Clare native named to Irish Women’s squad for World Rugby Tournament in Dubai

CLARE native Edel McMahon has been selected for the Irish women’s rugby squad for the upcoming World Rugby tournament in Dubai.

The Kilmihil woman is a part of the 30-woman team travelling to the Middle East for the tournament which is due to begin October 13.

The squad is made up of 17 forwards and 13 backs with 15 players from the Vodafone Women’s Interprovincial Champions, Leinster. The remainder of the squad is made up of three from Munster, three from Ulster, five from Connacht and four UK club based players, including McMahon.

She currently plays club rugby in the UK with Exeter Chiefs. Her first senior club was Galwegians RFC before she furthered her development with Connacht at interprovincial level. After the 2019 Women's Six Nations, prompted by Claire Molloy, she decided to move to England to get Premier 15s experience and joined Wasps before moving to Exeter.

In the English game, McMahon has established herself as one of the division's top turnover queens, posing a notable threat to opposition attacks around the breakdown.

New Head Coach Scott Bemand has today named a 30-player Ireland Women's squad for the upcoming WXV3 tournament in Dubai #IrishRugby

— Irish Rugby (@IrishRugby) September 26, 2023

Clara Barrett, Ruth Campbell, Megan Collis, Eimear Corri, Sarah Delaney and Katie Whelan are all coming into their first senior squad and have the opportunity alongside Fiona Tuite to earn their first international cap in Dubai.

Commenting on the announcement, Scott Bemand said: "Since joining the program a month ago, there has been a significant amount of work gone in to enabling this group of players to perform on the world stage."

The squad will depart for Dubai on October 6 ahead of their first game on October 13 against Kazakhstan.

All matches will be streamed free on World Rugby’s RugbyPass platform.