Noel Ferguson worked for Leinster Rugby, promoting the game in Wexford for nearly 20 years. As Ireland take on New Zealand on Sunday, he speaks about the journey the game has been on
Noel Ferguson of Wexford Wanderers. Photo: Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile
The trajectory of women’s rugby in Ireland is absolutely remarkable. Ireland’s men played their first international test against England at the Oval in 1875. It would be well over a century, not until 1993, that Ireland’s women played their first match. Folklore has it that the team were only introduced to each other on the staircase of the Edinburgh guesthouse they were staying in the night before the game.
Twenty years later, Ireland won an historic Grand Slam, finished fourth in the 2014 Rugby World Cup a year later, before winning another Six Nations Championship in 2015. But in 2021, dozens of current and former players signed a damming letter which was sent to then Sport Minister Catherine Martin, informing her that they had “lost all trust and confidence in the IRFU and its leadership”.