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IRFU bring back Lynne Cantwell after 'phenomenal' stint in South Africa

A tearful Lynne Cantwell, Ireland, after the game. 2014 Women's Rugby World Cup semi-final, Ireland v England, Stade Jean Bouin, Paris, France. Picture credit: Brendan Moran / SPORTSFILE (Photo by Sportsfile/Corbis/Sportsfile via Getty Images)

The Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) has announced the appointment of Lynne Cantwell as Head of Women’s Strategy for Irish Rugby.

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Cantwell is the most capped player in Irish women’s rugby history with 86 appearances and brings extensive experience to the role. The 43-year-old will take up her new position in January 2025.

During her career she played a key part in Ireland’s Six Nations Grand Slam win and their historic victory over New Zealand, as well as reaching the Rugby World Cup semi-final in 2014.

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She will leave her current role as Women’s High Performance Manager for South African Rugby after doing a ‘phenomenal’ job on the union’s women’s programme.

“I am excited about joining the IRFU at a time when there is much commitment and optimism around the Women’s game. Having started my own rugby career through the club and domestic game in Ireland, I am passionate about the journey for women and girls taking up and playing the sport and ensuring they experience a pathway from bottom to top that enables them to reach their full potential,” said Cantwell.

“I am grateful to the IRFU for facilitating me in concluding some of my work with the SARU during a transitionary period. I am looking forward to getting started in the New Year.”

IRFU Chief Executive, Kevin Potts, says: “Welcoming Lynne to Irish Rugby as Head of Women’s Strategy is a huge step in our journey, and I believe a major statement of intent about our collective ambition for Women’s Rugby in Ireland.

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“Lynne’s leadership, both on and off the field, is exemplary and we are excited about the impact she will have in advancing Women’s Rugby across Ireland and internationally in the coming years.”

Cantwell joined SA Rugby in February 2021 and has been lauded by the union for her work. SA Rugby President Mark Alexander said: “The impact Lynne has had since she joined SA Rugby to resurrect the women’s programme was phenomenal, to say the least,” said Mr Alexander.

“Our desire and mission to elevate the women’s game was clear, but that was only be made possible by Lynne’s unrelenting passion and vision to get that job done. Her vast institutional knowledge of women’s rugby and international reputation opened new avenues for us and showed the way to so many positive outcomes.”

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1 Comment
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BC 28 days ago

Great coup for Ireland. Lynne has made a huge difference to South African Women's rugby.

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Hellhound 16 minutes ago
France put World Cup pain behind them with unbeaten run in November

France is starting to look like they are finally over their WC headache, although they were lucky that NZ had a very bad game. The Argies as usual is one game good, the next bad. If they can sort that out and be more consistent, they could become contenders for the WC.


NZ, Argentina (if they are more consistent), and now the Wallabies too is in an upward curve (can they be consistent?), as well as Fiji(as inconsistent as Argentina) looks like possible contenders. The Boks will be as usual a huge threat to defend their title. Things are looking up for the South, so the North should rightfully beware of the Southern Hemisphere threat.


With the French looking dangerous, the English with their close runs (mostly a mindset problem) and the Scottish seems to be the NH main contenders. The Irish is good, but not excellent anymore. They are more overbearing and with their glory days mostly gone with old players hanging on by a thread, by 2027 if they don't start adding in the younger players, they won't make it past yet another WC Quarter final. The problem is that their youngsters, while good is nothing special.


That is just 8 teams without the Irish that can become real WC contenders. Lots of hickups to be sorted still for these teams, excluding the Boks to become a threat. Make no mistake, the top Tier is much closer than people realise and the 2027 WC will be a really great WC, possibly the best contended WC ever.

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