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Ireland Women All Set For Atlanta Kick-Off

The new-look Ireland Women’s Sevens team are in action today as they take part in the Atlanta leg of the IRB Women’s Sevens World Series. There will be live streaming of their games on wsws.irb.com, beginning at 7.50pm Irish time.

Despite the efforts of one of the worst snow storms to hit Atlanta in 15 years, all twelve IRB Women’s Sevens World Series teams are ready for kick-off at Kennesaw State University today.

Jon Skurr’s Ireland side have five new players on board – Laura Lee Walsh, Nicole Cronin and Susan Vaughan among them – with the IRFU’s on-going Elite Talent Identification programme bearing fruit.

Megan Williams is another newcomer to this level having caught the eye of Exiles selectors, while Aoife Doyle impressed for the Under-19 Irish team that got to the semi-final stage of the UK School Games.

There are seven players retained from the Ireland squad that finished 11th in November’s World Series opener in Dubai – captain Shannon Houston, Christine Arthurs, Claire Keohane, Siobhan Barrett, Laura O’Mahony, Niamh Ni Dhroma and Nikki Caughey.

Sevens debutant Doyle is the youngest member of the Atlanta panel at just 18 years of age, while there are seven more players who are aged between 21 and 24.

The girls in green face a busy and exciting first day in Atlanta as they face off against some of the top Sevens teams in the world, including reigning Rugby World Cup Sevens champions New Zealand.

You can follow all the action online with live streaming from the stadium on wsws.irb.com.

Ireland’s match schedule for the first day is as follows –

IRELAND v England, Fifth Third Bank Stadium, 2.50pm local time/7.50pm Irish time
IRELAND v New Zealand, Fifth Third Bank Stadium, 5.12pm local time/10.12pm Irish time
IRELAND v Netherlands, Fifth Third Bank Stadium, 7.56pm local time/12.56am Irish time

Earlier this week heavy snows and ice in the state of Georgia threatened the likelihood of all teams, match officials and management getting to Atlanta for the second round of the tournament, as roads and airports were shut down.

However, Thursday and Friday saw the big freeze turn into a great thaw and IRB and USA Rugby volunteers got the shovels out, and cleared the pitches the old fashioned way!

The live stream will be blocked for users in the USA, however the event will be broadcast live Stateside on NBC Universal TV.

For more follow @irbwomens on Twitter for updates from the weekend, using the hashtag #Atlanta7s.

IRELAND WOMEN’S SEVENS Squad (Atlanta Sevens, Kennesaw State University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA, February 15-16):

1. Shannon Houston (Blackrock/Leinster) (capt)
2. Christine Arthurs (Tralee/Connacht)
3. Niamh Ni Dhroma (Buccaneers/Connacht)
4. Nicole Cronin (Shannon/Munster)
5. Claire Keohane (UL Bohemians/Munster)
6. Megan Williams (Saracens/Exiles)
7. Aoife Doyle (Shannon/Munster)
8. Laura O’Mahony (Tralee/Munster)
9. Nikki Caughey (Belfast Harlequins/Ulster)
10. Siobhan Barrett (Tralee/Munster)
11. Laura Lee Walsh (Talent ID Programme)
12. Susan Vaughan (Railway Union/Leinster)