Torrans strengthens bid for spot in Ireland senior squad
By Stephen Findlater
KNOCKLYON’S Sarah Torrans pushed her claims for inclusion in this summer’s two big events with a peach of a strike for the Ireland women’s team against Great Britain last weekend.
She netted in Game Two of the uncapped four-match series at Bisham Abbey, taking on a free herself before unleashing a rocket of a shot.
Sarah Torrans from Knocklyon is hoping she will be part of a massive summer ahead for the Ireland senior team Photo by Adrian Boehm
Ultimately, it proved in vain in that game as Ireland suffered a 3-1 defeat and also lost the series, but the bigger picture sees the Green Army look to June’s European Championships and, the primary target, the Olympic Games in Tokyo.
For 21-year-old Torrans, she is hopeful this will be her breakthrough summer to land a place in the squad for a top tier event.
In 2018 as a teenager, she came within a whisker of being part of the World Cup silver medal winning squad after a whirlwind beginning to life as a senior international.
Her sublime strike against Japan in one of the final warm-up games brought her to the brink of selection, ultimately named as one of three reserves alongside Emily Beatty and Naomi Carroll.
“When you just come into the squad, you have no pressure – you just play,” she said. “I was getting through the early selections almost a bit surprised and suddenly there were only 20 to 22 of us left.
“When I look back now, I see how close I got to that squad. At the time, I was just enjoying being there and part of it all. You do look back at the opportunities you missed but that’s what drives me to make these teams now and push for selection.”
Since that time, though, she endured a frustrating 2019. She was due to lead the Irish Under-21s at the Junior European Championships but a freak injury 10 days out from the tournament ruled her out of not just that event but, also, the European Seniors a month later.
She also missed out on that year’s Olympic qualifiers in Donnybrook stadium.
“I wanted to, for sure, make the squad for a year for sure. I went on all the training trips but wasn’t really playing how I wanted to and had a few niggles,” she recalled.
But, in hindsight, the delayed break may work in her favour.
“It didn’t turn out for me how I wanted and so I had to reset. Last year was obviously another weird one so 2021 is like being a reset once again!”
And she is hopeful she is in the mix to play a role in this busiest of summers, knowing that all her friends are also pushing as hard as they can to make the final cut.
“It is very competitive. All these games we are doing, all this training in Abbotstown, we want to move forward as a group. We want to stay connected as a group but, at the same time, you are competing for spots.
“That’s the nature of high performance sport. It is always in the back of people’s minds, especially during these weeks when selection is in a week or two.
“It is about dealing with that pressure but also not making it impact your friendships and connections with everyone on the squad.”
