Niamh Briggs says that she's had to take a break from social media in the wake of last week's controversial report abut the current state of Irish women's rugby.
Two days before Ireland's Six Nations defeat to Italy in Parma, a report in the Telegraph detailed a number of alleged failures in the Irish women's programme, with that report dominating the news cycle over the weekend.
The former Ireland captain, who has been working as an assistant to head coach Greg McWilliams since the start of 2022, called for people to stop "dredging" up issues from the past, and instead focus on the future of the women's game.
And Briggs also said the extent of the coverage has led to her taking a step back from social media.
"I’ve come off social media and everything over the last week," she said.
"It has just been so draining to see that, and for people not to understand what we’re doing here in this building and where we’re going.
"I think for me it's probably a little bit different because I’ve been around for a very long time. I’m very aware of things that were said and how draining that is.
"I’m more drained at the fact of when is enough, enough? When do we draw a line and think about what we’ve done in the last 12 months from a women’s game perspective.
"In terms of the last 10 days, we’ve had an Irish U18 girls team playing Six Nations, who have done so well. They were class. We look at appointments of full-time staff in all the provinces now and we look at pathways that are put in place. We know that the jump was missed a while back, the last 10 years, but it’s not now. Can we just draw a line in the sand and get over it? Move on, and think about all the brilliant things that are happening at the moment, and where the future is going."
After a mixed Six Nations in 2022 which saw Ireland win two games, there appeared to be green shoots when an inexperienced side performed well on the summer tour of Japan.
However, three defeats from three games this year have left Ireland in a scrap to avoid the wooden-spoon, while it only gets tougher this weekend as they welcome England to Musgrave Park, with the World Cup runners up averaging more than 10 tries per game so far in the championship.
But the Munster coach insists progress is being made, even if the results don't match it.
"It makes me genuinely really excited. I’m very aware that the performances, the results are tough at the moment, but when you can walk into a review on the Monday and see that their understanding is getting better, their development is improving all the time, that’s all we can control right now. We can’t control anything else.
"I think this weekend, it is a steep learning curve, but I think about where these players will be in 12 months' time. I’m really excited about where they’re going to be, because the resources that they have in terms of the facilities that they’re training in and lots of those younger girls are full-time, marrying it with college and stuff like that. We’re very new into that.
"Imagine where we can be this time next year. It’s a brilliant opportunity for them to go out again this week, get better and put up something that they can walk off the pitch on Saturday and be proud of."
Flanker Dorothy Wall took aim at some suggestions in the UK media that Saturday's game could potentially be harmful to the image of the tournament, and Briggs echoed that sentiment, adding that the coverage has been disrespectful to Ireland.
"I think we're at a stage where we’ve got to look forward, instead of looking back. When you talk about steep learning curves and you talk about stuff in the media about whether this game should go ahead, it’s the most disrespectful thing I’ve ever seen.
"It wasn’t long ago where the Irish men were getting thumped by the All Blacks 60-odd nil. I’m not saying it’s like for like, but I’m just saying that we have to start moving now and looking forward. Looking backwards, it’s not doing anybody any good.
"We urged patience at the very start of this tournament and that doesn't change. We knew where we are in terms of where we wanted to go as a squad and that hasn’t changed either. We’ve got to continue to get better week on week and that’s all we can control at the moment."
Watch Ireland v England in the TikTok Women's Six Nations on Saturday from 2.15pm, follow a live blog on the RTÉ News app or RTÉ.ie/Sport with live commentary on Saturday Sport on RTÉ Radio 1.
