‘Ivana And Ailish Have Got Some Impact In Them’ – Bemand
Creggs and Connacht's Ivana Kiripati is pictured training with the Ireland squad at the IRFU High Performance Centre ©INPHO/Morgan Treacy
It is a sign of how highly rated Ivana Kiripati and Ailish Quinn are that they have both made the Ireland squad to play Scotland, with Saturday’s opening Rugby World Cup warm-up match set to give them their first taste of Test rugby. Tickets are available here.
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Just a few days shy of her 22nd birthday, Kiripati will make her debut at openside flanker – with Exeter Chiefs’ Nancy McGillivray doing the same in the back-line – and Ballina starlet Quinn, brought onto the bench, included as the third new cap.
The Ireland Women’s back row ranks have suffered some notable setbacks with both Erin King and Dorothy Wall ruled out of the World Cup through injury, while Aoife Wafer, this year’s Six Nations Player of the Championship, is working her way back from an MCL operation.
So this is a timely audition for young back rowers Kiripati and Quinn, who have both come through the Connacht and Ireland age-grade pathways in recent seasons, and played with the Clovers in the Celtic Challenge.
“Back rows are generally very competitive. Every team that’s operating at the top end of the sport has an incredibly strong and varied back row, and we’ve got girls coming through,” said Ireland head coach Scott Bemand.
“Ivana and Ailish have fairly recently been involved in the (Ireland) Under-20s programme, and they’ve had a good block of working with us over the summer.
“And I tell you, they’ve got some impact in them, both in ball carrying and turnover ability, so they’re going to get to make an already competititve position even more competitive.
“Sometimes if you get a couple of injuries, Erin, Doro, it opens the door for other people, and it’s always surprising to see people step up into that space but having that opportunity allowed that.”
Rugby is very much in Ivana’s blood, with her parents Kolo, the current Creggs and Connacht Junior Men’s head coach, and Mele, also a former player who coached her daughter at Buccaneers, fostering a deep love of the game in their children.
Kolo Jr, Ivana, and Merisa have all represented Connacht at different levels, and talented teen Merisa has followed in her older sister’s footsteps by playing for Ireland at April’s U-18 Six Nations Festival, as well as making Connacht’s extended squad for the upcoming Vodafone Women’s Interprovincial Championship.
Creggs starlets Ivana has been hugely dedicated to the cause, travelling back and forth to further her rugby career – she was part of the inaugural Ireland U-20 squad in 2023, the same year she made her Connacht senior bow – while completing a degree in Criminal Justice at American International College in Springfield, Massachusetts.
With an impressive Celtic Challenge campaign behind her, Kiripati was brought in by Bemand as a training panellist during the 2024 Guinness Women’s Six Nations. She has been part of the World Cup preparation squad from the initial pre-season block in early June.
Quinn, who only turned 19 in May, was Connacht’s Under-18 Women’s Player of the Year in 2024 after helping the westerners to win the U-18 Interprovincial title, alongside Merisa, and captaining Ireland at the U-18 Six Nations Festival.
The past season has seen her develop her game further at senior level, stepping up for eleven starts with Galwegians in the Energia All-Ireland League and playing twice with the Clovers.
A firm fixture at Heffernan Park since first playing with Ballina’s minis, Quinn comes from a multi-sport background and her leadership skills were marked out early, as she led the Mayo club to Connacht Cup success at U-14 and U-16 level.
She was involved in the Ireland U-20s’ series against Canada in May, scoring a try in the opening game, and was one of the fresh faces called up by Bemand at the end of June as the national team’s World Cup preparations ramped up.
Ireland scrum coach Denis Fogarty knows the qualities that Kiripati and Quinn both possess, having coached a young Clovers side to a runners-up finish in the 2024/25 Celtic Challenge.
Speaking about the emerging young talent coming through from the age-grade ranks, Fogarty said: “These young players have come in and have built throughout the number of weeks they’ve been around (in Ireland camp).
“I would have had a lot of them with Celtic Challenge and known a lot about them. It’s an exciting time.
“The players that are in are well able for this, that’s one side of it. But they’re physically able for it and if they can do it here, they can do it against the teams we are facing.”
Kiripati will be hoping to make the most of her opportunity at Virgin Media Park tomorrow in a well-balanced back row combination with Grace Moore and Brittany Hogan, who have 52 caps between them.
Another exciting pairing sees debutant McGillivray join forces with Eve Higgins in the centre. Born in London but raised in Hong Kong, the 22-year-old has an Irish father and was formerly a transition contracted player with England.
She looks a canny addition to the Ireland set-up, with Bemand saying: “Nancy is an incredible talent coming through. We’re lucky that we had some connections with her previously, we know what she can do.
“She’s been fully immersed in the squad from sort of block two onwards and getting her game minutes and getting her ability to run pass-kick on the pitches is going to be a big part to providing competition, which hopefully keeps elevating levels within the centres.
“But I’m really happy with what our centres can do. We’ve got a good amount of challenge and competition to hopefully get some good quality performances out there.”
As the Ireland Women get ready to return to the World Cup stage for the first time since 2017, the warm-up fixtures against Scotland, and Canada in Belfast on Saturday week, offer players a last chance to press their claims ahead of the squad announcement on Monday, August 11.