The Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) has announced plans to stage talent identification screening days over the coming months in a bid to find women's rugby sevens players capable of taking the country to the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.

Rugby sevens will be making its Olympic debut at Rio 2016 after the International Olympic Committee (IOC) accepted it onto the sports programme in 2009 and Ireland are on the hunt to recruit players for their women's high performance rugby squad during February, March and April this year.

The hope for the IRFU is that it will be able to fast-track talented players for the 2013 Rugby Sevens World Cup which takes place at Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, Russia from June 28 until 30.

The 2013 Rugby Sevens World Cup will be a vital stepping stone for Ireland's women as they look to secure a spot at Rio 2016 and IRFU director of rugby development Scott Walker has urged interested players to get involved.

"Becoming an Ireland player is one of the hardest journeys that sport has to offer, but with Moscow 2013 and Rio 2016 on the horizon the opportunities are immense," he said.

"We are looking for sports women who possess the right characteristics to take up the challenge, and aspire to international success."

The IRFU is looking for female candidates aged between 18 and 27 years old who qualify as Irish.

Good handling and evasion skills, an excellent level of fitness, strong decision making skills and a desire and determination for success are also vital.

Women's sevens captain Claire Molloy is also calling for Irish women to get involved in the talent identification screening days.

"Although it is early days for the women's sevens programme, I have pushed my fitness and skills to another level playing a sport I love whilst creating the opportunity for me to travel the world," said Molloy.

"I would strongly recommend anybody with the attributes to be a seven's players to register for the screening day and who knows where it could take you."

The first talent identification screening day is due to take place on February 16 at Limerick Institute of Technology, with the second on February 23 at Ashbourne RFC.

Successful candidates from these first two screening camps will be selected to go forward to the next stage of the process, which involves attending camps at Johnstown House Hotel in Meath on March 9 and a weekend residential camp at the same venue on April 13 and14.

Following the camps, successful players will then be selected for either the emerging Ireland sevens squad or the Irish women's national squad programmes.

By Tom Degun

Source: www.insidethegames.biz