Celtic Challenge

India Daley, Dannah O’Brien, Maeve Óg O’Leary and Meabh Deely 15/12/2023

The Celtic Challenge is the first Women’s domestic Cross-Border Competition. The League is played between 6 Teams across 3 nations over 10 rounds. At the end of the season, the team with the highest table standing will be crowned Champions.

The Celtic Challenge explained

The League is designed to develop and inspire World Class performance through elite Competition, it is the highest form of domestic rugby across the 3 nations and acts as a pathway for current and future International Talent.

For more visit the Celtic Challenge website here.

Fixtures

The Clovers

Tipperary native Dorothy Wall is pictured leading her Clovers team – ©INPHO/Bryan Keane

The Clovers are mainly comprised of players from the Irish provinces of Munster and Connacht.The players will come from the Ireland national team, from the Irish Women’s National Talent Squad (WNTS) pathway and also players identified from the Interprovincial Series and the Energia Women’s All Ireland League.

In an effort to develop depth for the national team, on occasion players from Leinster and Ulster (the other Irish provinces) will join the Clovers. The WNTS is structured around centres of excellence at the University of Galway, Atlantic Technological University Sligo, Dublin City University, Southeast Technological University Carlow, University of Limerick, and Queen’s University in Belfast.

The head coach for the Clovers is Denis Fogarty, who is the scrum coach for the Women’s National Team. Fogarty will be joined by Larissa Muldoon and Leah Lyons, both former Irish internationals. Muldoon is also the current WNTS coach for Connacht.

The Wolfhounds

The Wolfhounds won the Celtic Challenge in February, completing an unbeaten seven-match run by beating the Clovers, 47-26, at Kingspan Stadium ©INPHO/Leah Scholes

The Wolfhounds are mainly comprised of players from the Irish provinces of Leinster and Ulster. The players will come from the Ireland national team, from the Irish Women’s National Talent Squad (WNTS) pathway and also players identified from the Interprovincial Series and the Energia Women’s All Ireland League.

In an effort to develop depth for the national team, on occasion players from Connacht and Munster (the other Irish provinces) will join the Wolfhounds. The WNTS is structured around centres of excellence at the University of Galway, Atlantic Technological University Sligo, Dublin City University, Southeast Technological University Carlow, University of Limerick, and Queen’s University in Belfast.

The head coach for the Wolfhounds is Neill Alcorn, who is the WNTS Coach for Ulster. Joining Alcorn as assistant coaches will be Maz Reilly, ex Irish international and World Rugby intern who recently was with the Women’s National Team at the WXV1 tournament in Vancouver, and Ben Martin, the ex-Australian international who has coached many Energia All-Ireland League sides.