Ireland bound for Hawkes Bay Cup in New Zealand

The tournament will play host to eight teams, five of whom are ranked in the top 10 in world hockey.

The tournament offers vital experience for Graham Shaw’s young squad as they will come up against several sides they may otherwise not meet throughout the year.

The Green Army are drawn in Pool B alongside host New Zealand, China and India while Pool A is comprised of Australia, Korea, Japan and Canada.

Ireland’s first match sees them pitted against China, the team who dealt them the cruellest of blows at World League 3 in Valencia last June; that penalty shoot-out will long live in the memory of anyone who witnessed it but Shaw is determined his team have learnt from that experience.

“There will obviously be emotion involved in that opening match but we will be 100% focused on each opponent and take one match at a time.

“There were plenty of lessons to take from Valencia and the China match in particular, I’m confident we’ve matured as a squad and will be as prepared as possible when we face the world number 5”.

True to tournament hockey, the Green Army will play again the following day against India, their closest ranked opponent before finishing up the pool games against world number 4 New Zealand.

Shaw has introduced several new caps since taking the helm of the Green Army, with two teenagers in his most recent squad that travelled to Spain for warm weather training.

“We set the team up with a lot of changes in personnel and I thought the younger players stepping up did very well.

“The results may not have gone our way but we got stronger as the week went on and it was great to get the group back together after a break from International hockey”.

Shaw continued: “We are delighted with the invitation to Hawkes Bay as the only European nation. This is a fantastic opportunity for the Green Army as the level of opposition we will face will provide a real test and give us a great insight to where we sit with the top nations in World Hockey”.