Kennedy is Irish hero

The Irish women’s team featuring the local girl, have just won the Triple Crown after defeating Wales narrowly in their first outing, before storming to comprehensive victories over England and Scotland.

The ladies will now take on Italy and France in their remaining two fixtures as they bid to claim Grand Slam glory.

City of Derry’s Stacey-Lea Kennedy, who plays for City of Derry Rugby Club and Ulster, played in the narrow 12-10 win over Wales in their opening tie of the RBS Six Nations, but will be disappointed to have been given a yellow card towards the last 20 minutes.

Against England, the Irish women steamrollered their opponents to claim victory by a superb margin of 25-0.

She started the game against Scotland which secured the Triple Crown for Ireland’s women as a replacement.

With their first ever Triple Crown already in the bag, the next step for City of Derry player Stacey-Lea Kennedy and Ireland’s women is the Six Nations Championship itself, and a Grand Slam if both Italy and the impressive France women’s team can be dispatched.

Their fledgling victory in the Triple Crown attracted praise from Northern Ireland’s Sports Minister, Carál Ní Chuilín, who said: “This was a hard-fought match but Ireland got there in the end and now have the Grand Slam in their sights.”