Eight weeks ago Philip Doyle was appointed head coach of Ireland for the forthcoming Women's Rugby World Cup after Kevin West stepped down for personal reasons. In the first part of two, Doyle looks ahead to his second Women's Rugby World Cup as coach and discusses how the game has changed in the past four years.
I only got the call eight weeks ago, but I remember sitting
around the table in the IRFU gladly saying yes and being landed
with 'oh here's a World Cup to prepare for'. I have
done it before so it has been a challenge, but I will be honest, a
good challenge.
Kevin (West) unfortunately had to step down for personal
reasons which is an awful shame because he is a fantastic coach and
a big loss to the Women's game, but he flagged it to me during
the Six Nations that it could have been a possibility. The IRFU
rang me and asked me to have a chat with them and I gladly stood up
to the plate.
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It is an absolute privilege to coach this team as it was four years ago. The one good thing about it is I am obviously experienced in the women's game and the general squad knew me from a few years ago and during the Six Nations.
But I am looking forward to another Rugby World Cup and bringing this team on. We have been working really hard, my backroom staff are absolutely fantastic, they have been taking a lot of work off me ... it has been a lot of work but I am here to enjoy myself, this is what I love doing so it is not a burden in my eyes.
Better calibre
I took an awful lot of what Kevin brought in which was excellent. I haven't reinvented the wheel, I have just taken over and as I was there already it has been pretty seamless. Obviously I am different, I am a different personality and I have to put my stamp on it, but it has been very easy. The girls are buying into the way I like to coach and the way I run things and once they buy into it everything just rolls on lovely and smoothly.
In 2006 the players were not affiliated with the IRFU so we had to get our own money together and all the sponsorship. It was good times, but hard times at the same time. Everything we did was for ourselves.
Things have now changed, the girls have changed physically and the conditioning is an awful lot better in the last four years than what it was then. Without doubt the skills are higher and the tempo of the game is faster. The skill level has gone up and the players know-how and game appreciation has definitely improved so you are dealing with a better calibre of player now which is easier to coach.
It pushes me and my coaches to be honest, because the girls always want to improve so as a coach it pushes us to be better and come up with better ideas and keep pushing and pushing and pushing because it is all about empowering the players to be better.
It is very enjoyable at the moment. The support they are giving us has made life so much easier. I now only have to concentrate on rugby and trying to play a broad, wide, expansive brand of attractive rugby.
Taking the gas off
But you do have to push your hand a little bit to make them relax, to take the weekend off, go away, or even climb a mountain if you have to but just get away from rugby for a while. It is a tough thing to do but they are managing quite well.
At the start of this World Cup campaign we did ask for 100
percent and so far they are just giving that and more, they do have
to learn how to sit down a bit every now and again.
All that makes competition for places incredibly high and
when coming to picking my 26. Some people saw that I had to make
one or two really hard choices, leaving out one or two of very
experienced girls, but that is the calibre of the Irish game at the
moment.
Undoubtedly it was a lot harder this time. I could have picked
my top XV before I even went to Canada four years ago but this time
around it is a completely different story, some of the areas in my
squad is just absolutely fierce, especially out in the backs and up
front the girls have really put it up.
We have had games against Scotland and Wales in preparation
and I am trying to tell the girls they are training games, we
don't have to peak at 100 percent in them and that it's all
about peaking when we arrive at the World Cup and for our first
game against England, that is when we have to peak.
Sometimes you have to tell them to take the gas off, take it off a little bit and don't worry, time will come, pressure will come but we have the calibre of players to do that and they are learning to do that. It's not today or tomorrow, but in a couple of weeks when we really have to go full on and that is when we have to peak.
Home support
I know there is already a lot of people supporting us, obviously friends and family, but with London so close to Ireland there is going to be a lot of people and also local Irish expats over there, there are many millions, so I am saying stick the flags on and let's get out there and make some noise.
We are very friendly with the senior men's team too and they are spurring us on. We train on the same campus as they do and we were talking to Declan Kidney only the other day, we were leaving as they were arriving for a one-day camp, so the management were there wishing us all well. They all know what we are up to so they are fully behind us and wishing us all the best.
If you look at the men's they have won Triple Crown and the fantastic Grand Slam, but since then the Irish women have also done well in the Six Nations, we have come third in the last two seasons and the Under 20s have done well winning their Championship.
What I am trying to say is when the men do well it just uplifts this country and everybody just gets a great, great buzz and undoubtedly with the men doing well, the women are doing well and that's good so let's hope we can bring this silverware back, it would be great for the Women's Game.
How proud could you be to stand there as a World Cup winning coach, it is just the pinnacle of your coaching career it would be second to none in my book, it's my ultimate goal personally as a coach I have great pride in coaching this side and as every coach does coaching their country, but it a dream come true. We have the calibre to do it and we will do it if we can.
Stay tuned for part two as Philip Doyle discusses his aspirations for the tournament and gives an in depth look into his 26-strong squad before Ireland begin their WRWC campaign on 20 August against hosts England.
