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![\"Ireland](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/ireland-women-jubo.jpg\"\/)
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\n Ireland players celebrate their recent win against Netherlands.
\n \u00a9Ireland Rugby League
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Ireland coach Matt Kennerson believes a berth in IRL Rugby League World Cup 2026 would “blow the sport wide open” in the Celtic nation.<\/p>\n
Kennerson has named his final 20-player squad for the inaugural IRL Women\u2019s World Series in Canada which will see the final nation qualify for the 2026 Women\u2019s Rugby League World Cup in Australia and Papua New Guinea.<\/p>\n
The Irish Women take on Nigeria in their opening fixture on Tuesday, October 21, looking for victory and the chance to claim the remaining World Cup berth against the winner of Canada and Fiji in the final five days later.<\/p>\n
All the games are being played at the newly refurbished Terry Fox Stadium and streamed via the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.<\/p>\n
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\n Ireland players celebrate their recent win against Netherlands.
\n \u00a9Ireland Rugby League
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“The excitement has definitely set in amongst our playing group now and we are ready to do battle against the Green Falcons in game one,\u201d Kennerson said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are looking forward to seeing the other nations compete and with only one spot in the World Cup remaining, the fighting Irish spirit will be on full display in Toronto.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ireland warmed up for the trip to Brampton, Ontario with an impressive 42-6 win against Netherlands.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe think we have a good balance in the squad and the hit out against Netherlands was really beneficial,” he said. “Having that game time was super important for the girls and it was a really good stepping stone to the World Series.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wicklow-based Kennerson is realistic about his side\u2019s chances as they take their latest step on a journey that begun in 2021 when the international team was formed.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been a really exciting journey to get this far,\u201d he noted: \u201cFrom what we\u2019ve seen, Nigeria are a little unknown and unorthodox but look a really powerful, athletic team and that\u2019ll be a tough ask. If we can get though that, it doesn\u2019t matter who we face because we know that\u2019ll be a massive task.<\/p>\n
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\n ![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/ireland-beat-nedlands.jpg\"\/)
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\n The Ireland team that beat Netherlands 42-6 in August.
\n \u00a9Ireland Rugby League
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\u201cWe don\u2019t have a huge pool to choose from but being as I\u2019m involved in a lot of tag and touch rugby, got a lot of friends in union and even GAA we\u2019ve spread our net as wide as we can, we\u2019ve even got a couple who started out as hockey and soccer players in the squad, and we have four heritage players joining us from Australia who will strengthen us.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re planning on having two training sessions when we get to Toronto, so we\u2019ve had pretty good preparation to get continuity as a team. It should be amazing for the girls as an overall, once-in-a-lifetime experience, win, lose or draw.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ireland\u2019s highest profile heritage player is Lily Rogan from Wests Tigers, the same club Kennerson\u2019s father played for.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe calibre of players and quality of domestic games have increased, which is really positive, and if we do have success in Canada, that will blow the sport wide open and give us a footprint. Being recognised as a team that can compete is the next step,” he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cTwo of our girls, Trisha Doyle and Steph Carroll, went from Dublin City Exiles to play in the Australian competition and they\u2019re bringing their experience back.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kennerson is also head coach of the Dublin women\u2019s team, a position he has held since inauguration in 2021, and also included in the squad is exciting current Leinster RU player Molly Boyne, who also represents the Exiles.<\/p>\n
Kennerson confirmed: \u201cThere\u2019s a lot happening on the international stage for rugby league in Ireland; the Wheelchair team have made the World Cup, we\u2019re in the first World Series, our U16s and U18s performed really well in the Four Nations, and we are starting a new men\u2019s cycle with two senior internationals against Wales – hopefully that\u2019ll get more people playing the game.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re travelling with the motto N\u00ed neart go cur le Ch\u00e9ile \u2013 there\u2019s no strength without unity.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ireland squad<\/p>\n
Tricia Doyle, Martha Dwyer (Aspley Devils), Jemma Gallagher (Corrimal Cougars), Molly Boyne, Aimee Clarke, Niamh Griffin, Emma Kelly, Lena Kibler, Cliodhna O\u2019Sullivan, Anna Potterton (Dublin City Exiles), Stacy Hanley, Aifric N\u00ed Ghibne (Galway Tribes), Storm Cobain, Mollie Young (Leigh Leopards), Iona McCusker, Polly Roberts, Jade Walker (London Broncos), Steph Carroll, Sarah Scambary (Mounties), Lily Rogan (Wests Tigers)<\/p>\n
IRL Women’s World Series 2025<\/p>\n
Venue:\u00a0Terry Fox Stadium, Brampton, Ontario<\/p>\n
Tuesday, October 21<\/p>\n
Semi-final: Ireland v Nigeria (kick off 3.30pm)
\nSemi-final: Canada v Fiji (6pm)<\/p>\n
Sunday, October 26<\/p>\n
Third-place play-off: Semi-final losers (1pm)
\nFinal: Semi-final winners (3.30pm)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ireland coach Matt Kennerson believes a berth in IRL Rugby League World Cup 2026 would “blow the sport…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":225314,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[567],"tags":[64,63,760,85],"class_list":["post-225313","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-rugby","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/225313","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=225313"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/225313\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/225314"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=225313"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=225313"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=225313"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}