08 Jul Molly Egan Selected for Irish U22 Mixed Tag Squad
The green jersey beckons once again for Balreask Old, as everyone at Navan RFC is celebrating the magnificent news that adult women’s player Molly Egan has been officially named in the Irish Under-22 Mixed Tag Rugby team!
Selection for the Irish teams is highly competitive, with over 15,000 players registered in Ireland. Players are selected for competition from training panels, which meet twice a month on weekends from February to August.
The British & Irish Cup is an annual international competition played between sides representing Ireland and Great Britain. Ireland has won 10 of the 13 competitions played to date.
Molly made her debut for Ireland in Tag Rugby last year in the 2025 British & Irish Cup as part of the Women’s Under 22 team. This year, she transitions to the Mixed Under-22 category. This specific age-grade mixed division has only featured once before in the tournament’s history back in 2024, when Ireland won the category comprehensively. Molly and her teammates will be eager to replicate that this year.
Teams compete within their age and gender category, playing three tests across two days. The winning nation is the one that wins the most categories overall.
In addition to Molly’s Mixed Under 22 side, the competition also features other Mixed teams (Mixed Open and Mixed Senior / Over 30), Men’s teams all the way up to 50’s, and Women’s teams up to Over 37’s.
The 2026 competition takes place in University College Dublin on Saturday 1st and Sunday 2nd August. Including warm-up games, a total of 45 tests will be played. Games can be attended free of charge, without a ticket, and all games are streamed live on the ITRA YouTube channel.
Commenting on Molly’s inclusion, Irish Under 22 Mixed coach – Gareth Airey said:
“Molly is a pleasure to coach, and a huge asset to the team. She is a multi-talented athlete who took to tag very easily, all the while excelling at Navan RFC”.
Head of the International Programme at Irish Tag Rugby – Jack Leahy added:
“Molly is the latest in a line of tag players who’ve excelled thanks to their development as athletes and rugby players at Navan RFC. Máiread Carty, Michelle Claffey and Jackie Shiels have all represented Ireland with distinction, while Women’s 1st XV captain Anna Bolger recently achieved a second-successive second-place finish in our National Championships as part of the north Dublin team.
In Navan RFC, they come from an environment where excellent coaching and high levels of ambition and support are normal.”
The club extends its sincere thanks to Jack Leahy and the Irish Tag Rugby Association for their contributions.
Huge Congratulations, Molly!
The entire club is behind you as you prepare to take on Great Britain.