Niamh Briggs Named As Ireland Women’s Assistant Coach

The IRFU is delighted to announce the appointment of Niamh Briggs as Ireland Women’s Assistant Coach ahead of the 2022 TikTok Women’s Six Nations.

Former Ireland captain Briggs joins Greg McWilliams’ Coaching Team as preparations for the 2022 Championship begin this weekend with a National Screening Camp at the IRFU High Performance Centre.

Having won 57 caps for Ireland and been an integral part of two Six Nations-winning sides, including one as captain, Briggs brings a wealth of experience and rugby intellect to the position.

The Waterford native also represented Ireland at two Rugby World Cups, and Briggs’ appointment to the Coaching Team is a significant statement from new Head Coach McWilliams, who will finalise his management group for the Six Nations in the coming weeks.

Briggs most recently played a key role in Munster’s Vodafone Women’s Inter-Provincial success as Assistant Coach and has continued her coaching development as Head Coach of UL Bohemians.

Commenting on her new role, the former Ireland out-half said: "I am delighted to come on board as an Assistant Coach as part of Greg’s coaching team. I worked with Greg during my playing career and while it is early days in his tenure, I believe he is building something really exciting as we strive to move Irish Women’s rugby forward, both at a domestic and international level.

"I am excited to get started, to work with Greg and the rest of the management team, and to get to know the players as we build towards the Six Nations. It’s going to be a challenging and busy couple of months, but it’s fantastic opportunity for us to create a special environment and help players achieve their dream of playing in green."

With under two months to go until Ireland’s opening Six Nations game against Wales at the RDS on 26 March, Briggs will get to work immediately as 41 Energia All-Ireland League based players assemble at the IRFU HPC in Dublin this weekend for a three-day screening camp.

McWilliams has been working hard behind the scenes over the last couple of months to strengthen High Performance links, and the National Team set-up, to the domestic game.

The Ireland Head Coach is keen for players based in England to continue to be exposed to game time and accordingly they will remain available to their Premiership clubs this weekend, while members of the Ireland Women’s Sevens squad – who last weekend made history by winning a HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series silver medal in Seville – will be integrated into the group in the coming weeks.

Outlining the purpose of this weekend’s screening camp, McWilliams said: "This is an exciting time for domestic rugby and the Energia All-Ireland League, and we've selected a squad for this weekend's screening camp that is reflective of that.

"We've been very clear with the players as to the profile we're looking for and we're looking for players with a good skillset, who bring an energy and intent and are able to go for long distances with high quality ball in play time.

"This weekend is all about testing the players in different situations. It's important we test their rugby playing ability, but also their mind and their intellect around the game. We've set up a weekend that is going to be challenging for the players but it is also going to give the staff good information as we build towards the TikTok Women’s Six Nations."

Ireland open their 2022 Women’s Six Nations campaign against Wales at The RDS on Saturday, 26 March (Kick-off 4.45pm), before travelling to France in Round 2 on Saturday, 2 April.

McWilliams’ side will play their second home game of the Championship, against Italy, at Musgrave Park in Cork on Sunday, 10 April (Kick-off 5pm). The penultimate weekend sees Ireland travel to face England on Sunday, 24 April, before the final home match of the campaign, against Scotland, is staged at Kingspan Stadium in Belfast on Saturday, 30 April (Kick-off 8pm).