A Laois woman is in line to win her first ever cap for the Ireland Women’s Rugby team after she was called up to the squad for the first time today.
Eimear Corri, who previously played for Portlaoise, has been named in Ireland’s team for three tests next month.
She is joined by Kilcavan’s Leah Tarpey who will be hoping to add to her two caps over the games.
Eimear began playing rugby in Portlaoise RFC in the backs at centre and wing.
While studying in Dublin she plays with Blackrock College and it is here that forwards coach Philip Doyle came up with the idea of combining Eimear’s height and strength with her speed to become an edge forward in the second row.
This enables her to get much more involved in attack and defense.
The transition took a while but bore fruit with Eimear’s participation in Leinster’s recent successful inter-provincial campaign.
As a final year medical student, it is a challenge for Eimear to balance academic and sporting life, but her college, the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI), provides all the support it can to make it possible.
Eimear is hoping to follow the path of the other Laois internationals, Alison Miller, and Emma Hooban, while playing alongside Leah Tarpey.
Head Coach Scott Bemand’s Ireland squad are set for the upcoming World Rugby WXV3 Tournament in Dubai.
The squad is made up of 17 forwards and 13 backs with 15 players from the Women’s Interprovincial Champions Leinster.
The remainder of the squad is made up of 3 from Munster, 3 from Ulster, 5 from Connacht and 4 UK club based players.
Clara Barrett, Ruth Campbell, Megan Collis, Eimear Corri, Sarah Delaney and Katie Whelan are all coming into their first senior squad and have the opportunity alongside Fiona Tuite to earn their first international cap in Dubai.
Unfortunately, Deirbhile Nic a Bháird was unavailable for selection due to a knock picked up in a training game at the weekend.
Commenting on the announcement, Scott Bemand said: “Since joining the program a month ago, there has been a significant amount of work gone in to enabling this group of players to perform on the world stage.
“The playing group has been brilliant, embracing a new culture and training identity that will lay the foundations for future success. We know what we’re going after and I’m excited to see them bring it to life in WXV.”
The squad will depart for Dubai on October 6 ahead of their first game on October 13 versus Kazakhstan.
All matches will be streamed free on World Rugby’s RugbyPass platform.
Ireland Squad – WXV3 Dubai 2023
Forwards:
Aoife Wafer (Blackrock College RFC/Leinster) 1
Brittany Hogan (Old Belvedere RFC/Ulster) 15
Christy Haney (Blackrock College RFC/Leinster) 10
Dorothy Wall (Blackrock College RFC/Munster) 20
Edel McMahon (Exeter Chiefs) 21
Eimear Corri (Blackrock College RFC/Leinster)*
Fiona Tuite (Old Belvedere RFC/Ulster)*
Grace Moore (Saracens/IQ Rugby) 10
Linda Djougang (Old Belvedere RFC/Leinster) 29
Maeve Óg O’Leary (Blackrock College RFC/Munster) 4
Megan Collis (Railway Union RFC/Leinster)*
Neve Jones (Gloucester-Hartpury) 18
Niamh O’Dowd (Old Belvedere RFC/Leinster) 1
Ruth Campbell (MU Barnhall RFC/Leinster)*
Sadhbh McGrath (City of Derry/Cooke RFC/Ulster) 5
Sam Monaghan (Gloucester-Hartpury/IQ Rugby) 15
Sarah Delaney (Cill Dara RFC/Leinster)*
Backs:
Aoibheann Reilly (Blackrock College RFC/Connacht) 4
Aoife Dalton (Old Belvedere RFC/Leinster) 7
Aoife Doyle (Railway Union RFC/Munster) 17
Béibhinn Parsons (Blackrock College RFC/Connacht) 18
Clara Barrett (Ballina RFC/Connacht)*
Dannah O’Brien (Old Belvedere RFC/Leinster) 7
Eve Higgins (Railway Union RFC/Leinster) 9
Katie Whelan (Old Belvedere RFC/Leinster)*
Leah Tarpey (Railway Union RFC/Leinster) 2
Méabh Deely (Blackrock College RFC/Connacht) 7
Molly Scuffil-McCabe (Railway Union RFC/Leinster) 9
Nicole Fowley (Galwegians RFC/Connacht) 8
Natasja Behan (Blackrock College RFC/Leinster) 7
WXV3 Ireland Fixtures
- 13th October versus Kazakhstan 19.30 (local time) 16.30 Irish time
- 21st October versus Colombia 17.00 (local time) 14.00 Irish time
- 28th October versus Spain 17.00 (local time) 14.00 Irish time
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