14 students will be selected at a screening day on the 8th of August at Belfast Met's Castlereagh Campus where applicants will be put through tests under the watchful eye of the IRFU 7s selectors and management as well as Ulster Rugby star Ashleigh Baxter who represented Ireland at the 2014 Women's Rugby World Cup.
Successful applicants will be placed on the HND academic programme which will blend their learning and academic study together to enhance not only playing performance but also future employability.
They will also become members of the Belfast Met Rugby Academy and will be able to avail of all the benefits of the Rugby Academy (academy leisure wear, strengthening and conditioning coaches, technical coaches and physiotherapy) including eligibility for inclusion in touring sides.
Sevens is a stripped-down version of rugby union, invented in Scotland in the 19th century, with seven players each side on a normal-sized field. Games are much shorter, lasting only seven or ten minutes each half, and tend to be very fast-paced, open affairs. The game is quicker and higher-scoring than 15-a-side rugby and the rules are far simpler. It also gives players the space for superb feats of individual skill.
Anthony Eddy, Director of Rugby Sevens at Irish Rugby Football Union said: "This programme provides athletes with a wonderful opportunity to focus on their education and a career pathway as well as on their rugby development. It allows the athlete to fast track their rugby development with the ambition of further representative honours."
For more information contact: nathanmoore@belfastmet.ac.uk.