Womens' rugby Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread

Lost Ormond

Head coach Greg McWilliams says plans are at an advanced stage for a two-Test summer tour in August.

Really good to see this

nigeldaniel

A nice big squad announced for the England game. Sene Naoupu is back and that's a good bit of news. I do hope we have a plan B as we will need it!

Caranica

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118948220#Comment_118948220

A 38 year old centre, who's played very little rugby recently, being brought in to a side that was all about change and building is about as far from good news as you can get?

The additions to the squad are to replace the 7s players who are off to do what the IRFU actually pays then to do and to cover for the injured Sam Monaghan.

All in all I found today's announcement pretty depressing. There should be no 7s players in a 15s squad and if that means a couple of lean years while we actually build a squad of 15s players then so be it. To have to make wholesale changes mid competition is beyond poor.

Great to see a summer tour happening but no doubt all the 7s girls will be back. We can't build for the future like that.

sydthebeat

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118948220#Comment_118948220

very little they can do in a one-day camp before playing the worlds best.... minus your best backs and best forward of the competition so far.

its going to be a slaughter unfortunately. if they can keep it within 40 it will be an ok result.

nigeldaniel

I was leaning more toward having Sene Naoupu and other experienced pro's on the pitch to look after the younger players and new recruits. I never suggested we were going to win which we are unlikely to do. We do need to look after the younger players as they would be driven into the ground if left on their own. Developing players and new game plans will need old heads to shelter things in. If we avoid a washout in terms of the score it will be ok for me.

lawrencesummers

If the womens rugby team dont make the move the professionalism in the next 12-18 months they may as well not bother with the 6 nations.

They are not found wanting for commitment on the field, have some great players but england have raised the bar to a level that needs to be matched off field.

Lost Ormond

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118969488#Comment_118969488

But getting the top 25-30 players on pro contracts will do very little unless the IRFU and provinces do more to change things at club level, for the provinces and get better quality rugby for the players beyond internationals. And saying dont bother with 6 nations.... England have always been well ahead. Yes we have to go about getting contracts in place but that will not be anywhere near enough to close the gap unless the club game is changed and improved.

lawrencesummers

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118970216#Comment_118970216

It has to start somewhere and shipping near 70 points is an obvious place to start.

Richard Hillman

It's not a good look when they are doing a sing-song on the pitch after a game they've been battered in. If you have a first cap song tradition, do it before the game, do it in the dressing room, in the hotel after. Not on the pitch after being battered 69-0.

I am finding it hard to get behind this team. From the shambles against Italy (The WCQ), the furore after where they used the media to blame the poor system and didn't take any accountability themselves for their poor performance.

Now they have pundits who are mouthpieces for the players, who rock up on Virgin Media, the team will get battered and they show 1 or 2 good things that the players did, lots of "positives", a few tweaks and all will be grand, this team is going places. They couldn't even do that today, so started blaming the IRFU again.

I am struggling to get behind this team.

tooka

There seems to be a real sense of entitlement with the players

i constantly hear complaints about the English and French and welsh players being professionals now - I have looked into this and that is not true , they are not even semi professionals

also the sevens fifteens split which sees the 7s get a few bob was embarrassing

And that hooker who keeps shouting her mouth off , very strange carry on

The reason for the team being poor is not that the players are amateur but that the sport is very niche here and that will never change

Denny61

It was an embarrassment to watch the irish getting slaughtered...they are an embarrassment to our country..not one point on the board ..please disband this team and organisation.. ASAP. A laughing.stock..

Caranica

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118971948#Comment_118971948

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118972054#Comment_118972054

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118972215#Comment_118972215

Just wow! Do women's rugby a favour and watch something else.

Has anyone seen England's winning run? How they put 50+ points on all the teams they've played recently, teams better funded and resourced than Ireland. All the press feared we'd lose by more than our worst ever defeat to England (76-0) and we didn't. The first half defence was incredible.

Yes there are players getting paid in England, Wales and France. Not Megabucks but it allows them not to need a full-time job to fund playing for their countries.

The IRFU needs to split 7s and 15s and build both independently. Our 7s teams, especially the women, are damn good for a relatively new sport here and hopefully should both qualify for the 7s Rugby World Cup in September. Our men's 7s aren't drafted in to shore up the backline in our 15s team, the women shouldn't be either.

And finally, the men weren't always great either, remember we've lost 3 times to Italy since the 6 nations started in 2000 (most recently in 2013 when the team was fully professional), and if you're worried about embarrassing scorelines then I'd avoid looking at the 5 Nations results from most of the 90s.

Lost Ormond

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118971948#Comment_118971948

Its not a sing song but dont let that get the way of our rant. Doing the tradition before the game isnt right either and if they had youd probably criticise them then as well. its done after you achieve your first cap. Now doing it on pitch probably not best place to do it. should be in dressing room as you say but i dont see why it should be hard to get behind the team. i think the players have taken some accountability for the poor results but in the period where a lot of other teams have strengthened considerably and improves processes to get better results Ireland have drifted backwards/completely stalled.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118972054#Comment_118972054

Thats nonsense. The english and french are on full time contracts. no?

lawrencesummers

I think they should be commended for putting in the effort they did and trying for 80 minutes.

Its hard to see how any reasonable person can expert more from these players when they are back at work this morning.

For me its clearly sit or get off the pot time for the IRFU. They need to raise the funds to get the guts of a professional squad together and build on the good attendances in Cork this year or the public will give up.

A repeat of that result to England next year would be shameful and to me the biggest advances can be made off the field.

nigeldaniel

I watched the first half but not the second as I was required elsewhere for the afternoon. I was pleased with how we put in the shift for the 40 minutes. I felt bad for Cronin as she left the pitch looking miserable. I heard the comments that the 7's are not the cause of outline problems or the scrum problems but in all honesty, we do not have a heavyweight front row to boss a scrum nor do we have someone that can lift in the lineout 6ft in the air. [has Leah Lyons retired?] The team looks well enough elsewhere when you look at it. A final win over Scotland would do the team's confidence the world of good.

Caranica

Leah Lyons is still playing, as is Cliona Moloney but they don't fit in with plans.

I remember being shocked that the Welsh front row had 50kg on ours, that's like an extra person pushing the scrum. I missed yesterday's pack size comparisons but from watching I'd say it was similar.

I like Cronin at 10 but we need someone else to take on the kicking off the tee duties and take a huge amount of pressure off her. Many teams have goal kickers who do not play 10 so it really shouldn't be an issue.

phog

A Women's URC, featuring top club sides from Ireland, Wales, Scotland, Italy, South Africa, and possibly the USA and Canada, is very much up for discussion right now.

If professional women's rugby is ever to get off the ground here then we need something like the URC League, I'd prefer if England were involved too but this is a decent start to something that might work.

tooka

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118978760#Comment_118978760

What Irish teams would enter or would it be a case of Ireland entering it

Caranica

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118979625#Comment_118979625

No details available. I'd imagine provincial teams rather than clubs though.

arsebiscuits1

https://www.the42.ie/niamh-briggs-contracts-5747992-Apr2022/

Very interesting and encouraging comments here from Briggs:

“I do think professionalism is going to be imminent, Greg spoke about it after the match,” said Briggs this afternoon.

But she also offers interesting balance on points that many commentators and misinformed people are not grasping:

“If you just go and throw money at 20 or 30 contracts, we have to make sure we have a foundation underneath that to come back up.”

“We’ve got to have a much stronger domestic league where we can have eight, 10, 12 teams so that every week you go out and play difficult games,” said Briggs. “That’s not the way it is at the moment, unfortunately.”

“If we had a huge increase in player numbers, absolutely, but we don’t,” said Briggs when asked if the 7s and 15s squads need to be completely split.

The article mentions putting players on retainers or hybrid deals which is a good place to start I feel.

I would love to see a fully professional Womens team sooner than later but a fully top down approach of funding I don't think is the best use of resources for it.

The pathway needs to be there and secure.

The article is a great read. Briggs speaks very well

phog

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118979625#Comment_118979625

The 4 Irish Provinces?

Unbelievable finish

FintanMcluskey

Outrageous finish vs Scotland.

82nd minute try and conversion to win by a point

Xander10

great finish. Surprised how much I enjoyed that game.

caviardreams

What a finish! Some real dog out there in the team today, didn't give up. Very competitive match, shows how good the sport is when you get evenly matched teams. Some more games at this level compared with playing England and France would do this team the world of good imo

Some great finds in the team the pat couple of years with Parson and Neve Jones etc

Just saw anna caplice has retired from international duty - that's a pity, always enjoyed watching her.

Caranica

What a finish. That game wasn't good for the blood pressure. Neve Jones and Hannah O'Connor were incredible. The balls on Enya Breen to make that final kick 👏

tooka

Ireland have some very good players who professionalism would make better but they have some really really poor international players and the majority of those players are in the positions 1 to 10, the key positions in rugby, no matter how much you pay them they would still be poor international players

My point is this

i have watched a lot of the womens 6 nations and have come to 2 conclusions

1. the standard is very poor even England who are supposedly a professional team
2. As the womens game develops professionally and players much more powerful there will come a point where there will be a lot more serious injuries including serious concussion, will the parents of young girls allow them to play rugby. I don’t think they will and womens rugby might have to evolve to survive as a professional sport

Caranica

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118972054#Comment_118972054

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118999848#Comment_118999848

Right so. Your previous post shows how little you know about women's rugby, and you backed that up by dismissing our pack which includes Linda Djougang and Sam Monaghan. You either need to watch a lot more women's rugby, or none. Because a little "knowledge" can be very dangerous.

tooka

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118999885#Comment_118999885

I don’t want to argue with you , point out where I am wrong

have you looked into what the Welsh are getting paid, what the French or English player get in remuneration.

I agree with many commentators that if the girls game goes professional than a lot of the Irish girls who are career minded might just jack it in .

I am a neutral observer , womens game should stay amateur

nigeldaniel

I thought the penalty try Scotland got would finish us off, but it fired the team up and sent them into commando mode. The lineout is still a problem as is the penalty count.