Whole world in their hands
Ireland has what it takes to win the 2017 Women’s Rugby World Cup, captain Niamh Briggs (left) said as she and former captain Fiona Coghlan attended the announcement that Ireland would host the event.
IRELAND’S women’s rugby captain, Niamh Briggs, says young girls should be actively encouraged to take up the sport as they’ll become happier, more rounded individuals.
“I’m a strong advocate for women’s sport.
“For me, I made my best friends from playing team events, and obviously it has massive benefits physically and mentally,” she told the Irish Independent.
“It’s really amazing to see women’s rugby grow so quickly. It’s very much a social sport and clubs around the country are starting to get more and more girls playing.
“The new stipulations coming in next season is that every club which has a senior women’s team must also have a girl’s team,” she said.
“It’s great because it’s starting to build foundations for the next generation coming through.
“The legacy this era of players leave behind is important – and if it encourages more girls to play
sport then so be it.”
She was speaking following the announcement that Ireland will host the 2017 Women’s Rugby World Cup.
The tournament pool stages will be held at the UCD campus, before moving to Belfast for semi-finals and finals at Queen’s University Sport, and the newly developed Kingspan Stadium in Belfast.
Securing the competition is seen as a major coup for the IRFU, and will prove an important tourism boost north and south, when it kicks off in August 2017.
The women’s game is at an all-time high, in terms of interest and participation, following the 2013 Six Nations Grand Slam.
Ireland achieved its best ever World Cup finish last summer when beating the United States and New Zealand on the way to the semi-finals.
The announcement is likely to also significantly bolster the IRFU’s bid to bring the men’s 2023 Rugby World Cup to these shores. This year’s hosts, England, will benefit from an expected € 2.7bn injection into the British economy this autumn.
IRFU chief executive Philip Browne said interest and participation in women’s rugby has grown significantly in recent years.
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