Ireland: On track, but still much to do

Ireland's success in sevens has been nothing short of meteoric. From never having played sevens to qualifying for the World Series through a World Cup quarter-final place in only two years was a remarkable performance.

However, it was a performance built on the experience of players from the 2013 Grand Slam winning Six Nations team who, given the need to defend their title and prepare for the fifteens World Cup, were unavailable for sevens this season.

As a result, a whole new team of young players, many with only limited experience of playing rugby, were drafted in and have been representing Ireland in the WSWS.

It's been the toughest of schools, but the players have learned a lot, and in the final two rounds started to put some results together. So when we caught up with Jon Skurr after the Amsterdam WSWS he was in boyant mood:

"We are pleased at the position that Irish sevens is in because we knew that this year would challenge our resources ?? we had he unenviable job of trying to maintain our world series position in the middle of a World Cup campaign."

As we spoke in Amsterdam,?˜Jon was casting an eye over his development team - the Irish Lightning - who were playing a French development team, which included several faces from their 2014 Grand Slam team,?˜for a place in the Amsterdam Women's Sevens semi-finals.

"It is?˜tough in Ireland where we are only the fourth or fifth biggest sport, but some of the girls we bought with us with the Lightning team in Amsterdam have not played rugby before but they are doing very well. We won through our pool yesterday and now we are holding our own against a strong French side. Barring a couple of scrums and line outs, and not retaining the ball, it's impressive."

"We know we have the talent in Ireland, we just have to teach them rugby. There is pressure on us to deliver and over time it's going to come. And we saw the results [in the WSWS] yesterday, beating Spain having only lost to them in injury time yesterday. Speaking to [New Zealand coach] Sean Horan he was impressed by the development of our girls"

"It's frightening to see how well girls like the Lightening here are playing when its their first tournament. Some had played almost no rugby before this weekend. Overall we are on track?˜and where we expected to be, given our situation."

So what is the target, given the place where Ireland are now?˜- the Olympics in 2020?

"No. We genuinely believe that 2016 is still possible ?? it's still the target."

"Especially post World Cup, when we??ll have a number of players come back, so we??ll be in a good position with good strength across the board. We are looking to have 12-14 players centralised this summer, with other girls coming through. Getting to Rio in 2016 will be tough. The key is to do well in the Euros, and then requalify for the World Series."

Where will Ireland's priorities be after the World Cup?

"After the World Cup it??ll be hard because the sevens season is now 12 months long. But we firmly believe that players benefit from playing both ?? it??s a learning experience, and you get more game experience. How we juggle it will be hard ?? it will depend on individual players, tournament times, it's going to be a challenge for anyone ?? it is a challenge for everyone, and not many teams have got it right yet."

"Very few have been able to move players between sevens and fifteens and maintain form. Even when it comes to this year's World Cup I do not think we are going to have many sevens players involved across the board."

Commenting today as the squad was announced Jon added "The preparation for the Europeans has been good. We have made a few changes from Amsterdam with Nicole Cronin and Amee-Leigh Murphy Crowe returning to the squad."

"The girls' skills are improving week on week. That said, it is time for us to push on and start to deliver consistent performances."

11.28 v Portugal; 14:28 v Belgium; 17:28 v England (all local time)

Shannon Houston (Blackrock/Leinster) (capt); Martina McCarthy (St. Mary's/Talent ID Programme); Elaine Ryan (Talent ID Programme); Nicole Cronin (Shannon/Munster); Claire Keohane (UL Bohemians/Munster); Hannah Tyrrell (Old Belvedere/Leinster); Amee-Leigh Murphy Crowe (Clanwilliam/Munster); Katie Fitzhenry (Blackrock/Leinster); Nikki Caughey (Belfast Harlequins/ Ulster); Siobhan Barrett (Tralee/ Munster); Laura Lee Walsh (Talent ID Programme); Susan Vaughan (Railway Union/Leinster)

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