Dublin girls try out at tournament

GIRLS from The King’s Hospital in Palmerstown have taken part in the first ever All-Ireland GX7s tournament in the Aviva Stadium.

A total of 16 schools representing all four provinces made the trip to the capital for the finals.

Under the watchful eye of several Ireland 7s and XV stars, including captains Lucy Mulhall and Niamh Briggs, Sophie Spence, Audrey O’Flynn and Louise Galvin, the action was fast and furious throughout the day despite the weather.

The IRFU Director of Sevens and Women’s Rugby, Anthony Eddy was also on hand and with the Ireland Women’s 7s aiming for a shot at the Olympics he may well have spotted some future internationals.

Sacred Heart Tullamore scored first in ‘Golden Try’ extra time to defeat Enniskillen Collegiate.

In the Plate Final Monaghan Collegiate and Rockwell College finished all square at full time and after extra time so Monaghan were declared winners having scored first.

Speaking about the day the IRFU Women’s and Girl’s Development manager Nora Stapleton said: “Today was the culmination of a lot of hard work by the schools, their teachers and coaches and the development officers in all four provinces.

“It was just incredible to see so many girls take to the pitch in Aviva Stadium. I was lucky enough to play there for Ireland and now these girls can say they did the same. GX7s has brought rugby to schools that only a few years ago would never have thought about the sport so we are building for the future and bringing more girls to the game than ever before.”

The competition was run at provincial level during March and April, with branch staff in all four provinces running local blitzes that saw every school performing admirably on the day.

The schools were also treated to a tour of the home team dressing room in the Aviva Stadium and had the opportunity to run out from the tunnel onto the main pitch.