Four Munster Women Named For Ireland

The Ireland Women’s side has been named for the Six Nations fixture against Wales in Donnybrook Stadium this Saturday (kick-off at 1pm).

Munster full-back Niamh Briggs will captain the side and joins fellow Munster women Zoe Grattage in the starting line-up for her first cap appearance at hooker.

Prop Fiona Reidy has been named in the replacements and hopes to win her second Ireland cap on Saturday.

She joins her provincial colleague and Munster Women's player of the year Ciara Griffin on the bench who will seek her first cap.

There are ten players who will be involved in a Six Nations side for the first time and Head Coach Tom Tierney is looking forward to the game;

"It's very exciting to have so many new players involved in their first Six Nations game. With some of the girls from last year's campaign involved with the Sevens at the moment, as well as some retirements over the past few seasons, it gives others the opportunity to pull on the green jersey. We're now at a stage where we are developing more and more girls who are capable at competing at international level and it's a great to see.”

Ireland played a Wales selection in a warm-up fixture two weeks ago, and Tierney sees the game as a valuable fixture;

"The game against Wales the other week was good for us in that it allowed us to use 26 players and give them all a run against an international side. The fact that we are facing the same opposition so soon is interesting, as both sides will have worked on particular areas of their games over the past two weeks. We've trained well, so we're now looking forward to putting that all into practice in a full-on test match”.

This season the Ireland Women's team will play all three of their home fixtures during the Six Nations in Donnybrook and Tierney is looking forward to playing in the new ground;

"While Ashbourne served us unbelievably well as a venue over the last number of years, the move to Donnybrook, with its central location and 4G pitch is something we are all pleased with. We have a new crop of players coming through and a new stadium so it's a special time for the women's game in Ireland and we're looking forward to getting the campaign underway on Saturday”.

Tickets for all of the Ireland Women's home games are available via ticketmaster.ie – http://www.ticketmaster.ie/Ireland-tickets/artist/1056338

Ireland Women v Wales Women. Donnybrook Stadium, Saturday 6th February, 1pm

15. Niamh Briggs (UL Bohemians / Munster) Captain
14. Elise O'Byrne-White (Old Belvedere / Leinster)*
13. Aine Donnelly (Cill Dara / Leinster)
12. Sene Naoupu (Galwegians / Connacht)
11. Mairead Coyne (Galwegians / Connacht)
10. Nikki Caughey (Railway Union / Ulster)
9. Larissa Muldoon (Skewen)
1. Ailis Egan (Old Belvedere / Leinster)
2. Zoe Grattage (Tralee / Munster)*
3. Ruth O'Reilly (Galwegians / Connacht)
4. Sophie Spence (Old Belvedere / Leinster)
5. Marie-Louise Reilly (Old Belvedere / Leinster)
6. Paula Fitzpatrick (Toulouse)
7. Claire Molloy (Bristol)
8. Heather O'Brien (Toulouse)

Replacements
16. Cliodhna Moloney (Railway Union / Leinster)
17. Lindsay Peat (Railway Union / Leinster)
18. Fiona Reidy (UL Bohemians / Munster)
19. Ciara Cooney (Railway Union / Leinster)
20. Ciara Griffin (Tralee / Munster)*
21. Mary Healy (Galwegians / Connacht)
22. Nora Stapleton (Old Belvedere / Leinster)
23. Jackie Shiels (Richmond)