‘Resilient’ Mulhall Rock Bringing Competitive Edge On Ireland Sevens Return

Mulhall Rock missed Ireland’s last five tournaments owing to a worrying hamstring injury but, thankfully, she has been given the all-clear to lead the Women’s side at the iconic Stade de France from July 28-30.

The 12-player squad, and travelling reserves Claire Boles and Amy Larn, have been acclimatising at Ireland’s pre-Games camp in Tours, where Andy Farrell’s Ireland Men’s 15s side were based for much of last year’s Rugby World Cup.

First capped back in 2015, Mulhall Rock has had three attempts to qualify for the Olympics, including a Repechage tournament at UCD in the early days. She is focused on soaking up the moment and ensuring that the team performs at their best in the French capital.

“As much as I think it’s going to be such a cool experience, I don’t want to turn up there and be a tourist amongst the best athletes in the world. I want to turn up there and find a way to own it,” insisted the proud Wicklow woman.

“It’s our Olympics. I won’t ever get another one again. I want it to be my Olympics and my Olympic journey, not me following Rhasidat Adeleke around the village, even though she’s an absolute icon!

“I’m sure we will take double takes when Simone Biles or whoever is around, but as soon as you fall into that trap, it’s not your Olympics anymore, you’re just a spectator.

“So, I think when you get as far as there, you have to be the competitor in that environment and it needs to bring out your competitiveness.”

The last 14 months have been huge for Mulhall Rock both personally and professionally, with Ireland’s historic Olympic qualification – achieved on French soil in Toulouse – and their first ever HSBC SVNS Series goal medal, won in Perth in January, sandwiching her wedding to fiancé Michael.

With those highs have come some difficult lows as apart from her season-disrupting hamstring injury, the Mulhall family suffered a devastating loss when Lucy’s uncle Christy, a former Tug of War world champion, passed away just a matter of weeks after watching the team qualify for the Olympics in Toulouse.

Growing up on the family’s sheep and beef farm in Tinahely, Co. Wicklow, Lucy developed a strong work ethic and a passion for sport from an early age. Both her parents played Gaelic football, and her dad Pat won a Tug of War European Championship with his brother Christy.

She cites her older sister Emily as her hero, and her sibling’s sheer dedication to her camogie and football career, and efforts to improve her game, have always been an inspiration for the Ireland skipper.

A Wicklow footballer herself prior to joining the IRFU Sevens programme, sport has had a powerful influence on Mulhall Rock.

She had seen its impact firsthand during school visits, as part of the Olympic Federation of Ireland’s ‘Dare to Believe’ initiative which is supported by PTSB, the title sponsors of the 2024 Irish Olympic team.

Having been that kid herself sitting spellbound in front of the television screen, she knows how important the Olympics can be in providing the spark for future sporting stars, and particular in the Sevens code when they see the girls in green take to the pitch in Paris.

“Life is pretty tough out there. But I remember waking up out of the normal, mundane parts of life by watching a sporting event and find myself crying or smiling at the telly,” explained the 30-year-old out-half.

“You could have had the worst day possible or there could be things going on in life but sport is an amazing way to pick you up and it’s an incredible ‘why’, or it’s an incredible passion behind you.”

Asked about her own Olympic memories and how they had her dreaming of representing Ireland, she recalled: “I remember for Sydney (in 2000) I was seven-years-old and I still remember just sitting, watching, and it definitely does change a generation or inspire a generation.

“I think I’ve seen that with so many World Cups and Olympics and I was that kid. I still remember watching All-Irelands or ‘The Sunday Game’ at home and it would cut to half-time and you were out in the yard and kicking the ball against the wall, dreaming of days in Croke Park.

“Then you go and watch athletics on the telly, during the Olympics, and next thing you’re out in the field sprinting. As a kid you’re just dreaming, you don’t have ceilings, it doesn’t matter to you that you’ve never ran a race, that you’re slow as anything. You’re just dreaming.

“You just want to be there, and for me it’s been similar around I’ve just fallen into an Olympic sport and fell in love with it. Suddenly now this is a reality for me.”

Mulhall Rock says it is ‘amazing’ now that Allan Temple-Jones’ side could have that effect on some youngsters watching on from home, in the same way that she was motivated by the medal-winning Olympic performances of fellow Wicklow native Katie Taylor, and athletics legend Sonia O’Sullivan.

Her own build-up to Paris 2024 has been far from ideal, as the hamstring tear, sustained when she absorbed a double cleanout against Australia at the LA Sevens in March, was a cause for concern, and then a ‘re-injury’ saw her miss more competitions.

Her leadership and playmaking skills, in both defence and attack, were sorely missed as Ireland closed out their SVNS Series campaign with a seventh place finish in the League standings, and they moved up one spot to claim sixth at Madrid’s Grand Final.

Thankfully, the IRFU medical staff, and specialist rehab physio Einar Einarsson in particular, got her back on the road to full fitness, and ‘feeling like a rugby player again’ as she prepares for the ‘ultimate honour’ of leading her country at the Olympics.

“It has been a long couple of months. I’ve had some of the best medical brains I have ever met in my life looking after me. I had a re-injury at another stage afterwards and that left us with a tight timeline.

“I work with a guy, Einar Einarsson is his name, that has come into the IRFU and he is one of the most clever minds I’ve ever met in my life but he is also an incredibly witty man. We have a great time together.

“Between him and the rest of the medical staff I’ve been looked after so well and instantly it was, ‘we’re going to do everything in our power’. So, once you have that reassurance then it just came down to day-by-day and just trying to do what I could.”

Temple-Jones’ charges have had recent encounters with all three of their Pool B opponents. Indeed, they were in Rugby Europe action against Great Britain in Hamburg just three weeks ago, and the two teams will open the Women’s Olympic tournament at the Stade de France on Sunday week (July 28).

Three-and-a-half hours later, Mulhall Rock and her team-mates will face South Africa in another crunch tie, before they begin day two (Monday, July 29) with an afternoon match against Australia, the side they beat to win an unforgettable Perth decider.

As much as it has been a physical challenge for her to get back in time for the Games, Ireland’s long-serving captain has had to show a lot of mental toughness and resilience in order to reach this point.

“Certainly it’s tested me mentally more than the rest of my career has to date,” she said of her recovery from injury. “So, hopefully I’m in a very resilient place mentally, and it’s given me good perspective, I think, coming into the Olympics.

“I’m just very grateful. There were times there where I wasn’t sure whether this was going to happen for me. So I’m coming into it probably fresh-minded, and hopefully I can bring some freshness to what’s been a long year for the girls.”