Ireland midfielder Michelle Claffey admits it was difficult when their women's Six Nations campaign was brought to an abrupt halt with two rounds of games still to be played.
Adam Griggs' side were preparing to host Italy in the fourth round of the championship when the COVID-19 situation forced the postponement of their fixture with the Azzurri and also last month's trip to France. In an important World Cup qualification year, Ireland had opened their campaign well with victories over Wales and Scotland at Energia Park and a credible showing in defeat to world powerhouse England.
Claffey, who took up rugby while a student in the University of Limerick aged 21, has told Off The Ball that it's been an adjustment being away from collective training and she accepts it's unlikely the Six Nations will now be finished for this year:
"A lot of us on the team have realised that we wouldn't make very good individual athletes. I've had a few injuries so I've been used to little breaks from rugby along the way and I've a lot of things going on in my life away from the game as well but it was such a shock and sudden halt that I wasn't prepared for it. I don't think any of us were prepared for it really, that when we left camp that Friday that it would possibly be the end of the Six Nations for 2020.
"Our home wins against Wales and Scotland in front of good crowds in Donnybrook were really important. That Wales game was played in just horrendous weather conditions, I don't think I'll play a match like that again! I think our character shone through in the defeat at England and our defensive performance was off the charts brilliant. We conceded 57 points at home to England last year, we've clearly come on in leaps and bounds since then and that's the reflection of a team that's building. Yes that was a loss but we've had two good wins and we would have had two more very interesting games to finish our campaign.
"We went into the last couple of weeks of training thinking the Italy and France games would go ahead. Obviously if they were postponed, then they were postponed, but we couldn't have been preparing half thinking they would go ahead and half thinking they wouldn't. It was important to continue training as we meant to go on because we've a big campaign this year. There's World Cup qualifiers in September for the New Zealand 2021 or whenever it'll eventually take place. With the movement of major tournaments and the Olympics, there's already a lot set to happen in 2021 already.
"It impacts everybody, not just us, and a lot is going to depend on how each team reacts to this lockdown. Our strength and conditioning coach has been organising sessions over Zoom where we can continue working collectively and it has the added benefit of keeping the entire squad in contact with each other as well. There's a really good team here and we're determined, we would have been set for a break around now anyway after the Six Nations before ramping things up in the summer for the World Cup qualifiers."
Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile
Ballinasloe teenager Beibhinn Parsons was a star performer in the Six Nations, showing her speed in running in an intercept try against Scotland after collecting the ball inside Ireland's own 22. Claffey says the Leaving Cert student has bags of potential and she feels there's a number of other young players currently developing well:
"You can't beat pace and that's what Beibhinn has in abundance. She's just incredible. Even at such a young age she's building up lots of experience and racking up caps and there's so much more potential. We've also Dorothy Wall, Judy Bobbett and Enya Breen coming through as well so these are all quality players and at times you forget just how young they are when you see how they compete in training. They're young but they've all been playing rugby for a long time so it's brilliant to see their ability shining through.
"If they continue to progress at the rate which they are then Irish women's rugby is going to be in a really good place in the future. These are girls where rugby is their primary focus while in the past there was a lot of crossover athletes joining the setup but these girls have already acquired rugby knowledge from a young age and don't need that time to transition over to the game."
Offaly native Claffey has been in her home in County Meath during the lockdown and she's found runs on the nearby beach as an important way to maintain mental and physical well-being in recent weeks:
"I think the fact that we're in isolation has helped me to go for extra runs to keep things ticking over because there is no other outlet at the moment. It's nice to be able to get out and you feel much happier after you've completed some training.
"I'm coping okay at the moment, it's been a difficult adjustment and quite strange because I'm usually so busy with work and then some sort of training each morning and evening for rugby and meal prep mixed in as well. It's all slowed down, but in a really nice way in that you don't have the commuting and chasing but still have the daily routine of work.
"You're getting time back that you don't realise you didn't have and in terms of sleep it's been quite nice to get a bit more of that as well! I'd usually be long gone out of the house before the time which I'm now getting up at each morning so when we get back to normality I'll be trying to use that commuting time more wisely but you'd realise how much time you clock up travelling really.
"While we're all working from home, people are productive, they're readily available and the work is getting done. But it's important to be able to maintain a balance with down-time as well. People are working hard because they're at home and they're also easily contactable. So it has to be a case of being available during your working hours but you have to also be able to finish at the end of your normal day because the work day is finished. You have to be able to be disciplined with yourself or otherwise you'll never get a break and will just burn out.
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