Throughout the season Sarah Lennon will keep us informed on women’s rugby.
2009 was a big year for rugby 7s as the International Olympic Committee voted in favour of the introduction of the code beginning with the 2016 Olympics.
7s rugby has never been a huge preoccupation for the IRFU, and our most prominent contribution to the code seems to be Leinster referee David Keane being the most capped 7s ref of all time.
Since a bronze medal for the men in the 1993 World cup, the team has finished no higher than 13th in the four tournaments since. Women had never taken part in the World Cup until 2009 when they were included, partly as a measure towards inclusion in the Olympics.
In the 2009 World Cup the Irish men finished 18th and the Irish women were not represented. However in April the IRFU announced that a 7s team was to be formed with the aim of qualifying for the 2013 World Cup.
The road to the World Cup was to be a difficult one for Ireland who is essentially an emerging nation in this arena. A preliminary tournament in Ghent was the scene of the Irish women’s international debut. A top two finish would suffice to qualify for the European Qualifying tournament but the women weren’t satisfied with a top two finish, winning the tournament in style without the concession of a single point. A 29-0 win over Scotland in the final capped an impressive tournament where several higher ranked teams were put to the sword.
On winning the preliminary qualifier, Ireland progressed to the qualifying tournament where 5 teams would qualify for the World Cup proper. This seemed an extremely tall order for a team that would have only had a few months together and were essentially looking to gatecrash the top table. Again, the Irish failed to read the script. A number of impressive wins again saw the Irish women alive on the second day where they reached the Plate final by virtue of beating a highly regarded Ukrainian side. Defeat in the Plate final left the Irish women in sixth place overall but as Russia were above them, and they qualify as World Cup hosts, Ireland were through to their first World Cup, an amazing achievement considering the embryonic nature of this team’s development.
Although the Irish men will not be represented at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow next June, the Irish women will proudly represent the four provinces (and exiles) in what is a massive step towards inclusion in the 2016 Olympic Games. The means of qualification for the games themselves will be agreed with the International Olympic Committee in 2014 but given the manner in which the Irish women qualified for the World Cup we should be very confident that we will be cheering on the Girls in Green come 2016.
Sarah Lennon (@sarahlennon08) is passionate about all things rugby. A Leinster Season Ticket holder since the Donnybrook days, a supporter of the Irish teams home and abroad and can regularly be seen cheering on Junior Rugby at Stillorgan RFC (a labour of love). As well as spectating, she dabbles in playing a bit and is a member of Old Belvedere RFC and fully paid up member of the front row union.
