One of Irish sports greatest experiments has been moving along quite nicely. Vikki Wall’s transition to rugby via GAA football and Australian Rules took another step forward in Perth at the end of January, when Sevens rugby honoured its latest player with an Irish shirt.
The impossibly short, five-month journey to HBF Park in Western Australia reached a milestone in record time when Wall made her Irish debut in a 26-7 win against Japan in the pool phase of the World Series.
[ Meet the women’s Sevens stars opening new frontiers for Irish rugbyOpens in new window ]
Ireland went on to win the event, another first and a timely step up as the Paris Olympic Games and Stade de France comes hurtling down the tracks. For the twice All-Ireland winner and the Irish rugby team, who embarked on the project last September with eyes wide open, strong green shoots have begun to emerge.
“Yeah, I debuted against Japan, so it was great to get some minutes,” says Wall speaking as a new brand ambassador for Lucozade Sport. “To get exposure, to be playing at that level and improving, to be playing and experiencing the whole weekend, the three-day tournament, was just great.
“Not a bad start to my journey in the World Series. It was unreal. I don’t think I can take much credit for them winning but it was savage.”
The World Series is the present, the Olympic Games always lurking in the background. The Olympics are the unseen driver, the motivator, the end point of this year’s campaign and the dream that sparked off Wall’s ambition to shoot for a medal.
The win in Perth indicates Ireland are capable of a podium place in Paris. That, at least, is how the players have been thinking, and beating Australia, one of the favourites for a gold medal, on their home turf suggests it’s realistic. In Wall’s personal journey, the World Series is the measure of progress as she continues to learn the nuances of Sevens rugby.
“I suppose getting that chance to put the Irish jersey on and represent your country is always a massive moment. It was a really, really big moment. I was really proud I suppose, over the last few months, getting to that moment. Then you get a taste for it and you are thinking what’s next? That’s probably the mindset, to play more and to get more exposure.
“It [Olympics] is a huge driver for everyone in the squad. You can’t not acknowledge it. But I think you have to break it down. There’s no point spending every day thinking of Paris when we have these next few months on our hands.
“I think you have to perform in them to be able to think towards Paris. There’s people wanting to perform consistently and show what they are made of, so yeah it’s definitely always a consistent background driver. But I think you have to take your focus away to be able to think of the next tournament ahead.”
What Wall believes has transferred from GAA to rugby is informative about the sport she used to play and one she holds close. She says she thinks she “has converted a few of the Meath ladies to rugby.” She says she keeps them up into the middle of the night as they watch her progress in tournaments in far-flung places as her career continues to blossom.
From GAA, the hunger. Wanting to perform, maybe it’s a personal thing
GAA is what she knows, what she grew up with. It was the making of her as an athlete, the provider of friends for life and emotions she will never forego. The GAA is the family looking out for her, willing her success and understanding what a nurturing roll it played in her rugby. It is too much part of what makes her tick, stirs her sense of belonging. That won’t change.
“From GAA, the hunger. Wanting to perform, maybe it’s a personal thing,” she says. “I’ve learned that maybe you take your instinct for granted sometimes, but it comes back in different ways in rugby and there’s things that have transferred. It’s something that Orlaith Curran, our S&C said, don’t underestimate the things you do have that you can carry across with you.”
“For now, it is parked, just because this year it’s a case of trying to do both and not doing either properly. I don’t think that’s fair to either team. For me, it’s something that’s definitely not closed. I think it will always be my greatest passion because it’s really hard to take your heart away from a sport that is the place you grew up and the people you grew up with. I think that’s what makes the GAA so special.
“It’s something that I’ll absolutely think about all the time and I’m maybe trying at the moment to put the blinkers on and not think about it so much because the league has started. Obviously, you are trying to keep an eye on it. But not too close of an eye to be able to separate them. Look, this year it won’t be possible. But it’s definitely not over for me.”
Vancouver is next for the Irish team before it travels to Los Angeles, then Hong Kong, Singapore, Madrid and to Paris for the Olympics, which begin in July. It’s far from over on many fronts for the shape-shifter from Dunboyne.
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