Kick-Off Times Announced For Ireland Women’s Warm-Up Games

The IRFU is pleased to confirm the kick-off times for the Ireland Women’s two warm-up matches, which form part of their preparations for this year’s Rugby World Cup in England.

The Ireland Women welcome Scotland to Cork’s Virgin Media Park on Saturday, August 2, with the game kicking off at 2pm. The teams met recently in the final round of the Guinness Women’s Six Nations where Scotland struck with a late try to win 26-19.

Canada are the visitors to Belfast for the second ‘Summer Send Off’ fixture, on Saturday, August 9 with a 12pm kick-off, which will provide the last opportunity for players to stake a claim for a Rugby World Cup squad place. The squad will be announced 48 hours later.

The teams faced off in WXV1 in Vancouver last October, with Canada coming away with a 21-8 victory on home soil despite a spirited performance from the girls in green.

Ireland completed block one of their pre-season training camps recently at the IRFU’s High Performance Centre, and the second block begins on Monday (June 30).

With several players being called up for July’s Six Nations Summer Series with the Under-20s, Ireland head coach Scott Bemand has taken the opportunity to bring in some fresh faces for the second camp.

Connacht duo Faith Oviawe and Ailish Quinn, Munster’s Kate Flannery, and Exeter Chiefs’ Irish-qualified centre Nancy McGillivray will link up with the squad. McGillivray finishes an England transition contract on June 30, and will link up with the Ireland group on July 1.

Fresh from her involvement in Ireland’s Rugby Europe Women’s Sevens Championship Series campaign, Amy Larn will also take part as a training panellist at the HPC.

Speaking about their preparations so far, Bemand said: “We assembled at the start of June, refreshed and ready to go for our first stint in camp as we look to build towards the Rugby World Cup in August and September.

“We had plenty of new faces in training, and with some players heading to the Six Nations Summer Series in Wales, I am really happy to be able to bring in some new names, as we look to continue to build depth within our playing group.

“We will be keeping a close eye on the Under-20 tournament, which is a fantastic opportunity for some of our younger players to put into practice things they have learnt over the past few weeks.

“There has been huge excitement and plenty of energy since we got back together, and we are really looking to push on now again over the next few weeks.

“Returning to Cork and Belfast for our two warm-up games, two grounds we know well and that have seen some great performances from us over the past two years, is perfect preparation for what lies ahead.

“We really hope the Irish public will come out in force, join our ‘Green Wave’, and give the team a great send-off before we head for England.”

Tickets for Ireland’s two warm-up matches in Cork and Belfast are on sale now through Ticketmaster.

PLAYERS ADDED TO IRELAND WOMEN’S RUGBY WORLD CUP PREPARATION SQUAD:

Faith Oviawe (Railway Union RFC/Connacht)
Ailish Quinn (Galwegians RFC/Connacht)
Kate Flannery (UL Bohemian RFC/Munster)
Nancy McGillivray (Exeter Chiefs/IQ Rugby)

Training Panellist:

Amy Larn (Athy RFC/Leinster)

– The above players are uncapped at 15s international level

IRELAND WOMEN’S ‘SUMMER SEND OFF’ FIXTURES:

Saturday, August 2: Ireland v Scotland, Virgin Media Park, Cork, kick-off 2pm – click here to buy tickets

Saturday, August 9: Ireland v Canada, Ulster Rugby Stadium, Belfast, kick-off 12pm – click here to buy tickets