McCormack named in Ireland U18 rugby squad
The former captain of the Westmeath U16 football team has been named in the Ireland rugby squad for the upcoming U18 Women's Six Nations Festival in Wales.
Caoimhe McCormack (Mullingar RFC/Leinster) has been chosen in head coach Matt Gill's squad for the festival, which takes place between March 29 and April 6.
A multi-talented young sportsperson, who plays football for Ballycomoyle and camogie with Castlepollard, Caomihe, the daughter of former Westmeath hurler Darren McCormack, captained the Westmeath U16 football panel in 2022 and last year was the joint captain of the Castlepollard Community College team that won a Leinster camogie title.
Westmeath LGFA congratulated Caomihe on her selection for the Ireland team on its Facebook page saying, “our loss is rugby's gain”.
Caoimhe and her fellow squad members will assemble for three weekend training camps at the IRFU’s High Performance Centre on the Sport Ireland Campus in west Dublin. The training camps will take place on March 2-3, 9-10, and 16-17.
Head coach Gill, the current women’s provincial talent coach for Leinster, will be assisted by Sana Govender, who has previously coached Munster Women’s and age-grade teams.
There are 11 players returning to the squad who featured at last year’s U-18 Women’s Six Nations Festival in England – Ailish Quinn, Alma Atagamen, Jemima Adams Verling, Abby Healy, Caitriona Finn, Emily Foley, Emma Brogan, Grainne Moran, Lyndsay Clarke, Niamh Murphy, and Sarah Purcell.
A host of clubs across the country are represented in the squad – Creggs, Wexford Wanderers, Balbriggan, Navan, Wicklow, Tuam/Oughterard, Coolmine, Ennis, Enniscorthy, Naas, Gorey, Wicklow, Killarney, UL Bohemian, Ballina-Killaloe, Enniskillen, Ballymena, Mullingar, Carrick-on-Suir, Dungarvan, Larne, Cill Dara, and Ballinasloe.
Speaking ahead of the tournament, head coach Gill commented: "I’m really looking forward to continuing our Irish U-18 Women’s Six Nations preparations and getting our camps underway.
“I’m excited to work with Sana, and our management team, and to work with this incredibly talented group of players.”