Cronin & Galvin Return To The Ireland Women’s 7s Squad

There are four changes to the squad that competed in the final stage of the HSBC World Rugby Women's Sevens Series in Clermont last month that include three Munster players.

Munster’s Nicole Cronin has successfully recovered from a series of injuries that have hampered her over the last number of months and having come through the Amsterdam 7s, will make her first appearance in a green jersey since last year.

Also returning from injury is Munser’s Louise Galvin who has completed her rehab on a broken leg.

Munster and Ireland 15s captain Niamh Briggs will make her first senior Sevens appearance, having competed with the Irish Development side at the Kinsale, Guilford and Amsterdam 7s over the last number of weeks.

Aoife Doyle from Shannon RFC retains her position on the squad.

Speaking ahead of the squad departing for Kazan, Anthony Eddy said "It's a very busy period for the Women's Sevens programme at the moment. We have had teams competing in Clermont, Amsterdam, Guilford and Kinsale over the past number of weeks and it has given important game time to the players.

The European Championships are a very important fixture on our calendar, with the likes of GB7s, Russia, France and Spain all involved, it's set to be a good test for us.

The World Series games can be very physical, so we have decided to give some of the players a rest this week, but this will be a great opportunity for the other players coming in to show what they can do. With Olympic and World Series qualification on the line in UCD at the end of the month, it's important that we have all of our players in peak condition for that”.

The European Championships will be the final competitive competition the Ireland side will compete in before the Women's Global Olympic Qualifying Tournament takes place in UCD in Dublin on the 25^th and 26^th June tickets for which are available here –

www.ticketmaster.ie/sevens

Ireland Women's squad for the Rugby Europe Women's Sevens Grand Prix
Ashleigh Baxter – Belfast Harlequins / Ulster
Niamh Briggs – UL Bohemians / Munster
Nicole Cronin – Railway Union / Munster
Aoife Doyle – Shannon / Munster
Kim Flood – Railway Union / Leinster
Stacey Flood – Railway Union / Leinster
Louise Galvin – UL Bohemians / Munster
Shannon Houston – Blackrock / Leinster
Alison Miller – Portlaoise / Connacht
Lucy Mulhall – Rathdrum / Leinster – Captain
Hannah Tyrrell – Old Belvedere / Leinster
Megan Williams – St.Mary's College RFC

Match Schedule – Kazan
Saturday 11^th June 2016
Ireland v Italy – 11:50 (local time) / 9.50 (Irish time)
Ireland v Belgium – 14:05 (local time) / 12.05 (Irish time)
Ireland v Russia – 16:50 (local time) / 14.50 (Irish time)

Sunday 12^th June 2016
Finals Play-Offs

Match updates will be available via the Irish Rugby Twitter – www.twitter.com/IrishRugby

Games will be streamed via Rugby Europe – http://www.rugbyeurope.tv/