Ireland Women In Final Eight

The Ireland Women reached the quarter-finals of the Rugby World Cup Sevens in Moscow at the weekend and in doing so claimed a place in the 2013/14 IRB Women’s Sevens World Series.

Ireland opened their pool B campaign on Saturday with a 12-5 victory against South Africa and recorded their second win against China (28-10) later in the day.

Their one loss was against the defending champions Australia, and they then had a nervous wait for the outcome of the Australia/South Africa clash, in order to confirm their quarter final place.

Their top eight finish has guaranteed them a place in the 2013/14 IRB Women's Sevens World Series as one of the eight core teams. Last season's inaugural series ran from November to May, taking in Dubai, China, USA and the Netherlands as the tour destinations.

On Sunday the Irish girls faced USA in the Cup quarter-final where they suffered a 14-5 defeat before finally bowing out to England in the Plate semi final clash.

Overall it was a fantastic achievement for Ireland Women to reach the quarter final stage and they achieved their goal of securing a World Series place for season 2013/14.

Having a Series slot as one of the core teams will really help develop Irish Women's Sevens, with the girls in green able to regularly test themselves against the world's best teams at elite level in a high performance competition.