Eve Higgins proving she is a quick learner
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GIVEN her ability to steal through a gap or thieve a yard of grass it’s hard not to reach for a obvious pun when you hear the subject of Eve Higgins’ post-graduate studies in UCD.
“I’m doing my Masters in criminology. I’ve assignments and essays so the moments I don’t analyse rugby and focus on the rugby it’s filled with reading criminology theories.” Her own powers of evasion were beautifully underscored when her step left brilliant French out-half Laure Sansus for dead when getting Ireland’s only score last week.
It’s also natural to wonder how the game – especially Ireland’s form and confidence – might have improved had Higgins’ earlier try not been chalked off.
What needs no further evidence is that the Kildare native’s new centre pairing with Stacey Flood has been one of the highlights of Ireland’s two Six Nations defeats and it’s a partnership that looks set to blossom further.
Higgins (22) represents the new generation around whom Ireland are currently rebuilding and Fiona Coghlan marked her out from her early teens as ‘one to watch’.
Like many of her cohort she has always concentrated solely on rugby and started with a rural club (Barnhall RFC) before moving to an All-Ireland League side (Railway Union).
The French game, only her 8th cap at 15s, showcased all of her talents as Ireland’s second highest ball carrier who also made most metres and most broken tackles.
She’s already got a lot of Sevens experience, introduced to that programme when she was just 16 with a century of Sevens caps and 37 tries under her belt.
“With only having three camps (before this Six Nations’ season) it’s a lot to learn quickly but I suppose the positives we have as a back-line is that a lot of us are very familiar with each other and can play off each other quite well,” she says.
“Last weekend was only the second game myself and Stacey were together in the centre but we’ve been playing together for the last five or six years.”
Ireland’s head coach Greg McWilliams has already intimated that he’ll lose some of his Sevens stars before the Six Nations finishes because the World Sevens Series is resuming in Langford (Canada) on April 30.
Higgins, who seems mature beyond her years, is diplomatic enough not to get dragged into whether or not that will include her but that looks likely given the IRFU’s ambition to qualify for this year’s Sevens World Cup.
So Sunday’s historic game against Italy in Musgrave Park (5pm) offers fans a rare enough chance to see Higgins in international action.
She’s never played there before and is a big fan of the decision to move the 2022 Six Nations games around.
“I grew up going to the Leinster games with my family so it was such an honour to be playing in the RDS. Moving now to Cork and then up in Belfast is great because it’s getting more eyes onto the game and expanding the people watching women’s rugby in this country.”
How did she read the 27 handling errors that undermined them a week ago? Nerves, technique or simply psychological?
“A mixture. We could definitely help ourselves a lot more. I think we put a bit too much pressure on ourselves on being a bit flat and maybe giving that pass a bit too late in the contact, but there are easy fixes that we can do and improve on a lot.
“Losing is never an option. It’s something that we never go onto a pitch to do. We can get great confidence playing at home in front of a home crowd. This will be the third time we play Italy in the last year so we know them well. As long as we improve we can come together and have great confidence coming into this weekend.”
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