Ireland Women’s Team to Face France

The Ireland Women’s team to face their French counterparts in the penultimate round of the Women’s Six Nations has been named.

Head Coach Adam Griggs has made five changes to the starting side who narrowly lost to Italy a fortnight ago in Parma.

Six Munster players have been named in the match-day squad – Enya Breen makes her debut while Eimear Considine, Deirbhile Nic A Bhaird, Fiona Reidy, and Captain Ciara Griffin all start and Nicole Cronin is among the replacements.

Former Munster player Anna Caplice (Richmond) is named on the bench.

Uncapped Breen is to start in the centre alongside Sene Naoupu. A familiar back three sees Lauren Delaney, Considine and Alison Miller take position again with Nicole Fowley and Kathryne Dane named at out half and scrum half respectively.

Up front, Nic a Bhaird makes her first start of the tournament at hooker, alongside Laura Feely and Reidy. Aoife McDermott starts in the second row alongside Nichola Fryday. Captain Griffin moves to flanker with Claire McLaughlin starting at number 8. Claire Molloy completes the pack.

Speaking ahead of the test Griggs said “We have a big fortnight ahead of us with two tough matches to finish this competition off. We’ve put a lot of work in since Italy to rectify some of the areas that we felt let us down and cost us that result. We need to be clinical when we get into good areas of the field and put teams under pressure with our physicality and strong defence to make teams work harder for their points. There have been a lot of positives in each game we’ve played and we must keep building on them along with our work ons to put together a more comprehensive performance.

France is no mean feat and we know they are coming to Dublin to try and get a result. They are the current champions for a reason and are coming here on the back of two good wins, but we know if we can get our detail right we can put them under pressure and make them have to re think the way they approach this game.

The atmosphere in Energia Park has been fantastic. There was a record crowd against England and we’re expecting another great turnout on Saturday night. I know the team want to give the supporters a really strong performance and show them we are grateful for their support.

Tickets for this fixture are available at www.Ticketmaster.ie

The match will be broadcast live by RTE, with coverage beginning at 6.45pm

Ireland Women’s Team v France Women, Women’s Six Nations, Energia Park, Donnybrook, Dublin. Saturday 9th March 2019, Kick-off 19.00

15. Lauren Delany (Firwood Waterloo/ IQ Rugby)
14. Eimear Considine (UL Bohemians/ Munster)
13. Enya Breen (UL Bohemians/ Munster) *
12. Sene Naoupu (Old Belvedere/ Leinster)
11. Alison Miller (Old Belvedere/ Connacht)
10. Nicole Fowley (Galwegians/ Connacht)
9. Kathryn Dane (Old Belvedere/ Ulster)
1. Laura Feely (Galwegians/ Connacht)
2. Deirbhile Nic a Bhaird (UL Bohemian/ Munster)
3. Fiona Reidy (UL Bohemians/ Munster)
4. Aoife McDermott (Railway Union / Leinster)
5. Nichola Fryday (Galwegians/Connacht)
6. Ciara Griffin (UL Bohemians/ Munster) Capt
7. Claire Molloy (Wasps)
8. Claire McLaughlin (Old Belvedere/ Ulster)

Replacements:
16. Emma Hooban (St Mary’s College/ Leinster)
17. Lindsay Peat (Railway Union/ Leinster)
18. Linda Djougang (Old Belvedere/ Leinster)
19. Anna Caplice (Richmond)
20. Claire Boles (Railway Union)
21. Nicole Cronin (UL Bohemian/ Munster)
22. Ellen Murphy (Old Belvedere/ Leinster)
23. Beibhinn Parsons (Ballinasloe/Connacht)
*Denotes uncapped at this level

Ireland Women’s Six Nations Fixtures and Results 2019
Friday 1 February
Ireland Women 7 v 51 England Women, Donnybrook Stadium, Dublin
Friday 8 February
Scotland Women 5 v 22 Ireland Women, Scotstoun, Glasgow
Saturday 23 February
Italy Women 29 v 27 Ireland Women, Parma
Saturday 9 March
Ireland Women v France Women, Energia Park, Dublin, 19.00hrs
Sunday 17 March
Wales Women v Ireland Women, Cardiff Arms Park, Cardiff 13.30hrs