Ireland step up World Cup activity

AWomen's Rugby World Cup 2017 Trophy Tourwill start on 17th of March 2017 and will visit every one of Ireland's 32 counties as part of its journey to the final at Kingspan Stadium in Belfast on the 26th August.Clubs and schools all over Ireland are now being invited to apply to host the Trophy as it travels across the country.AWomen's Rugby World Cup 2017 Ambassador Programmehas also been launched.  Ambassadors can get involved in a variety of activity including using social media to help promote the WRWC 2017, engaging with IRFU social media channels and using the hashtag #BringIt; becoming the information point for their club or school for everything to do with the WRWC 2017; start to look to to set up a minis, girls or women's rugby team in their local club or school or organise a group to attend the Women's International matches this Autumn and also the Six Nations matches in February/March 2017 and the Women's Rugby World Cup in August 2017.

There will be an awards system for Ambassadors to say 'thank you' for getting on board, depending on their commitment and contribution over the course of the season. Rewards such as official Ambassador kit and tickets to the Women's Rugby World Cup 2017 are up for grabs.The IRFU has also set a target of2017 new female registrations across Ireland in the year 2017.  That's on top of the thousands of women and girls who already play the game on the island. With that in mind, a number of initiatives have been launched to encourage more females to take up the sport.The push behind achieving this target has already begun with the re-branding and re-launch of the IRFU initiative, 'Give it a Try'. Through a series of videos, all females, young and old, are being encouraged to give rugby a try at their local club. Check out www.irishrugby.ie/giveitatry for more information. There will also be 'Give it a Try' Club Hubs popping up across the country during the summer of 2017.The IRFU have also announced a new programme forSecondary School Rugby for Girls – 'GirlsX7s'Kicking off in September this year, all schools are encouraged to sign up to the IRFU GirlsX7s programme. Local Branches are on hand to offer support to teachers who would like to introduce their players to the game of GirlsX7s.This game is played across half pitch (X = cross) with 7 players on each team. Players learn the basics of rugby including; catch/pass, tackle, ruck contact area, line-out and scrum set up.A series of Provincial Girlsx7s tournaments will take place across the country in September/ October 2016. Regional/Provincial tournaments will be run by Provincial Development Officers with teams progressing through to an IRFU National GirlsX7s in Dublin in November.  The tournament will run again in September 2017 with schools being able to register before they break up in June 2017.Rugby Development staff will be working with schools to increase the opportunity for girls to play rugby right across the island of Ireland.Speaking at the announcement, Women's Rugby World Cup 2017 Ambassador Fiona Coghlan said;"The excitement has started to build ahead of the Women's Rugby World Cup 2017 next August as tickets are now on sale for the finals and the rugby season is kicking off in clubs and schools across the country.The IMPACT Beyond programme is going to be brilliant in helping to promote the Women's Rugby World Cup 2017 and to develop and build the game of Women's Rugby across the island of Ireland.The Trophy Tour is a great way for clubs and schools to celebrate the competition, as well as getting the chance to host such an esteemed Trophy. The ambassador programme is also a fantastic way for individuals to help make the competition a success and the 2,017 in 2017 is a great plan to help get more females playing the game of rugby.”