Irish Women’s World Cup Squad Announced

Thirteen Munster players are included in the 26 strong Irish Women’s team announced for the World Cup in Canada later this year.

Irish Women s World Cup Squad

THE Irish Women s Rugby team has announced its 26 player squad to travel to this summer s World Cup. There is only one new face in the squad with Blackrock centre Shannon Houstan included in an Irish line-up for the first time. Fresh from their historic 15-8 victory over Canada at the weekend, Irish captain Sarahjane Belton said that the squad are looking forward to the World Cup in Canada with confidence. We have a very tough pool with France the USA and South Africa, but that win has showed us that we can beat the world s top sides. Everything really came together for us at the weekend and we re all focusing now on the World Cup and concentrating on how we can beat those tough teams we will face. The Women s Rugby World Cup will take place in the Canadian city of Edmonton from August 31 to September 17. For more details see www.rwcwomens.com

IRELAND s 2006 WORLD CUP SQUAD.

FORWARDS:
Marie Barrett (Highfield), Rachel Boyd (Cooke), Orla Brennan (Blackrock), Fiona Coghlan (UL Bohemian), Rosie Foley (Shannon), Laura Guest (Clonakilty), Germaine Healy (Blackrock), Jean Lonergan (Shannon), Caroline Mahon (UL Bohemian), Gillian McAllister (Cooke), Joy Neville (Shannon), Yvonne Nolan (Blackrock), Eimear O Sullivan (Clonakilty), Sinead Ryan (Navan)

BACKS:
Louise Beamish (UL Bohemian), SarahJane Belton (UL Bohemian), Lynne Cantwell (Trojans), Grace Davitt (Blackrock), Jeannette Feighery (UL Bohemian), Suzanne Fleming (Cooke), Amanda Greensmith (Shannon), Shannon Houston (Blackrock), Patrique Kelly (UL Bohemian), Nuala Ni Chadhain (Galwegians), Joanne O Sullivan (Lichfield), Tania Rosser (Blackrock)

IRB announces inclusion of women in RWC Sevens 2009

WOMEN S RUGBY is to be included in the world Sevens circuit for the first time ever from 2009. The International Rugby Board (IRB) has announced that women will have their own Rugby World Cup Sevens, taking place alongside the men s event in the same host city. The venue for the 2009 tournament has yet to be decided on.
IRB Chairman, Dr Syd Millar said:
To highlight the growth of Sevens, one of the of the key recommendations of the IRB Strategic Plan for women s rugby developed last year was the introduction of a Women s Rugby World Cup Sevens with the aim of providing an elite level of women s Sevens tournament which will raise the profile of the women s game on a global scale. It is the first time that there has been a major focus on the women s game and the introduction of an integrated tournament is not just an exciting development for women s rugby, but also Rugby Sevens. The Rugby World Cup Sevens 2009 will consist of 24 men s and 16 women s teams.

Alison Donnelly

IWRFU Press Officer