Latest news with #DannahO'Brien
RTÉ News
3 days ago
- Sport
- RTÉ News
Dannah O'Brien 'happy enough here' with no England plans
Ireland out-half Dannah O'Brien has no plans switch to the Premiership Women's Rugby league in England declaring she is "happy" where she is. Many of the Carlow woman's international team-mates ply their trade in England, while star flanker Aoife Wafer will join Harlequins after the Rugby World Cup. Sam Monaghan, Neve Jones and Ellena Perry line out with Gloucester-Hartpury, while Edel McMahon, Clíodhna Moloney MacDonald and Nancy McGillivray are at Exeter. Grace Moore plays for London-based Trailfinders. O'Brien, who made her Ireland debut in 2022 and has 26 caps, plays for Leinster and the Wolfhounds in the Celtic Challenge and is centrally contracted to the IRFU. Despite a British and Irish Lions tour of New Zealand on the horizon in two years' time, O'Brien is satisfied that home is the best place for her to continue her development. "Not for me personally in the next while, I'm happy enough here," the 21-year-old told RTÉ Sport. "The facilities we have here are unbelievable. "The programme we have is [great]. "I've definitely seen improvements in my game in the last few years. "The Celtic Challenge is up and coming and will improve massively in the next few years. "Yeah, I'll be here for a while." O'Brien's only focus is on the World Cup where Ireland will begin their Pool C campaign against Japan on Sunday week. After a wooden-spoon finish in the 2023 Six Nations, Ireland have managed consecutive third-place finishes in the championship, while they claimed the WXV3 title two years ago. Wins over Australia in friendly last year and the WXV1 victory over New Zealand have raised expectations among fans, and O'Brien insists they have the belief to continue that upward trajectory in England. "Maybe [there's a bit more pressure]," she said. "For us, the way we see it is we've built the stepping stones onto the next level, we know we are capable of competing with the best in the world. "It's proof we can go over there and achieve great things. "Last year, playing against New Zealand, there was just a sense of belief that we could beat them. "I think we have a lot of the work done and it's about getting a bit of belief together in each other. "If we do take it step by step I think we'll have a good shot." The Ireland rugby squad have arrived in England ahead of their opening game in the Women's World Cup where they take on Japan. #RTERugby — RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) August 15, 2025 Back-to-back World Cup winners Black Ferns await in round three but Ireland, without influential injured forwards Erin King and Dorothy Wall, aren't thinking that far ahead, with tough battles ahead against Japan and Spain up first. "It's about not looking too far forward," said O'Brien, who arrived to England with the rest of the squad on Friday. "This week is about Japan, going over and getting settled in to training. "They are going to turn up looking to get a win. We'll take each game as it comes. "We've had a good few younger players and returning players coming back in for pre-season. "Obviously, we are going to miss Dorothy and Erin, they were a huge part of our team but there have been a good few players filling in those roles.
BBC News
19-04-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Ireland will not 'take Wales lightly' - O'Brien
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 fly-half Dannah O'Brien said that her side are "not going to take Wales lightly" in their Women's Six Nations meeting at Rodney Bemand's side are third in the table with one win from three games, while Wales are hoping for their first victory under new head coach Sean Lynn after defeats by Scotland, England and Irish won last year's meeting 36-5 in Cork, but O'Brien believes both sides have made massive strides since that game."Wales have a new head coach in, and they are a team that are continuously growing, and travelling away from home is a challenge, so we need to bring our game both sides of the ball," she said."We have come up another level and we're not going to take Wales lightly; they have progressed hugely in the Six Nations."The 21-year-old says that the Ireland squad are familiar with many of the Welsh players having come up against them in the Celtic Challenge."We know what they're about, they're a power team, they have a difficult maul, and you can't go round them," she explained."They're a good physical team and we know it's not going to be an easy game."O'Brien also hopes that Ireland can repeat elements from their last away performance, a 54-12 victory against Italy, in Newport on Sunday."Italy was a good example of us as a backline being more ambitious and pulling the trigger early in the game."You can't do that without a good pack so we want to grow our confidence as a backline and proving we can score multiple tries out wide."
