Ireland captain Niamh Briggs has been ruled out of the Women's Rugby World Cup with an Achilles injury.
The Waterford native was only named in the squad for the tournament last week as captain. She had missed the Six Nations this season with a hamstring injury, but returned to full fitness to take her place in the squad.
Briggs' loss will come as a huge blow to the squad and head coach Tom Tierney ahead of the start of the tournament in Dublin next week.
Speaking to the IRFU's website, Tierney could not hide his disappointment at the loss of Niamh Briggs for the tournament.
Both the players and management are really disappointed for Niamh as everyone has seen the incredible work and effort she's put in over the last number of months in an attempt to get herself right for this tournament.
For her to have recovered well from her hamstring injury and then suffer a new injury is really unfortunate for her, as everyone knows how much she was looking forward to leading the team in the World Cup.
Briggs has played 57 times at international level and was a crucial part of the team that finished fourth in the World Cup in France three years ago.
Ireland begin their World Cup campaign in the UCD Bowl on August 9th at 7pm against Australia. Briggs has been replaced in the squad by Louise Galvin, but an announcement will be made on her replacement as captain in the coming days.
