Former International Tom Tierney to become head coach of women’s side

Former international Tom Tierney has been announced as the new head coach of the Irish Women's team, with Australian Anthony Eddy coming in as Director of Sevens and Women's Rugby.

Eddy's brief will see him coach both men's and women's Sevens, while he'll also be responsible for overseeing the women's 15-a-side program. Tierney, who won 8 caps for the Irish senior side, will commence his role as head coach of the women's 15-a-side team before the start of the Six Nations, while he'll also work as an assistant coach for the women's sevens side. The IRFU have also appointed Galway woman Marian Earles as Strength and Conditioning coach for Sevens rugby and the Women's side. Speaking about the three appointments, the IRFU's performance director David Nucifora believes the new appointments will result in a better integration between sevens rugby and the 15-a-side game for women. "A review of the existing women's rugby representative structures revealed a need for greater integration of both the 15-a-side and Sevens programmes from both a coaching and player support perspective.  We believe we have put in place a strong coaching unit and the appropriate support structures that will enable both versions of the game to drive on in tandem. "The establishment of three full-time positions signifies the IRFU's commitment to creating a high performance environment for Irish representative women's rugby."