Best of luck to Irish teams in the Touch Rugby World Cup

Press release from Irish Touch Rugby Association

Ireland Touch head to the 2019 Touch Rugby World Cup in Malaysia with Harvey Norman as Official sponsorship partners.  

ITA President Aidan Sweeney welcomed Harvey Norman as the Official Sponsorship Partner of the Ireland Touch Association, with an emphasis on women in the sport. He thanked Katie Paige, Harvey Norman CEO for her willingness to endorse the participation of the five Ireland teams including two mixed teams in the Touch World Cup in Malaysia in April. He also welcome Peter Hearn Harvey Norman Ireland CEO to the jersey presentation.

The 2019 Touch World Cup currently has 116 teams registered, nearly a third up from 2015 and four times the number of teams in 2003, with countries heading to South-East Asia from every continent. Two of the Ireland teams participating are current European Champions. The Men’s 50’s and the Mixed 30’s. It is hoped that these and the other Ireland teams will be amongst the medal contenders in Malaysia.

The involvement in the tournament of two mixed teams is central to our efforts to keep young girls and women in Sport. The participation of these women in the Mixed Open and Mixed 30 team is part of our strategy to develop people playing Touch. This will lead to Ireland sending Women’s teams in future to the European and World Championships. Focus and promotion of the women and men playing in Malaysia is key to our goal.

Playing in mixed teams will allow the Ireland female representatives gain the experience of participating at the highest level in a World cup promoting an inclusive environment in sport and will give an opportunity for them to present themselves as role models for upcoming players and to show aspiring young players what they can achieve in sport.

The five Ireland teams were presented with their jerseys at a ceremony in the Aviva Stadium on April 18th. With the squads departing for Kuala Lumpur on April 24th and the World Cup starts April 28th 2019.

You can follow the Ireland team’s progress at the World Cup2019 @Ireland Touch on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram or contact noelcuddy@gmail.com for further information.

https://www.facebook.com/Irelandtouch/

https://www.instagram.com/irelandtouch/

https://twitter.com/touchireland

https://www.instagram.com/touchworldcup2019/

https://www.internationaltouch.org/events/world-cup/2019/