Amee-Leigh Costigan: 'I’m going to be their number one supporter'

Amee-Lee Costigan has pledged to be Ireland’s biggest supporter during their Guinness Women’s Six Nations campaign after the she announced her pregnancy.

At the start of March, Ireland’s most decorated rugby sevens player of all time announced that she was expecting twins with her husband, Neil.

Costigan scored 203 tries in 50 HSBC SVNS Series events and has scored 10 Test tries in 23 appearances since her 15-a-side international debut in 2021.

Since Scott Bemand’s arrival as Ireland head coach in 2023, Costigan has become a key figure in the side and scored six tries in 13 Test matches since the September of 2024. She captained her country twice at the 2025 Guinness Women’s Six Nations.

“It’s such special news for myself and my husband Neil and both our families,” Costigan told Irish Rugby. “Probably wasn’t expecting to have twins, or had it on our radar.

“Although that was a really happy moment for us, it was also the greatest surprise that we’ll ever, ever get in our lives. I obviously told the management and the medical staff immediately once I found out, just so they were aware of what was going on. They were so, so happy for me and Neil.

“They showed a lot of support for me around that time. They allowed me to step away from rugby here in the HPC [the IRFU High Performance Centre] and train remotely.

“I kind of just set a narrative that I was taking a break from rugby, just to protect my own peace, go away and look after myself.”

Costigan does not have to look far for inspiration or advice about balancing time as a high performance athlete with motherhood. At the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris she shared the field with Ashleigh Orchard, who returned to rugby sevens after giving birth the previous August.

Her 2025 Women’s Rugby World Cup teammate Ellena Perry had retired from rugby in 2022 after she gave birth to her son, Burt, before she returned to the pitch with Gloucester Hartpury in Premiership Women’s Rugby and traded an England jersey for an Ireland shirt.

The wing intends to return to high level rugby after the arrival of her twins the summer, similarly to Australia sevens icon Charlotte Caslick who intends to play at Los Angeles 2028 and at the 2029 Women’s Rugby World Cup.

For now Costigan is more than content being the Green Wave’s biggest supporter.

“It’s been so great, so many of the girls check in on me every day,” Cositgan said. “Like we always speak about how much of a close-knit team that we really are.

“It’s been so nice that this connectivity that we have is still going. They want to see me on the sidelines supporting them, and that’s exactly what I’m going to do. I’m going to be their number one supporter.”

It has also been confirmed that Costigan will remain an important part of the Green Wave moving forward. Over the coming months the 30-year-old will support Ireland’s new captain Erin King in her early stages in the role.

“It’s wonderful news about Amee-Leigh,” Bemand said. “The world where female athletes can have a family and a baby and be supported in that, I think the IRFU are doing a really good job in supporting her.

“She is still in on the centralised programme and in training – appropriate training – with us. She’s a big voice, a big character around the group in terms of her leadership and experiences that she has had.

“We’re using Amee-Leigh to support Erin’s growth in the captaincy. She is very much involved. As we go through, obviously the spotlight will be on a [squad of] 36. The group is bigger than a 36.”