Niamh Briggs named Ireland Women assistant coach

Former Ireland out-half Niamh Briggs has been appointed as assistant coach to the Ireland Women's team.

The 57 times capped Limerick native joins up with new head coach Greg McWilliams, who took over at the end of the November series.

"I am delighted to come on board as an assistant coach as part of Greg’s coaching team," said Briggs, who won two Six Nations championships with Ireland.

"I worked with Greg during my playing career and while it is early days in his tenure, I believe he is building something really exciting as we strive to move Irish Women’s rugby forward, both at a domestic and international level.

"I am excited to get started, to work with Greg and the rest of the management team, and to get to know the players as we build towards the Six Nations.

"It’s going to be a challenging and busy couple of months, but it’s fantastic opportunity for us to create a special environment and help players achieve their dream of playing in green."

The 37-year-old most recently played a key role in Munster’s Vodafone Women’s Inter-Provincial success as assistant coach and has continued her coaching development as head coach of UL Bohemians.

Ireland begin their 2022 TikTok Women's Six Nations campaign against Wales on 26 March in the RDS.

Building towards that, McWilliams will cast his eye over 41 Energia All-Ireland League-based players who assemble at the IRFU HPC in Dublin this weekend for a three-day screening camp.

England-based players will remain at their clubs to get more game time, while the Sevens contingent, who won silver in Seville at the weekend, "will be integrated in the coming weeks".

McWilliams said: "This is an exciting time for domestic rugby and the Energia All-Ireland League, and we've selected a squad for this