Despite the external noise that has surrounded the team in recent days, Ireland women’s rugby internationals Amee-Leigh Murphy Crowe and Nichola Fryday are doing their best to focus on an autumn Test with the USA at the RDS on Friday evening (kick-off 7.15pm).
Speaking to the media on Monday, the IRFU’s director of women’s rugby Anthony Eddy made a number of comments that have caused anger both inside and outside of the Irish camp.
In addition to refuting the long-held claim that the 15-a-side game has been neglected in the favour of the 7s code – which the Australian also oversees – Eddy suggested self-imposed pressure had affected the players’ performances during their unsuccessful World Cup qualification campaign in Parma back in September.
As well as attracting criticism from former players Jenny Murphy and Claire Molloy (who retired in the aftermath of that failed qualifying process), current international star Cliodhna Moloney likened his remarks to “slurry spreading” in a social media post.
While she backs the Galway native’s right to express her view, Murphy Crowe did her utmost to remain coy on the subject.
“I’ll support Cliodhna, she’s my team-mate. I support all my team-mates, but that is Cliodhna’s comment and for me personally throughout these next three days, I’m solely focused on the game. I don’t like to delve into too many distractions because I know it could affect a performance and that’s not personally what I’d like to do,” Murphy Crowe explained.
Friday’s fixture at the RDS – an historic debut for an Ireland women’s rugby team at the Ballsbridge venue – will be the side’s first since falling short in their quest to reach the World Cup.
A second Test will follow in the same venue on November 21st against Japan, which will be Adam Griggs’ final game as head coach before he makes way for Greg McWilliams in the new year.
While Murphy Crowe confirmed the group have spoken about what happened on the field of play in Parma, she doesn’t anticipate Eddy’s recent interview being a topic of conversation any time soon.
“We sat down together in the first camp and we chatted about how everyone is grieving. We all want to know how each other feel. We are all team-mates and friends at the end of the day and we all want to be there for each other. We had a review with our management on the performance side of things,” Murphy Crowe said.
Two reviews
“We’ve got learnings from that and we are going to try and sharpen up for these games ahead. I don’t think we’ll sit down and talk about what has gone on in the media the past few days. As I said, and I don’t want to sound like I’m brushing things away, we do have a game against a great international side and we have to respect that too.”
In the wake of Ireland’s World Cup disappointment, two reviews have been launched by the IRFU.
The first one is looking into the qualification campaign itself, with former Welsh international Amanda Bennett conducting the review as an independent consultant. The findings of this will then feed into a separate, broader structural review of the 2018-2023 Women in Rugby Action Plan, which set out a number of targets in relation to the international team that haven’t been met.
Fryday was as frustrated as anyone to miss out on a World Cup for the second time in her career – she didn’t make the squad for the 2017 finals – but has faith that these reviews can help put Irish women’s rugby back on the right road.
“For me, what happened in Parma was hugely disappointing. It’s something I would have been working for since the last World Cup. That was my sole focus. To not achieve that, it was heartbreaking,” she said.
“There is no one thing that led to us not qualifying for the World Cup, so I’m putting my trust in the independent review. That we will feed into it and that the other issues and factors that led to us not qualifying will come through that. At the moment that’s all I really have to say because I’m trusting the independent review.”
