Ireland Women Depart for Rugby World Cup Sevens Training Camp
Ireland's Beibhinn Parsons, Emily Lane, Erin King and Katie Heffernan during training at the IRFU High Performance Centre
The Ireland Women’s Sevens squad, sponsored by TritonLake, will step up their preparations for the upcoming Rugby World Cup Sevens during a training camp in Stellenbosch this week.
Aiden McNulty’s 15-player squad departed Dublin on Sunday and will spend the next seven days in the Western Cape, training and playing against the USA and France, in preparation for the World Cup in Cape Town from September 9-11.
Coming off the back of a superb HSBC World Sevens Series, which included two podium finishes in Seville and Langford, Ireland secured qualification for the Sevens World Cup through the Rugby Europe qualifying tournament in July.
McNulty’s extended squad have been in pre-season mode at the IRFU High Performance Centre in recent weeks, building towards Cape Town.
Their training camp in South Africa will be an invaluable opportunity to fine-tune and sharpen themselves ahead of the global tournament.
Training and playing against the USA and France will also test the squad and offer them the chance to gain important match minutes building into their World Cup round of 16 opener against Brazil on Friday, September 9 at Cape Town Stadium.
Head coach McNulty commented: “Our preparation for the World Cup has been excellent so far. As a squad, we are aware what we need to do to achieve something special.
“We are going to need to reach a new level of performance, requiring precision, physical intensity, and an ability to handle the pressure on the biggest stage.
“This week’s camp in Stellenbosch is an opportunity for us to challenge ourselves against world class opposition and best prepare for us what we hope to be our best performance.
We have got through a good body of work through pre-season after returning from Rugby Europe competition earlier in the summer, and the players have pushed themselves in preparation for the World Cup.
“Selection has been the toughest it has ever been, but still the players have supported and challenged each other to improve and be the very best.
“We can’t wait to put on the green jersey again and this week is all about putting ourselves in a position to do something special in Cape Town.”
IRELAND WOMEN’S SEVEN TRAINING CAMP SQUAD:
Kathy Baker (Blackrock College RFC)
Claire Boles (Railway Union RFC)
Megan Burns (Blackrock College RFC)
Vicky Elmes Kinlan (Wicklow RFC)
Stacey Flood (Railway Union RFC)
Katie Heffernan (Railway Union RFC)
Eve Higgins (Railway Union RFC)
Brittany Hogan (Old Belvedere RFC)
Erin King (Old Belvedere RFC)
Lucinda Kinghan (Railway Union RFC/DCU RFC)
Emily Lane (Blackrock College RFC)
Kate Farrell McCabe (Suttonians RFC)
Lucy Mulhall (Wicklow RFC) (capt)
Amee-Leigh Murphy Crowe (Railway Union RFC)
Beibhinn Parsons (Blackrock College RFC)