Ireland co-captain Sam Monaghan ruled out with 'significant knee injury'

Ireland co-captain Sam Monaghan looks set to miss her country’s WXV 1 campaign after being ruled out for an “extended period” with a serious knee injury.

Monaghan suffered the injury in the first half of Gloucester-Hartpury’s Premiership Women’s Rugby (PWR) final victory against Bristol Bears in Exeter on June 22nd.

With Ireland scheduled to make their WXV 1 debut in Canada on the weekend of September 27th it seems unlikely that the second row will be fit in time to take part.

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The news will come as a blow to Monaghan, her club and Ireland. The second row fell awkwardly following an attempted tackle on Bears prop Hannah Botterman and left the field on a stretcher with less than 18 minutes of the PWR final played.

After watching her team-mates turn a 17-7 half-time deficit into a 36-24 victory at Sandy Park, Monaghan was pictured taking part in the Gloucester-Hartpury celebrations on crutches and with her knee in a brace.

On Monday, Gloucester-Hartpury confirmed in a statement that Monaghan “is set for an extended period on the sidelines after sustaining a significant knee injury”.

“Losing Sam to injury is a big blow,” Gloucester-Hartpury coach Sean Lynn said. “She played a huge role in our title-winning season and her absence will definitely be felt.

“We know how hard she will work with the medical team to get back to full fitness and we can’t wait to see her back in action.”

Monaghan joined Gloucester-Hartpury from Wasps ahead of the 2022-23 season and has gone on to make 26 appearances, scoring six tries, for the Circus as they won back-to-back league titles – starting both finals.

She was named Ireland co-captain, alongside Edel McMahon, by head coach Scott Bemand ahead of the team’s WXV 3 campaign last October.

The second row played all three matches as Ireland claimed the inaugural title in Dubai and made three Guinness Women’s Six Nations 2024 appearances as Ireland finished third to claim their place in WXV 1 and Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025.