A 12-Women Ireland Development squad has been confirmed for the Dubai 7s Invitational by Director of Rugby 7s Anthony Eddy.

The squad combines players who have experience on the World Rugby Women's Sevens World Series with younger talent that is progressing through the Ireland Women's 7s programme.

Niamh Byrne, Anna McGann, Kim Flood and Katie Heffernan all competed on the World Series last season, and their experience will be important for some of the younger players involved, as will the experience of Jeamie Deacon, who lined out at centre for the Ireland Women's 15s during this summer's Women's Rugby World Cup.

Kathy Baker, Brittany Hogan, Emily Lane and Molly Scuffil-McCabe have all represented Ireland at schools and U18s level over the last number of seasons, while Daisy Earle has also progressed through the 7s pathway. Suttonians' Nicole Carroll and Railway Union's Juliet Short, with two players who have impressed in the Women's domestic leagues complete the squad.

The Ireland Development side are in a pool with invitational sides Wrravens and Almaty RFC and international side Belgium. Their game against Belgium will take place on the main pitch at the Dubai Sevens Stadium on Thursday afternoon.

On confirmation of the side, Anthony Eddy said;

"The Dubai Sevens tournament provides us with the opportunity to bring a development side to compete against strong invitational and international sides. We have Belgium in our pool, but Wales and Poland have also entered teams, and there is also a Russian Development side competing, so it is a challenging competition.

We have a blend of youth and experiences in the side, and this tournament provides them all with an opportunity for some valuable game time and tournament experience. We are looking for a really good team performance and individually this tournament provides all players with the opportunity to compete for selection in other World Series tournaments.

For more information on the Dubai 7s, or to buy tickets, visit: www.dubairugby7s.com

Ireland Women's Development 7s – Dubai Invitational 7s, Sevens Stadium, Dubai – 30 November / 1 December 2017
Kathy Baker (Blackrock College RFC/Leinster)
Niamh Byrne (Railway Union RFC/Leinster)
Nicole Carroll (Suttonians RFC/Leinster)
Jeamie Deacon (Blackrock College RFC/Leinster)
Daisy Earle (Railway Union/Leinster)
Kim Flood (Railway Union RFC/Leinster)
Katie Heffernan (Mullingar RFC & Railway Union RFC/Leinster)
Brittany Hogan (Ballynahinch RFC/Ulster)
Emily Lane (Mallow RFC/Munster)
Anna McGann (UCD RFC & Old Belvedere RFC/Leinster)
Molly Scuffil-McCabe (Garda Westmanstown RFC & St.Mary's College RFC/Leinster)
Juliet Short (Railway Union RFC/Leinster)

Ireland Women's Development 7s – Dubai Invitational 7s Fixtures – Pool B
Thursday 30^th November 2017
Ireland Development v Wrravens – 9:00am (local time)/1:00pm (Irish time) – Pitch 4
Ireland Development v Almaty RFC – 12:00pm (local time)/4:00pm (Irish time) – Pitch 5
Belgium v Ireland Development – 2:34pm (local time)/6:34pm (Irish time)

Friday 1^st December 2017
Play-offs

Ireland Women's Development 7s squad for Dubai Invitational

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