Hayes Takes The Helm As Munster Women’s Head Coach
Former Munster Under-18 Women's head coach Fiona Hayes was part of their senior coaching team when they won the Vodafone Women's Interprovincial Championship title in January 2023 ©INPHO/James Crombie
Fresh from leading UL Bohemian to Energia All-Ireland League glory, Fiona Hayes has been appointed as the Munster Women’s head coach for the 2024/25 season.
Hayes had a successful return to the UL Bohs’ hotseat this year, guiding the club to their first AIL Women’s Division title since 2018, and now also take the lead role with Munster having been assistant coach for the last two seasons.
An extended Munster squad are currently training at the province’s High Performance Centre at UL, as Hayes takes the helm ahead of the new season’s Vodafone Women’s Interprovincial Championship which will take place in August.
The recent winner of the Energia All-Ireland League Women’s Division Coach of the Season award, the Limerick native was part of the Munster coaching team when they retained the Interpro crown in January 2023, before Leinster won back the trophy in Cork last September.
Having been the province’s head coach for the last two years, Hayes’ former team-mate, Niamh Briggs, will be one of her assistant coaches along with Jonny Butler. Sana Govender and Sarah Quin have been appointed as development coaches.
Briggs, Munster’s Provincial Talent Coach-WNTS (Women’s National Talent Squad) since May 2023, has a busy few weeks ahead of her. She is head coach of the Ireland Under-20 Women’s team that will compete at the inaugural Six Nations Women’s Summer Series in Parma next month.
Completing the new-look Munster Women’s backroom team are team manager Shelly Ring, Ciaran Purcell and Amy O’Mahony will look after the physio duties, Lorna Barry and Kenneth Mills are the strength and conditioning coaches, and Pierce Ryan joins as the squad’s analyst.
The Vodafone Women’s Interprovincial Championship kicks off on Saturday, August 10, with the first of three rounds before the finals weekend at the end of the month. The fixtures, venues, and ticketing information will be confirmed in due course.