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Why the Celtic Challenge is giving Irish talent a runway ahead of Women's Six Nations
By Matt Merritt
Not quite sure how it happened, but somehow it’s March already. This means that the Women’s Six Nations is just around the corner, camps are underway and coaches are starting to build the squads that will be their last opportunities to assess players before the Rugby World Cup is upon us!
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For Scott Bemand, continued improvement is the order of the day as his Ireland side look to build on a strong 2024. This means keeping a close eye on the Celtic Challenge and the players using that competition to put their hands up for selection.
Two of those players, Jane Neill and Amy Larn have joined the most recent Ireland camp and will be looking to parlay the opportunity into a first senior cap. They both sat down with RugbyPass recently to discuss how the Celtic Challenge competition has opened up opportunities for them.
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Neill, who captained Ireland Under 20s last year, has been a key piece for the Clovers this season, despite being a little late to the sport.
“Honestly, I started off – when I was younger – hating the sport. My dad is a massive rugby man, and my whole family from my Grandad down are huge Leinster fans. I was never going to play rugby, but then some girls in school took it up with the ‘Give It A Try’ programme,” said the second row.
“From there I played youth rugby, worked my way up to Ireland Under 18s and to my first senior rugby where I was dual registered with Arklow and Old Belvedere. I moved to Galway for college (in 2023) but rejoined Old Belvedere after playing Interpro with Leinster in the summer.”
Quite a rugby career for a young player who had no intention of picking up a rugby ball while growing up, and one that continues to grow. “I played Irish Under 20s this summer, and in the year before. I was fortunate enough to captain the side (in 2024). It was a dream. I could talk about our time in Italy for hours…. I could talk about it for days! The bond we had in the squad was insane, so I was super lucky to be able to captain the group.”
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Going from leading a team to playing a slightly different role with the Clovers requires some changes, but Neill is very self-aware, making it clear that in a room with the likes of Edel McMahon and Enya Breen she’s keen to listen, learn and absorb all she can, taking confidence from the support of senior players around her.
That’s the benefit of the Celtic Challenge and bringing players from across their nations together into representative teams to learn and grow. It’s paid off for Clovers who currently sit second in the competition, two points adrift of Irish rivals Wolfhounds, who inflicted on them their only loss.
It also means that players can stay at home and still play top quality rugby, where in the past moving to England or France was required if they wanted to test themselves against the best on a weekly basis.
“I’m in university in Galway, so to get the chance to play at such a high level and develop my skills while still being a student at home is fantastic. It’s so important to me. I get to train with such great players and then play against quality teams week in, week out at a level I wouldn’t have experienced outside of International games.
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“It’s been great to see some of the girls from the Wales Under 20s team like Maisie Davies and Alaw Pyrs too. They stayed at the same hotel as us in Italy so we became friends… and now we get to play against each other again which is great.”
Now Neill is focused on doing everything she can to catch the eye of her international coaches and earn a spot in Ireland’s ranks. It’s a goal Larn is focused on too, the Ireland 7s international got a taste for big tournaments after playing at the Olympics last year.
Speed is something Larn knows well, the winger is lightning quick and lethal with ball in hand. So much so that she’s started to transition from out wide to being Wolfhounds’ last line of defence at full back. It seems to be working as her team have been atop the league table for weeks and have eight wins across their nine games.
Larn’s journey is similar to Neill’s, though with the added wrinkle of initially joining a boy’s team as there weren’t enough girls of her age at her local club. Eventually a girl’s team was formed and she would progress through the age grades until an opportunity to join the Irish sevens side took her in a new direction, with the reassurance of a contract to boot.
With the Olympics now in the rear-view mirror, Larn is focusing on developing her skills in 15s, and is feeling the difference.
“It’s really nice to mix things up. Sevens is obviously more taxing on the body, you have to be so fit and you’re often playing in really hot countries, so you have to be at peak condition. 15s is much more technical, the game is a little more slowed down, so you have to know your game plan.”
Learning those game plans is key to succeeding in the full team game, so how does the Celtic Challenge help?
“It’s so useful to have something that sits between club rugby and internationals, it’s something we’ve not really had before. With 10 games over a few months you really get to test yourself against some great competition. It’s great exposure and it means that if any of us get called up for internationals we are ready to take that step.”
Ireland have made the most of their player pathway in the last couple of years, with players like Aoife Wafer and Dannah O’Brien giving Bemand some key talent to build around. Don’t bet against Neill and Larn being added to that list.
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I think Ireland will likely finish 3rd in 6N. Dannah O’Brien is becoming an accomplished no 10 with Stacey Flood’s experience a real asset. Their game against France could be the match of the 6N, but aside from the Red Roses (and probably French) games it’s difficult to pick winners