Niamh Briggs to miss Ireland's Women's World Cup campaign

Ireland's Women's World Cup campaign has been dealt a major blow with their skipper Niamh Briggs ruled out of the tournament with an injury.

The fullback earlier missed the Six Nations tournament with a hamstring injury but made a complete recovery to be part of the World Cup squad only for another ankle injury that she sustained during training to end her chances of featuring in the showpiece event.

Ireland head coach Tom Tierney confirmed the news on the 32-year-old.

"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," Tierney told irishrugby.ie.

"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."

Meanwhile, Ireland have named Louise Galvin as a replacement for Briggs with the announced on captain to be made later.

Ireland are placed in Pool C along with France, Australia and Japan in the 2017 World Cup with their first game set to kick-off on 9th August in Dublin.