Although last Saturday’s heavy defeat to France in the Women’s Six Nations Championship was her Ireland debut, it wasn’t the first time for Leinster and Blackrock College prop Christy Haney to pick up international representative honours.
A native of Virginia in the United States, Haney first started playing rugby at her local university as an 18-year-old before being capped twice by the USA Rugby Women’s Collegiate All-American team on a tour of Canada.
Having a grandmother who hails from Borrisokane in Co Tipperary meant that making the journey over to Ireland was always on her bucket list, however, and she subsequently took on a masters course in structural engineering at UCD in 2016. Six years later, Haney found herself as one of nine uncapped players in Greg McWilliams’s squad for his maiden Six Nations campaign as head coach, and she is grateful to have another chance to perform in the upper echelons of women’s rugby.
“I think that [the All-American team] was probably my first exposure to a really, really high-standard performing environment. Not that my college team wasn’t that, but it was a little bit more relaxed and understandably so,” Haney explained.
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“That was a really good taste and it’s something that I realised then that I wanted to get back to. I’m incredibly humbled that I have been able to get that opportunity a second time.”
Trailing
When Haney was introduced off the bench against Les Bleus last weekend, Ireland were trailing by 26 points and well on their way towards a second consecutive reversal in this year’s championship.
While Ireland produced a much stronger second-half performance, converted tries from Laure Sansus and Emilie Boulard ensured the hosts nonetheless eased towards a 40-5 triumph. Still, Haney feels there is a lot that McWilliams’s squad can learn from those closing 40 minutes of the action as they look to bring a halt to their current losing streak.
“They [France] presented a very unified pack, which was probably physically what we noticed the most. The drive and the pressure, we’re able to meet them there. I have no doubt we’re going to get there with our scrum. It’s just a matter of bringing that unity.
“That unity is what drives that power forward and that physically is what I felt in the frontrow. They presented a great platform for their attack, but we’re going to take that now and we’re going to bring that into our attack.”
Shopping window
Despite being an unused replacement for the opening-round loss to Wales at the RDS, Haney has now put herself in the shopping window for a starting berth on Sunday as Ireland entertain Italy at Musgrave Park in Cork.
This will be the first women’s rugby international to take place on the Leeside, with the IRFU having decided to move the team around the country for this year’s Six Nations. After going through a forensic examination of the French game, Haney is confident Ireland are ready to take on a team they have defeated three times within the past 18 months.
“I think there’s going to be something said for being in Cork and being at home that’s really exciting. That we’re going to have that bit of a boost and that bit of confidence. We’ve gone back together, we’ve reviewed tape and we’re coming out for that third week in a row with that little bit more confidence.
“Obviously we have to take on a lot of learnings from last week, but I think there’s just a lot of excitement going into this weekend to perform and follow through on the things we know we can do,” Haney added.
