Ireland prepare for busy schedule at Abbotstown

Ireland men's hockey team are set to play their first capped international fixtures in Dublin since May 2019 as they welcome Chile and Austria to Abbotstown next week for final warm-up games ahead of the EuroHockey Championship qualifiers in August.

The Irish senior women will also play two uncapped games against France at the venue as they get back into gear for the Euro qualifiers following their World Cup campaign.

It will be the first time the Sport Ireland Campus has hosted a formal senior international hockey fixture and acts as preparation for the women's hosting of their qualifier at the venue.

For the 14th-ranked men, coach Mark Tumilty has named a 23-player panel with Lisnagarvey’s Mark McNellis the one addition to the panel having missed the recent successful series against Italy and the Four Nations tournament in Glasgow. Charlie Rowe steps out this time.

They will face world number 23 side Chile three times in what will be a tough challenge following their run to the Pan-America Cup final in January. Those games will start next Tuesday 2 August with the second game on Wednesday 3 August and the closing clash on Tuesday 9 August.

Ireland will face Austria (ranked 20th) on Saturday 6 August and Sunday 7 August.

"These are an important series of matches as they are the final preparation before we go to Calais for the Euro qualifier," said Tumilty.

"I feel we have made progress in recent months but we must continue to develop as a group during this series. It is also vital that the results are positive".

It'll be the women's first fixture since the World Cup in which they finished in 11th place overall. Caoimhe Perdue is a doubt due to a hand injury sustained against South Africa in the classification matches.

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