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'My goal has always been the World Cup' - Scuffil-McCabe

'My goal has always been the World Cup' - Scuffil-McCabe

BBC News20-04-2025

Women's Six Nations: Wales v IrelandVenue: Rodney Parade Date: Sunday, 20 April Kick-off: 15:00 BSTCoverage: Watch on BBC One Wales, BBC iPlayer, BBC Sport online, listen on BBC Sounds, BBC Radio Wales and BBC Radio Cymru
Ireland scrum-half Molly Scuffil-McCabe said that her goal has always been to secure a place in Scott Bemand's squad for this year's Women's World Cup.Scuffil-McCabe will make her first appearance of this year's Six Nations against Wales on Sunday.And she is hoping to impress enough to earn herself a place at the World Cup in England which kicks off in August, as she battles with Emily Lane for a starting berth."My goal has always been the World Cup then working past that," she said."I've put a lot of work into this World Cup being the one I want to be involved in and that has been my 'why' the last few years."
The 27-year-old said she will assess "what's next" in terms of club rugby after the World Cup.She currently splits her time between playing domestically in Ireland with Railway Union and Leinster, as well as in New Zealand with Manawatu Cyclones.Aiming to spend three months at a time in each country, she says the experience in New Zealand has been eye-opening in a rugby sense."I'm hoping to go for permanent residency over in New Zealand, I had a small stint with the Hurricanes before I came over which was really nice, a good level and good to see a few more of the Black Ferns and see their structures," she explained."I've enjoyed how much of a different environment it is in one way, but I also love coming back here, I try do my hard work over there to be my best here. "I was a lifeguard over there, so I took a job where I worked three days and trained four days, so it was enough to cover everything."Ireland managed two wins in the Six Nations last year as they finished third.They have already beaten Italy this year and with games against Wales and Scotland to come, Scuffil-McCabe says the team are targeting three wins in this campaign to secure third place again."Looking at last year, what we want to do is push on and get those three [wins] and focus on our own performance," she added."We determine what success is for us, but we will definitely want to push on to those wins."

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