Families of Ireland players have been through the ups and downs to get this far and are now living an emotional rollercoaster from the stands
Dad Mick, Sadhbh, and brother Dúalta
It was a moment of almost private acknowledgement in public view. When Fiona Tuite scored her first international try in Ireland’s opening game of the Women’s Rugby World Cup two weeks ago, she pointed to her family inside Franklin’s Gardens. “Everything I do is for them,” Tuite would later say.
There was her mother Nora, dad Des who had ‘Tuite’ on the back of his top, and fiancé Eric O’Sullivan who plays prop for Ulster. A wedding is coming next summer but this time is all about the World Cup. Nora never imagined that when her daughter took up rugby as a hobby over a decade ago that it would lead to this.