‘At least top three’ – Third the minimum requirement for Ireland, says Scuffil-McCabe
The day before the men’s side completed their Six Nations mission for 2023, former women’s captain Fiona Coghlan was reminiscing about her own success story in the green of Ireland.
Appearing on RTÉ’s The Late Late Show as part of their St Patrick’s Day special, the Dubliner’s mind was cast back to the same date 10 years earlier when she captained her country to an historic Women’s Grand Slam amidst monsoon-like conditions against Italy in Milan.
Employed as a maths and PE teacher at Lucan Community College, Coghlan’s achievement in the international arena sparked an interest in one of her students. Molly Scuffil-McCabe was just starting out on her rugby journey back in 2013, but the magnitude of Ireland’s triumph in the Six Nations left a lasting impression.
“I was just at the start of my rugby career, but I was kind of focusing on a few other sports as well. I remember the scenes that day and the celebrations and everything. I think it sparked a lot of people to realise that, well, why are people celebrating and what is it about? It sparked the idea around how this could be a very successful thing for female athletes,” Scuffil-McCabe said.
Having started out at her local club Westmanstown RFC, Scuffil-McCabe went on to represent St Mary’s College and Railway Union in the All-Ireland League. She was previously a part of the IRFU’s Sevens programme, but made her 15s international debut in a round four defeat to England in last year’s Six Nations.
She subsequently featured in a dramatic win over Scotland at Kingspan Stadium in Belfast and also played a part in both tests during last summer’s tour of Japan.
Although she wasn’t included amongst the names that were announced last November, Scuffil-McCabe is one of those to have taken up a full-time contract as part of the Women’s XVs High-Performance Programme.
This is in stark contrast to Coghlan and the class of 2013, who all had day jobs away from playing with Ireland.
A number of players – such as team captain Nichola Fryday – opted not to accept a contract offer from the union and Scuffil-McCabe admitted her own decision to join the programme wasn’t one she took lightly.
“It’s not easy because my ultimate aim is to go and become a veterinary surgeon. It was just deciding what was right for me at the time. I ultimately do want to go back and aim to become a veterinary surgeon.
“That’s something that’s on the long finger now, to be honest, because this opportunity came up. You’re only young for a while. You won’t get this opportunity to play rugby when you’re 50 or 60. I can still practice as a vet, hopefully, when I’m 50 or 60. This is the priority for me now.”
There are set to be ample opportunities for Scuffil-McCabe to further establish her credentials as an international with the inaugural Women’s XV tournament set to get underway this coming autumn.
Ireland will need a top-three finish in this year’s Six Nations to reach the top-tier of the WXV and Scuffil-McCabe acknowledged this is the ultimate goal for the squad in the coming weeks – even if the primary focus for now is on Saturday’s clash with Wales in Cardiff.
“Our day-to-day right now is the next session and kind of building the process that way. When’s our gym, what’s the squad that will travel, everything like that. We’re trying to go day-to-day, but ultimately the aim is third. At least top three,” Scuffil-McCabe added.