Ciara Griffin Keen To “Kick On” With 2021 On The Horizon

For Munster back-row and Ireland captain Ciara Griffin, 2020 has been a disruptive year, to say the least.

Ireland’s 2020 Six Nations campaign which yielded victories against Scotland, Wales and Italy was ultimately cut short when their final fixture against France was postponed due to players and management within the French squad testing positive for COVID-19.

2020 was always going to be a huge year for the Ireland Women’s team as they were due to play in the Women’s Rugby World Cup qualifying tournament against Scotland, Italy and the winner of the postponed Rugby Europe Women’s Championship.

However, this crucial qualifying tournament has been pushed back to 2021.

Although it is disappointing for Griffin and her teammates not to get as much competitive action as they would have liked, the Kerry woman sees positives in the situation as she explained to Irish Rugby.

Ciara Griffin speaks to her players before the Six Nations clash with Scotland in February

“Yes, I think for everyone, 2020 was a challenge,” Griffin said.

“We’re no different from anyone else but you can see the positives from it and the good side of it too. From the camps together and the extra time, one thing that you can see is that our fitness has definitely improved, that’s all down to Orlaith Curran and the lads running us! That’s really standing to us now. We’re pushing on in each camp which is brilliant and today (Sunday) we have in an in-house game.

“I’m looking forward to implementing everything we have worked on, our improvements, our new defensive structures. I think they’re working for us as a group. We’re looking forward to kicking on today with a bit of an in-house game just to up the aggression.”

Sunday’s 15 v 15 80-minute in-house training match provided a good opportunity for the squad to implement what they have learned over the last few months while it also provided a platform for players to put their hand up for future selection.

With competition for places one of the prerequisites for success on the pitch, Griffin is happy to report that this exists in abundance within the squad.

Ciara Griffin ahead of the U18 Interpro between Munster Women and Leinster Women in 2019

“You can see our sessions are quite intense. There’s good competition there, when you go onto that pitch, you want to perform, you want to compete with the person next to you and opposite you regardless of them being on the same team. That’s just the way we are. We want to improve ourselves and we’re just driving each other to do that and that’s how we’ll build the culture – just keep improving.”

With 2020 reaching its end, hope springs eternal for what 2021 may have in store with a return to competitive action top of the wishlist. For Griffin, she just wants to get back out onto the pitch whether that is with UL Bohemian, Munster or Ireland.

“2020 brought challenges but it also brought time to work on ourselves. For me personally, working on my fitness and my strength. Just to get that time and focus on that and improve my own aspects of my game.

“I’m looking forward to 2021, kicking on and getting back onto the pitch as a group, playing some games, playing some matches, wearing a jersey be it club, Munster or a green jersey. I’m just looking forward to wearing a jersey again in 2021.”