Dubai: Ireland coach Jon Skurr is hoping the nation’s IRB Women’s World Series debut in Dubai this weekend is the start of something special for the short-format game back home.
Despite being one of the biggest rugby unions in the northern hemisphere at 15s level, Ireland have never fully embraced the short format and the Irish are noticeable in their absence at the men’s HSBC Sevens World Series. A representative men’s side has previously played in five IRB Sevens World Cups but, at present, the men’s programme is defunct.
However, with the Ireland women’s team having qualified to the second edition of the Women’s World Series for the first time — kicking off with a 12-12 draw with the USA on Thursday — there is hope of getting sevens back on the agenda.
“It’s a small country with limited resources,” Skurr said. “And sometimes those resources have to be put into other areas of development.
“Provincial teams in Ireland have done well in the Heineken Cup, so we already have good player pathways, but it’s up to the Irish Rugby Football Union [IRFU] to decide if sevens can also contribute.
“Ireland doesn’t really have a culture of sevens but the environment of world rugby is changing. It’s up to the IRFU to see if they can fund it properly because there is no use doing something in half measures.”
If Ireland performs admirably in their debut season on the women’s series, that could underline the benefits of the shorter code for the men, especially with the sport’s recent 2016 Olympic inclusion.
“The start of the women’s programme is the start of our involvement in sevens overall and ultimately our goal is to get to the Olympics,” added Skurr, whose team is expected to get strong support from the Irish expatriate community in Dubai this weekend.
Of their opening game against the United States, Skurr said: “It was a slow start. If we had been more clinical, we could have come out with victory instead of a draw, so the girls felt they threw it away. Credit to the USA, every time we threw something at them, they threw something back.
“We just want to concentrate on our performances and, if we are happy with our performances, I think we will win matches. This is a tough tournament and it’s very easy to come out without a win but we will endeavour to put in some good performances and hopefully get into the main cup.”
Of his overall objectives from the series, Skurr added: “The target is to stay in the series. There are seven other fantastic core teams and other leading unions that want core status. We are going to have to work hard to keep core status and improve as we go.
“This is a small group and we have to develop our player base to have more competition for places. There are going to be a lot of learning curves and new players coming in all the time. We want to develop that group and continue to improve.”
