St Mary’s Partner London Irish to Host Talent Identification Day

The official Sporting Partner of St Mary’s University, Twickenham, London Irish, is to hold a Talent Identification Day for its new Women’s Premier 15 Squad.

Hosted at the club’s Hazelwood training facilities on 15^th August, the day will seek to identify female players aged over 17, who have the potential and promise for Premier Rugby. Successful candidates will be invited to join their Premier academy. The day will be run by the London Irish lead of on-field development, Graham Smith, who will be joined by other guest talent identification coaches.

The coaches are aiming to discover the next generation of talented female players who are looking to pursue a pathway into elite sport with the soon-to-be launched Women’s Premier London Irish team. The talent ID is for all sportswomen – we encourage talent from non-traditional pathways to try out too, athleticism and potential is valued at London Irish.

Mary Fyfe, London Irish Director of Women’s Rugby, commented “We are excited to work with our Education Partner to discover & develop a new generation of Women’s talent, both for St Mary’s and London Irish Women. This talent ID day is just the start , we want to provide talented sports women an elite environment they can thrive in and offer them another entry point into the top flight of UK women’s rugby”

To sign up for the session, please visit the London Irish website.

St Mary’s entered a new Sporting partnership with London Irish Women in May 2021. Building on the existing relationship, the new partnership will undoubtedly contribute talent to the development of a Premier women’s team at London Irish. St Mary’s will also work closely with the club to develop a flourishing player pathway for the women's game to benefit the Club and University squads.

The partnership also creates opportunities for ambitious and talented female players to develop holistically as players whilst also gaining an undergraduate or postgraduate qualification. It will see the provision of high-quality placements for our students on a range of St Mary’s academic programmes and support the development of innovative collaborative research projects in areas such as coach development, performance analysis, sport science and sports medicine.

Speaking at the time St Mary’s Head of Department for Psychology and Pedagogic Science Dr Abbe Brady added, "We at St Mary's are delighted at the launch of our new partnership with London Irish and looking forward to working closely with the club to support the development of players and staff in the launch of the professional women's squad. It's great to be partnering with an organisation who are committed to investing in the women's game and creating a sustainable development offer for players through dual career academic study and performance opportunities”