Ireland women: Review into World Cup qualifying failure to be independent
- Published
Dejection for Ireland players after the crucial qualifier defeat by Scotland
The IRFU says the review into the failure of the women's team to qualify for the 2022 World Cup in New Zealand will be "entirely independent".
Defeats by Spain and Scotland in last month's qualifiers in Italy ended Irish hopes of making the finals.
The IRFU initially planned to conduct a standard internal review.
The governing body has also made recommendations after a review into inadequate changing facilities in the Women's Interprovincial Championship.
The IRFU had already apologised to Connacht and Ulster players about the temporary facilities at Energia Park in Donnybrook last month as they changed beside rubbish bins and rats were seen in the vicinity.
The review stated that difficulties posed by the Covid-19 pandemic were not "determining factors in causing teams to be set up in the wrong area of the stadium resulting in inadequate and unacceptable facilities/conditions for the teams on the day".
Lack of personnel
There was also "a lack of personnel and resources on the ground to properly manage the weekend fixtures".
The IRFU said: "To empower player-voice, a dedicated female liaison officer should be appointed by the Provincial branches to support and assist players to deal confidentially with any issues they may have in relation to facilities with appropriate authority to address any issues that arise."
It added that the recommendations, which include a new set of guidelines for the running of the inter-pros and extra training for staff, will "lead to the appointment of a single point of responsibility for the delivery of appropriate structures for the women's interprovincial championships in the future".
Connacht drew 12-12 with Ulster in the interprovincial match at Energia Park
"A significant amount of work went into the delivery of what was a highly entertaining interpro series," said IRFU CEO Philip Browne. "However, a series of errors has overshadowed the games, we all take responsibility for such failings and vow to do better by implementing the recommendations of this review."
The review into Ireland missing out on World Cup qualification will be led by former Wales international Amanda Bennett.
She will "conduct an independent review into the preparation, participation and performance of the Ireland Women's XV during the recent RWC 2021 qualifying campaign".
Bennett will be joined by Kevin Bowring and Helen Philips on the independent review panel.
"The overarching aim will be to learn from any issues that led to Ireland failing to qualify and to identify areas of improvement that will support future international campaigns. This review is scheduled to take eight-nine weeks," said the IRFU.
The union has also announced that the review will feed into a "broader structural review" of the implementation of the 2018-2023 Women in Rugby Action Plan.