McDermott gets first Irish cap
THERE was local interest in the Ireland women’s Six Nations match with Wales on Sunday in Donnybrook as Riverstown native Aoife McDermott got her first cap for Ireland and the second row played for the entire 80 minutes.
Ireland were victorious on a bonus point 35-12 win over their Welsh counterparts and it summed up a good weekend for Irish rugby with the men defeating Wales by ten points in an emphatic win the previous day in the Aviva.
The McDermott family were out in force supporting Aoife in Donnybrook and she said it was a fantastic day.
It was a proud moment for the 27-year-old who is no stranger representing her country, the Riverstown native was a basketball star from U16 right up to Senior for Ireland too and now has the special achievement of representing her country in both sports.
She told the Sligo Champion she was really excited having been included in the squad for Sunday’s big game.
“It’s really exciting I found out on the Monday and was delighted. We had the Captain’s run on Saturday too. It’s really exciting being part of the team and getting the win was brilliant.”
The 27-year-old said she was getting lots of congratulatory messages from home and abroad. “There’s been loads of texts and calls I think the whole of Sligo were ringing!
“My family are very excited about it too and my brother Brian flew in from Abu Dhabi. He’s working as a nurse over there and must be making enough money if he’s flying in,” she joked.
Aoife, who plays club with Railway Union and also Leinster began training with the squad since November and says she’s loving it.
“I’ve been training for the Six Nations since January and I’m loving it. I play second row. It’s been a big move from basketball and a whole new challenge, to go from a sport I was so comfortable with and make it in another.” What is even more remarkable is that she only began playing rugby not that long ago.
“I took it up seriously 17 months ago so it’s been quite an acceleration. I felt I had achieved as much as I could in basketball and saw rugby as a new challenge. It’s great that I can say I’ve played both basketball and rugby with Ireland. What I like about rugby is the whole professional set-up that’s what drew me into it. Our Head Coach Adam Griggs is from New Zealand originally but living in Ireland for sometime now.
“I’ve been busy working with Leinster and my club Railway Union too,” Aoife added.
Outside of her rugby career, Aoife also works as a Clinical Research nurse in the Mater hospital.
“We work around the training as we train very early in the mornings and then work in the afternoon.
“The other morning I had a gym session at 5:30am and then we go running on Wednesdays at 6am so we can work in the afternoon and then we do bike sessions in the evenings and I fit in club training too.”
Aoife said women’s rugby is really on a spiral in recent years and there’s lots of players on the team who are good ambassadors for the profile of the sport in Ireland.
“Claire Molloy and Niamh Briggs got their 60th cap on Sunday so that’s really exciting for them.
“There is a few players from Connacht on the side and there’s a few like myself from the Province playing with Leinster too.”
Aoife said it’s also great to see how rugby is thriving in Sligo too. “It’s really great to see it growing and the likes of the players progressing into Connacht as well.
“At our recent game with Italy in Donnybrook there was a group of young Sligo girls who played in an exhibition match and that was really nice to see.”
She said that it’s been a busy few weeks but she’s thoroughly enjoying it.
“We’ve been training the whole way through and it’s been busy but I’m loving it.
“Hopefully the rest of the Six Nations campaign will go well for us now after the Welsh win,” Aoife added.
She is likely to be included for the Scotland game in two weeks’ time after her impressive debut in the green jersey.