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17th October 2020
12:27pm BST
"When I talk about [singing the anthem], I still get goosebumps because I had watched a lot of Ireland games and, as a kid, you always dream of just singing that national anthem. I remember I’d be singing it in my room, and I remember the night before my first cap, I couldn’t sleep. I couldn’t believe it was happening to me. "But it has always been, not even my dream. It’s been a dream of my parents, my grandmother. It’s a generation of dreams and I’m lucky enough that I can make it happen, and to make it happen in a country where I grew up and where I feel I’ve been accepted. And to sing it out loud, I couldn’t be prouder."[caption id="attachment_212561" align="aligncenter" width="2048"]
Lindsay Peat, Cliodhna Moloney and Linda Djougang stand together for the anthems before Ireland's Six Nations game against Scotland. (Credit: Sportsfile)[/caption]
Louise Galvin, who is up for Best Sevens Player during the awards ceremony, says it is brilliant to see Djougang get nominated for the 15s award.
"Cliodhna and Edel have obviously decided to go play in the Premiership, in England, and progress their rugby," Galvin notes, "And it's great that they can come back to represent the national team, and to do it very well. "And then Linda, it's a brilliant story. And another person who has been working on the frontlines, going through Covid. I think she was finishing her nursing - she was a nursing student and she's finished now. "I mean, you can see by her when you see her play - she's so dynamic and so powerful and very prolific in the loose, openside part of the play. And I know she's been working very hard on her set-piece game, so she's putting herself in the prime position for selection. But to be nominated by her peers, again, it's a good sign of how they think of her and how much she is doing on the field.""That's one thing about rugby," Galvin adds. "It's always been so inclusive, no matter where you come from or how much experience you have behind you. It's about what you are doing on the field and how much you are willing to work for the person inside and outside of you. "And that's why, for all the nominees, it's a pleasure to be nominated because it's a reflection of what all your teammates think of you." [caption id="attachment_217655" align="aligncenter" width="2048"]
Pictured are Irish rugby’s Caelan Doris and Louise Galvin announcing the nominees for the 2020 Zurich Irish Rugby Players Awards including the Zurich Players’ Player of the Year Award. Celebrating the achievements of Irish rugby players both on and off the field, the Zurich Irish Rugby Players Awards will be broadcast on Virgin Media Two on Saturday, 17th October after the Heineken Champions Cup Final. (Credit: INPHO)[/caption]
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