Vikki Wall on adapting to a new sport: I was wrecking their heads

Vikki Wall's switch to rugby was all about reaching the Olympics next summer but for the moment the former Meath and North Melbourne footballer is focusing on her own game.

"Her dream is to go to the Olympics," said IRFU head of women’s performance and pathways Gillian McDarby when the union announced Wall had been contracted to the Sevens programme last September.

The 25-year-old had a handful of non-cap matches under her belt before making her competitive debut against Japan in the World Series in Perth last month, a tournament that Ireland went on to win.

Speaking last November head coach Allan Temple-Jones said he reckoned Wall was ahead of schedule in her bid to get up to speed with a new ball, new rules and a new code.

As she was unveiled as Lucozade’s newest ambassador, the Dunboyne woman has spoken in depth about the challenges she has faced in adapting to the sport, including the fact that if successful she will ultimately take the place of a player who has been in the system for longer.

"I suppose patience isn't something I would pride myself on and it's definitely something I always try and work on but I have to give huge credit to the girls," the double All-Ireland winner said.

"Like, I know for the first month, easily, that I was in there, I was wrecking their heads.

"Whether it was new drills, whether it was just random questions on things that would probably be second nature to them... any question I had, I was never turned away.

"There was never a huff, never a sigh, things like that. They're always so willing to help.

"Whether it's sitting down and going through analysis, like just asking basic questions and just getting them to explain things 10 times over until I actually have a handle on it. I just can't give