Railway Union To Host Girls Schools Sevens

Finals Day for Railway’s Girls Schools Sevens programme takes place this Friday at Railway Union on Park Avenue.

Over the last two months, Railway coaches have been running a structured rugby sevens programme for girls in schools in their community.

“We have been pleasantly surprised at talent, enthusiasm and ability of the girls we’ve coached over the last few months,” said Mere Baker, who devised and led the programme.

This is the second running of Railway’s programme. The first programme, which concluded last April, produced an Irish International in Emma Murphy.

Murphy recently played for Ireland U19s 7s team in the International Schools Games in the UK.

“Rugby is really enjoyable and fun sport for girls to play,”said Emma Murphy. “My sporting background is hockey and I’ve found much of the skills transferable to rugby 7s, like speed, agility and decision-making.”

“After the tournament in April, I trained in Railway’s 7s academy for the summer, before progressing to Irish camp for the U19s tournament. I’ve now graduated to Railway’s senior team and I’ve also been brought into train with the Irish Elite 7s squad.”

“There are huge opportunities for girls to advance quickly in rugby, to play internationally and perhaps to represent Ireland at the Olympics. Having seen some of the girls in training, I am certain that others will achieve in this sport too,”concluded Murphy.

The tournament kicks off at 3pm, with the Senior Plate, Junior Cup and Senior Cup finals scheduled to start from 6pm. The tournament will be followed by a player’s meal and team presentations.

With Railway’s Women’s 1st XV taking on Rathdrum in their AIL fixture at 8pm, it promises to be a great day for girl’s and women’s rugby at Railway. All support is welcome.

Railway are one of many clubs doing fantastic work to promote girls rugby at all levels. Keep an eye out in your local club for teams starting up and get down and give rugby a try.