Hogan: Celtic Challenge Gave Us Strong Training Identity

Defence coach Hugh Hogan says the Ireland Women (sponsored by Aon) are focused on ‘building upwards’ as they look to capitalise on the momentum created by a memorable 2024 and the successful recent Celtic Challenge campaign.

The expanded 10-round Celtic Challenge finished earlier this month with the Wolfhounds and the Clovers in an Irish 1-2 at the top of the table, and it provided consistent game-time for the players since just before Christmas.

The cross-border competition allowed the national coaches, led by Scott Bemand, to further align the programme and tighten the combinations and connections, utilising it as a solid preparatory block towards the Guinness Women’s Six Nations.

Take Erin King for example. The 2024 World Rugby Women’s 15s Breakthrough Player of the Year is one of the Six Nations debutants in Bemand’s extended squad, and boosted her levels of 15s experience with 632 minutes of action with the Wolfhounds.

A number of King’s fellow Paris Olympians are also looking to make their mark on the Six Nations, including the uncapped Amy Larn, and other players like Alma Atagamen, Beth Buttimer, and Jane Clohessy have used the Celtic Challenge to earn a first Ireland senior call-up.

While accepting that the level of opposition the Wolfhounds and the Clovers faced was well below what France, the world’s fourth-ranked team, will provide this weekend, Hogan says Ireland have tailored their training to make sure they can meet that challenge head on.

“We have the awareness of what the Celtic Challenge has given us, which is a really positive and strong training identity,” he said, speaking ahead of the Six Nations opener at Kingspan Stadium on Saturday (kick-off 1pm).

“So, both the Wolfhounds and the Clovers have trained in the same model and intensity as we do with the national team, and supported by national coaches which is a real benefit.

“We’ve also been able to identify what the players haven’t experienced so much of in those games, and then we can focus or dial in on those in training here.

“It has given players the chance to work on combinations, to play together, a little bit of learning space to experiment and try things a bit.

“As we get focused on representing Ireland this weekend, we have been able to double down on the areas where maybe they haven’t been able to experience as much and have a need for.

“For example, we’ve been able to play an overload in certain scenarios. So, we might defend against 18 players or conversely attack against 18 players.

“That’s something we’ve been conscious of trying to challenge the players with – that what they’ve experienced in the Celtic Challenge won’t be what they experience in the first 10 or 15 minutes against France.”

The sheer competitiveness of the Vodafone Women’s Interprovincial Championship at the start of the season helped Bemand’s side to come together quickly for an impressive autumn run of performances, including the 150th Anniversary Test win over Australia, and the WXV1 victories over New Zealand and the USA.

This Ireland group are hoping for a similar springboard as they swap their Celtic Challenge jerseys for green shirts, and some standout displays in recent weeks suggest they are ready to hit the ground running in Belfast.

Out-half Dannah O’Brien finished as the Celtic Challenge’s top points scorer with 74 points in nine matches, while Anna McGann and Katie Corrigan were the competition’s second-joint leading try scorers with nine each.

The Irish back row stocks look in rude health, with victorious Wolfhounds captain Claire Boles leading the tackle count with 136 successful tackles, and Clovers ace Deirbhile Nic a Bháird showing her dynamism again with five tries, 15 dominant tackles, 109 carries, 12 offloads, 44 tackle breaks, 10 linebreaks, and eight breakdown steals.

King also posted some impressive numbers as she helped Neill Alcorn’s Wolfhounds to retain the title. The 21-year-old ran in four tries, made 87 successful tackles, 114 carries (just ahead of Boles and Nic a Bháird), 44 tackle breaks, racked up 819.8 running metres and 12 breakdown steals, and showed her lineout ability with 45 takes and six steals.

In addition, the competition has been really beneficial in giving regular match minutes at a senior level to powerful Ireland U-18 lock Atagamen, who got nine games under her belt with the Wolfhounds, and the Ireland U-20 trio of Buttimer, Jane Neill, and Sophie Barrett, who averaged 450 minutes between them across the Clovers’ nine-match campaign.

It has been important too for the three scrum halves in Bemand’s squad, with Emily Lane scoring seven tries in eight appearances for the Clovers, the New Zealand-based Molly Scuffil-McCabe returning home to help the Wolfhounds seal the deal, and Aoibheann Reilly making a successful return from her ACL injury in Clovers colours.

The first half of the season has seen a successful period of growth for the Ireland programme, from that second place finish in WXV1 in Vancouver through to the Wolfhounds and the Clovers duelling it out for the Celtic Challenge Crown.

A Six Nations Championship in a Rugby World Cup year is something for players and coaches alike to really sink their teeth into, and Hogan, who only joined the national set-up last August, is clearly relishing the chance to close the gap further on France and England.

“We’ve been mindful of the huge positives the players have experienced (with the Celtic Challenge), but also what else we need to dial into or really double down on so that we give them the best chance.

“We want to shock the French more so than feel intimidated or shocked ourselves. We need to be better than last year and our focus is building upwards.

“Scott has been in the job a year-and-a-half at this stage, and I think when he started off he built a road map of where this Ireland team can get to.

“Truthfully, we are tracking fairly well but we have to keep making progress. We don’t want to settle for where we are,” added the former Leinster Men’s contact skills coach and Scarlets defence coach.