Ireland Women’s Squad Confirmed For Clermont Sevens

Director of Sevens and Women’s Rugby, Anthony Eddy, has named the Ireland Women’s Sevens squad to compete in the final leg of the HSBC World Rugby Women’s Sevens Series in Clermont-Ferrand this weekend.

There are two changes to the squad that competed in Atlanta and Canada last month, with Shannon RFC’s Aoife Doyle and Railway Union’s Susan Vaughan coming into the side.

Both players will be making their first appearances on the World Series circuit this season, but have previous experience at this level. Ireland have been drawn in Pool C with hosts France, Australia and Fiji.

Speaking ahead of the squad’s departure for Clermont, Anthony Eddy said: “We’ve been drawn into a challenging pool with France, Australia and Fiji. France will no doubt be looking to put in a good performance in front of a home crowd and Australia will have their sights on the overall 2015/16 World Series title, having won three of the four stages this season.

“We then meet Fiji in the final game on Saturday and they are always a tough side to play against. Since returning from Atlanta and Canada the players have been very focused and have been training well together so we will be looking to finish the World Series on a positive note this weekend.”

The Clermont Sevens tournament will be the final major competition the Ireland side will compete in before the Women’s Global Olympic Qualifying Tournament takes place in UCD in Dublin on June 25-26, tickets for which are available here – www.ticketmaster.ie/sevens.

IRELAND WOMEN’S SEVENS Squad (HSBC World Rugby Women’s Sevens Series, Clermont-Ferrand, May 28-29):
 
Ashleigh Baxter (Cooke/Ulster)
Aoife Doyle (Shannon/Munster)
Kim Flood (Railway Union/Leinster)
Stacey Flood (Railway Union/Leinster)
Alison Miller (Portlaoise/Connacht)
Lucy Mulhall (Rathdrum/Leinster) (capt)
Amee-Leigh Crowe (Railway Union/Munster)
Sene Naoupu (Galwegians/Connacht)
Audrey O’Flynn (Talent ID Programme)
Hannah Tyrrell (Old Belvedere/Leinster)
Susan Vaughan (Railway Union/Leinster)
Megan Williams (St. Mary’s)

Match Schedule –

Saturday, May 28:
 
France v Ireland, Stade Gabriel Montpied, 12.50pm local time/11.50am Irish time
Australia v Ireland, Stade Gabriel Montpied, 3.12pm local time/2.12pm Irish time
Fiji v Ireland, Stade Gabriel Montpied, 6.18pm local time/5.18pm Irish Time
 
Sunday, May 29:

Cup/Bowl/Plate Play-Offs

Matches will be streamed via www.worldrugby.org, with updates available on www.twitter.com/IrishRugby.