Members of the Ireland Women’s Grand Slam winning squad will embark on a Six Nations trophy tour across Ulster next week, hoping to inspire thousands of girls to take up the sport.
With a rising interest in the women’s game, the tour will provide opportunities for school children, club members and the wider community to see the trophy and be inspired by their heroes.
The trip will begin in Belfast on Monday, where Nikki Caughey and Amy Davis will accompany the trophy to six schools and will also officially launch the Rugby Academy at Belfast Metropolitan College.
Stacey-lea Kennedy will take over the reins in her hometown of Derry-Londonderry on Tuesday, visiting three schools in addition to City of Derry RFC. Donegal native Nora Stapleton will continue the journey on Wednesday by attending seven schools as well as the Letterkenny RFC Awards Evening.
Another Ireland star, Ashleigh Baxter, will visit a number of Fermanagh schools on Thursday morning, before assisting with a rugby blitz at the Lakeland Forum, Enniskillen. This session will involve 20+ girls from at least three schools and will have some dignitaries in attendance. She will then continue with the trophy to Fivemiletown College and Omagh RFC in County Tyrone.
Baxter will also be involved on the final day of the tour in Dungannon, Armagh and Cavan. The Mayor of Armagh will attend a special assembly in St. Patrick’s, Keady, with over 300 girls present, and later in the afternoon Cavan RFC will play host to an event involving a number of schools from the surrounding area.
