{"id":30505,"date":"2025-07-29T17:46:11","date_gmt":"2025-07-29T17:46:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/30505\/"},"modified":"2025-07-29T17:46:11","modified_gmt":"2025-07-29T17:46:11","slug":"irish-rugby-team-of-the-series-recognition-for-neill-and-oconnor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/30505\/","title":{"rendered":"Irish Rugby | Team Of The Series Recognition For Neill And O\u2019Connor"},"content":{"rendered":"

Coached by Niamh Briggs, the Ireland U-20 squad won two of their three Summer Series matches \u2013 a first for Irish Rugby\u2019s leading age-grade talent \u2013 and posted a new record victory when running out 62-7 winners over Scotland in Caerphilly<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Team of the Series, according to the Opta Index, is comprised of four French players, three each from Italy and Scotland, two apiece from Wales and Ireland, and one from England.<\/p>\n

TEAM OF THE 2025 SIX NATIONS WOMEN\u2019S SUMMER SERIES:<\/p>\n

15. Poppy Mellanby\u00a0(Scotland)
14. Anaick Konyi\u00a0(France)
13. Savannah Picton-Powell\u00a0(Wales)
12. Lucy MacRae\u00a0(Scotland)
11. Robyn O\u2019Connor\u00a0(Ireland)
10. Ceitidh Ainsworth\u00a0(Scotland)
9. Pauline Barrat (France)
1. Mailys Borak\u00a0(France)
2. Chiara Cheli\u00a0(Italy)
3. Alice Antonazzo\u00a0(Italy)
4. Jane Neill\u00a0(Ireland)
5. Robyn Davies\u00a0(Wales)
6. Lou Roboam\u00a0(France)
7. Sophie McQueen\u00a0(England)
8. Elena Errichiello\u00a0(Italy)<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Neill, Ireland\u2019s influential leader up front, started all three games in Wales, one in the second row and the last two in the back row. She was the player-of-the-match in the final round against Scotland, scoring a try in each half.<\/p>\n

The Arklow youngster \u2013 one of the U-23 players permitted in the squad for the Summer Series \u2013 also captained Ireland at last year\u2019s inaugural tournament, and since then has been a Vodafone Women\u2019s Interprovincial Championship winner with Leinster, and a Celtic Challenge runner-up with the Clovers.<\/p>\n

Noted for her strong ball carrying, lineout ability, and tough tackling, Neill, who was part of last year\u2019s Team of the Series too, made the most dominant tackles (7) during the 2025 edition.<\/p>\n

In addition, the Old Belvedere starlet led the Ireland team statistics with 30 carries, 36 successful tackles, a joint-tournament high three breakdown steals, and 14 lineout takes and two steals.<\/p>\n

A number of players from last year\u2019s Summer Series have gone on to represent their country at senior international level \u2013 including Ireland lock Ruth Campbell \u2013 as well as looking set to feature in the fast-approaching Women\u2019s Rugby World Cup.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Speaking about that and her own tournament experience, the 21-year-old Neill said: \u201cIt\u2019s amazing to see the growth. I was fortunate enough to captain last year\u2019s squad, and I think six or seven of the girls have since been involved with the senior camp.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know Ruth Campbell is now consistently with that team, and she was playing with us last year. It\u2019s really inspiring to see the senior team is achievable through this.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were feeling quite a bit sore after the defeat to France. We felt that let them kind of get the run of it at the end, and we didn\u2019t put our best foot forward.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo to come out with that performance and result against Scotland, with only a six-day turnaround, was class. I couldn\u2019t ask for any more, to be honest.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe worked really hard as a pack to get some new lineouts going there, and then the back-line were extra sharp. It\u2019s a great tournament, it is the highest level of rugby I\u2019ve ever played.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s extremely important for girls our age to get that kind of hit-out against opposition of an international standard. It\u2019s really class and I\u2019m excited to see how much more it builds in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

O\u2019Connor, whose quick feet and eye for a break have seen her shine in the back-three, started this past season with an eye-catching senior debut for Leinster as she helped them to become back-to-back Interprovincial champions.<\/p>\n

One of 37 centralised players contracted to the IRFU Women\u2019s High Performance programme<\/a>, the Wexford native has gained valuable experience with the Ireland Women\u2019s Sevens team, scoring four tries during her maiden HSBC SVNS Series campaign.<\/p>\n

Like Neill, the recent Summer Series was O\u2019Connor\u2019s second tournament with the Ireland U-20s after playing in Parma last summer. She finished as the joint-third top try scorer in Wales with three tries, including one during the opening 27-10 triumph over the host nation.<\/p>\n

Just a couple of days after her 20th birthday, she bagged a second-half brace against the Scots in a lively cameo performance. Notably, she topped the 2025 Series\u2019 stats for running metres (317.4) and line breaks (6), and made double figures for tackle breaks (10).<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Reflecting on the runaway win over Scotland, O\u2019Connor said: \u201cI was very happy with how I performed, but huge credit to the rest of the girls who were able to create space for me and get the ball to me.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m very proud of this team. We only came together at the beginning of this year, and we\u2019ve become so close over the past two weeks at the tournament. We\u2019ve really grown together as a team and that showed during the performance.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re very excited and proud of how we performed. In comparison to the loss to France, we really came on and we tidied up the little bits that we needed to get better. We\u2019re all feeling great about that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n


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