Ireland’s captain Niamh Briggs has been ruled out of the Women’s Rugby World Cup through injury.
The experienced Munster full-back and Limerick Garda had successfully recovered from the hamstring injury that had ruled her out of the Six Nations but suffered an injury to her Achilles in training. The injury comes just a week after Ireland’s squad for the tournament was announced.
Ireland Women’s Rugby Head Coach Tom Tierney said;
“Both the players and management are really disappointed for Niamh as everyone has seen the incredible work and effort she’s put in over the last number of months in an attempt to get herself right for this tournament.”
He continued: “For her to have recovered well from her hamstring injury and then suffer a new injury is really unfortunate for her, as everyone knows how much she was looking forward to leading the team in the World Cup.”
Last week when Niamh brought the Women’s Rugby world cup trophy to Arthur’s Quay Park she sounded optimistic about the squad selection and the team’s chances in the tournament, saying;
“We’re obviously delighted with the squad, I think it’s the strongest squad we’ve ever gone in with. It’s going to be difficult we understand that but we are really looking forward to the challenge.”
Louise Galvin has been called into the squad as a replacement for Niamh, and a new Captain to lead the team during the Women’s Rugby World Cup campaign will be confirmed by the Ireland Women’s Management team in the coming days.
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