The Ireland Women's squad, sponsored by Aon, for the Women's Rugby World Cup 2017, has been confirmed by the Ireland Women's Management team.
Five Connacht Players have been selected on the Squad, They are Claire Molloy of Bristol, Mairead Coyne, Ruth O'Reilly and Ciara O'Connor of Galwegians and Alison Miller of Old Belvedere. Former Connacht player Sene Naoupu is also named on the squad along with Kilconly born Cliodhna Maloney and Bullaun's Ciara Cooney who play their Rugby with Leinster. There is one glaring omission from the squad in that Galwegians Mary Healy, who had an excellent six nations, is not included in the squad.
Ireland will face Australia, Japan and France in Pool C on the 9th, 13th and 17th August in the UCD Bowl.
Head Coach Tom Tierney has named a 28 Woman squad that will be captained by UL Bohs and Munster full-back Niamh Briggs.
There are 12 players in the squad with previous World Cup experience; Ailis Egan, Heather O'Brien, Sophie Spence, Ashleigh Baxter, Paula Fitzpatrick, Alison Miller, Larissa Muldoon and Jenny Murphy were involved at France 2014, while Briggs, Claire Molloy, Marie-Louise Reilly and Nora Stapleton are all set to compete at their third World Cup, having been involved in both 2010 and 2014.
Scrum-half Nicole Cronin is the only uncapped member of the squad and she is one of a number of players in the squad with Rugby Sevens experience. Cronin along with Hannah Tyrrell, Katie Fitzhenry, Sene Naoupu, Baxter and Miller all made appearances on this season's circuit of the World Rugby Women's World Sevens Series.
Speaking on the selection of the squad, Tierney said;
"Over the past three seasons we have been conscious of the need to build and develop a squad for this tournament, and as a result of the program many players have had the opportunity to prepare for this moment and play international rugby and show their skills at the highest level.
We have named players who have been here before and are aware of the challenge that lies ahead, and then there are a number of players in the squad for whom this will be their first ever World Cup and I am extremely confident they will compete for starting positions througout the campaign.
The players have been training consistently over the past number of months, and we have had a preparation that is far more comprehansive than previous campaigns. The anticipation and excitement has been building steadily amongst the players and the program has provided us every opportunity, so it is now up to us to put our best foot forward during this campaign.
The opportunity to play in a World Cup on home soil is a once in a life time opportunity, and while we are in a tough pool with Australia, Japan and our Six Nations rivals France, I am sure the players will rise to the occasion in front of their home fans.”
Tickets for all pool games in UCD are sold out, however tickets for the Semi-Finals and Finals Day in Kingspan Stadium and the ranking matches in Queen's University are still available via www.ticketmaster.ie / www.ticketmaster.co.uk.
Ireland's matches will be broadcast live via Eir Sport, RTE and RTE Radio in the Republic of Ireland and via ITV in the United Kingdom.
Ireland Women's Squad – Women's Rugby World Cup 2017 (Connacht Players In Bold)
Forwards
Ashleigh Baxter (Cooke/Ulster)
Anna Caplice (UL Bohemian/Munster)
Ciara Cooney (Railway Union/Leinster)
Ailis Egan (Old Belvedere/Leinster)
Paula Fitzpatrick (St. Mary's College RFC/Leinster)
Ciara Griffin (UL Bohemian/Munster)
Leah Lyons (Highfield/Munster)
Claire Molloy (Bristol/Connacht)
Cliodhna Moloney (Railway Union/Leinster)
Heather O'Brien (Highfield/Munster)
Ciara O'Connor (Galwegians/Connacht)
Ruth O'Reilly (Galwegians/Connacht)
Lindsay Peat (Railway Union/Leinster)
Marie-Louise Reilly (Old Belvedere/Leinster)
Sophie Spence (Old Belvedere/Leinster)
Backs
Niamh Briggs (UL Bohemian/Munster) Captain
Eimear Considine (UL Bohemian/Munster)
Mairead Coyne (Galwegians/Connacht)
Nicole Cronin (UL Bohemian/Munster)*
Jeamie Deacon (Blackrock College RFC/Leinster)
Katie Fitzhenry (Blackrock College RFC/Leinster)
Claire McLaughlin (Cooke/Ulster)
Alison Miller (Old Belvedere/Connacht)
Larissa Muldoon (Railway Union)
Jenny Murphy (Old Belvedere/Leinster)
Sene Naoupu (Harlequins FC)
Nora Stapleton (Old Belvedere/Leinster)
Hannah Tyrrell (Old Belvedere/Leinster)
*Denotes uncapped at this level
Ireland Pool C Fixtures
IRELAND V AUSTRALIA
Wednesday 9th August 2017,
Kick-Off 7.00pm
UCD Bowl, Dublin
IRELAND V JAPAN
Sunday 13th August 2017,
Kick-Off 5.15pm
UCD Bowl, Dublin
IRELAND V France
Thursday 17th August 2017,
Kick-Off 7.45pm
UCD Bowl, Dublin
WRWC 2017 Semi-Finals Day
Tuesday 22nd August 2017
Kingspan Stadium
WRWC 2017 Finals Day
Sunday 26th August 2017
Kingspan Stadium
