Guest Named Munster Women’s Coach
18th July 2017 By The Editor
Laura Guest of the Munster Women's team. The team's interprovincial success was honoured at half time
Former Munster and Irish international Laura Guest has been named the new head coach of the Munster Women’s side for this season.
Guest, who worked for the last five seasons as head coach of Highfield, will step into the role, and has a career’s worth of rugby experience to share with her group of players, who are looking to re-capture the title they last won two years ago.
The Templebryan native began her rugby career with Clonakilty aged 16, before making her Senior rugby debut with Shannon RFC.
From there she returned to Cork to begin her career at Highfield after a season-long stint with UL Bohemians, winning the All-Ireland League and AIL Cup down in Woodleigh Park as player-coach in 2012/13, as well as amassing an incredible international career.
Guest won 36 caps for her country, taking part in three World Cups (2006, 2010 & 2014), a European Championship in 2004, as well as winning Ireland’s first ever Grand Slam title in 2013, and the West Cork Sports Star of the Year award that same year.
The forward, who was capped in all three lines of the pack also captained her province to her tenth interprovincial title in 2014.
A qualified stage 4 coach, Guest is also a coach tutor and won two Mungret Cup titles with Midleton College in five years, and assisted Keith Murphy with the Regional Development Squad for two years. She is a multi-talented sportswoman and avid golfer, winning an All-Ireland Intermediate title with Lee Valley in 2015.
Assisting her will be Dave Lombard, continuing in the role he held under Wayne Falvey, while Maeve D’Arcy comes into the position of team manager, ahead of what all hope will be a successful 2017.
“With the World Cup around the corner now is the ideal time to get girls and women playing the game, and I know the ‘give it a try’ programmes are already a big success” said Guest.
“The support of the women’s game has increased exponentially from when I first started playing, it has really gone from strength to strength since the grand slam win in 2013 and its fantastic to see.”
