Lyons and Griffin To Star In Patrick’s Day Decider

A St Patrick’s Day feast of rugby on Friday as the Irish women look to emulate the class of 2009 and defeat England in Donnybrook to win the grand slam on home turf.

Head Coach Tom Tierney has confirmed his Ireland Women’s side, sponsored by Aon, to take on the English in South Dublin at 8pm.

The side for the Championship decider shows one change to the team that defeated Wales 12-7 last weekend, as scrum-half Larissa Muldoon moves from the replacements into the starting fifteen.

Once again Munster women Leah Lyons and Ciara Griffin keep their places in the pack for the encounter, both instrumental to Ireland’s 100% Six Nations season thus far.

Speaking ahead of the St. Patrick’s Day game, Head Coach Tierney said;

“There’s a very strong spirit in this squad that’s been developing nicely over the last few months and, while the performances to date haven’t been as accurate or as clinical as we would have liked, we’ve ground out four wins in a row to set up a very big game this Friday evening in Donnybrook.

“England are arriving to Dublin on the back of a huge win against Scotland so their confidence will be high, and deservedly so.

“They have shown throughout the Championship that they can score tries from anywhere and they have a strong and skilful pack as well.

“From our point of view, we have a huge opportunity on St. Patrick’s Day and for us it’s about looking to rectify some of the areas of our game that we haven’t been happy with over the past few weeks and if we can make those small changes, then Friday evening’s game should be a great one.”

Friday night’s match is part of a double-header in Donnybrook, as the Ireland U20s face their English counterparts in the earlier game at 6pm.

Ireland Women v England, Friday 17th March, 2017, 8pm, Donnybrook Stadium
15. Kim Flood (Railway Union / Leinster)
14. Hannah Tyrrell (Old Belvedere / Leinster)
13. Jenny Murphy (Old Belvedere / Leinster)
12. Sene Naoupu (Aylesford Bulls)
11. Alison Miller (Old Belvedere / Connacht)
10. Nora Stapleton (Old Belvedere / Leinster)
9. Larissa Muldoon (Railway Union)

1. Lindsay Peat (Railway Union / Leinster)
2. Leah Lyons (Highfield / Munster)
3. Ailis Egan (Old Belvedere / Leinster)
4. Sophie Spence (Old Belvedere / Leinster)
5. Marie-Louise Reilly (Old Belvedere / Leinster)
6. Ciara Griffin (UL Bohemians / Munster)
7. Claire Molloy (Bristol / Connacht)
8. Paula Fitzpatrick (St. Mary’s College / Leinster) Captain

Replacements:
16. Ciara O’Connor (Galwegians / Connacht)
17. Ilse Van Staden (Cooke / Ulster)
18. Ruth O’Reilly (Galwegians / Connacht)
19. Ciara Cooney (Railway Union / Leinster)
20. Nichola Fryday (Tullamore / Connacht)
21. Mary Healy (Galwegians / Connacht)
22. Nikki Caughey (Railway Union / Ulster)
23. Mairead Coyne (Galwegians / Connacht).