Ireland U-18 Girls Sevens Squad Named For UK School Games

The Ireland Girls Sevens squad has been finalised for the UK School Games, which take place in Loughborough University this weekend.

The UK School Games Rugby Sevens tournament features seven teams representing Ireland, England, Wales and Scotland with regional and development sides set to battle it out in one pool stage. The early rounds are played over Friday and Saturday afternoon before the knockout stages on Saturday evening.

The 12 players selected to wear the green jersey have been coached by Ireland Women’s Sevens captain Lucy Mulhall and IRFU Sevens Development coach Stan McDowell. They are part of a wider Girls Sevens squad that is preparing for the Rugby Europe tournament in Vichy, France on September 16-17.
 
The squad for the School Games features four players who competed at last year’s tournament – Enya Breen, Megan Burns, Ellie Ingram and Emily Lane, who will captain the squad this season.

Eve Higgins, who plays her club rugby with Railway Union, missed out the last two years through injury. She has played with the Ireland Sevens Development team and was also part of the wider Ireland Women’s 15s training squad and was involved in the build-up to the Women’s Rugby World Cup.

Megan Burns was part of the Tullamore side that won the inaugural IRFU GX7s national finals at the Aviva Stadium in 2016. Eve and Megan are amongst a number of aspiring young players to feature in the IRFU #GiveItATry videos that encourage women and girls to get involved in rugby.

IRELAND GIRLS SEVENS Squad (2017 UK School Games, Loughborough University, Loughborough, Leicestershire, England, Friday, September 1-Saturday, September 2):
 
Enya Breen (Bantry Bay RFC/Munster)
Megan Burns (Tullamore RFC/Leinster)
Aimee Clarke (Railway Union RFC/Leinster)
Meabh Deely (Ballinasloe RFC/Connacht)
Eve Higgins (Railway Union RFC/Leinster)
Ellie Ingram (Enniskillen RFC/Ulster)
Lucinda Kinghan (Monaghan RFC/Ulster)
Emily Lane (Mallow RFC/Munster) (capt)
Grace Moran (Westport RFC/Connacht)
Saoirse O’Reilly (Wicklow RFC/Leinster)
Aoibheann Reilly (Ballinasloe RFC/Connacht)
Dorothy Wall (Fethard RFC/Munster)

IRELAND GIRLS SEVENS UK School Games Fixtures –
 
Friday, September 1 –

Ireland v England North, 1.22pm
Ireland v England South East, 2.21pm
Ireland v England Midlands, 3.42pm
Ireland v England South West, 5.03pm
 
Saturday, September 2 –

Ireland v Scotland, 3.07pm
Ireland v Wales, 4.28pm
 
Follow the UK School Games this weekend with live streams here – http://schoolgamesfinals.org/watch-live-rugby-sevens/ – and on Twitter: @_schoolgames.