‘A double Christmas’: Late Twickenham present for O’Connor and Leinster

By Daire Walsh

Leinster star Hannah O’Connor had described the province’s historic clash against Harlequins at Twickenham Stadium tomorrow (7pm) as being like ‘a double Christmas’.

Forming part of a double-header with the Premiership meeting between the Harlequins men and Leicester Tigers, this friendly encounter will be the first women’s club game of its kind to take place at the home of English rugby.

“As any sports person, your dream is to play in the top stadiums within your field. To get the opportunity to go over and play there is just something that you dream of. To get this opportunity, and to be able to team with another double-header, is just fantastic and we’re really excited for it,” O’Connor said.

“We’re aware how momentous an occasion this is. We’re keen on making our mark and making it something that is the first of many. This is another thing to keep us going in the right direction.”

This game will round off a memorable end to 2019 for O’Connor, who made her Ireland debut in last month’s heartbreaking test defeat to Wales. Before that, she played a pivotal role in Leinster’s successful defence of the Interprovincial Championship.

“It’s been brilliant. I couldn’t have asked for it to go much better. The fact that there were five games in the interpros stood to not just me, but a lot of the girls as well. To get that continuity of just being able to play and to get the benefit of playing at the higher level. Then to make my Irish debut as well in November was great to top it all off that way. You just want to keep your setting. You want to keep playing at the top of your game, and wanting to be challenging for spots in both the interprovincial and your national set-up.”

Blackrock College back-row O’Connor is set to receive further opportunities in green after she was recently named – alongside 15 of her provincial team-mates – in the Ireland squad for the forthcoming Women’s Six Nations. Thanks in no small part to the co-operation of national head coach Adam Griggs, Leinster supremo Ben Armstrong has revealed he will be able to call on the vast majority of these players for the visit to London.

“Apart from one injury, we’re okay to take our whole squad across from the interprovincial. We’ll take a strong squad over and certainly it’ll be as good as anything we put out in the interprovincial series,” Armstrong explained. “As soon as I mentioned that it was being proposed, he [Griggs] was all for it. He said ‘listen, let’s work together to get as many people over there’. He’s been fully supportive from the start, which is ideal for him and us.”