Captain Nichola Fryday wins a lineout for Ireland during their home win over Italy during last season's TikTok Women's Six Nations ©INPHO/Ben Brady
With both teams chasing their first win of the 2023 TikTok Women’s Six Nations, there is a huge amount riding on today’s third round meeting of Ireland and Italy in Parma.
Saturday, April 15 –
ITALY WOMEN (5th) v IRELAND WOMEN (6th), Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi, 5.45pm local time/4.45pm Irish time (live Virgin Media Two/BBC iPlayer/Sky Sports Arena Italia/RTÉ Radio 1)
Team News: Ireland head coach Greg McWilliams has made three changes to the team for the resumption of their Six Nations campaign. Lauren Delany, Anna McGann and Ailsa Hughes all start in the back-line.
Delany slots in at full-back in the back-three alongside Aoife Doyle and Natasja Behan, with McGann, who previously featured off the bench, joining Aoife Dalton in the midfield for her maiden Test start.
Hughes is selected at scrum half for her first appearance of the 2023 Championship, partnering her Leinster team-mate Dannah O’Brien in an exciting half-back pairing.
As part of an unchanged pack, Linda Djougang, Neve Jones and Christy Haney continue together in the front row, captain Nichola Fryday partners Sam Monaghan in the second row, and Dorothy Wall, Grace Moore and Deirbhile Nic a Bháird are retained in the loose forwards.
On the replacements bench, Clara Nielson, Sadhbh McGrath, Kathryn Buggy, Hannah O’Connor and Brittany Hogan provide the reinforcements up front. Molly Scuffil-McCabe, Vicky Irwin and Méabh Deely complete the matchday 23.
Commenting ahead of the game, McWilliams said: “It has been a really good block of preparation for this game. We arrived in Parma yesterday afternoon following three days of hard work in Dublin, and the group have come back focused and energised after the down week.
“Saturday will be another stiff challenge for us against a side that reached the quarter-finals of Rugby World Cup, but again it is one we are relishing as a group as it gives us the opportunity to continue our development in the Test arena.”
Meanwhile, Sofia Stefan switches from wing to scrum half where she captains Italy as they look to put a heavy 68-5 defeat to reigning champions England behind them.
Head coach Giovanni Raineri has made three personnel changes, two of them in the back-three where Beatrice Capomaggi wins her sixth cap at full-back and her Villorba Rugby club-mate Alyssa D’Incà lines out on the left wing.
The 75-times capped Stefan takes over the captaincy from the injured Elisa Giordano, whose place at number 8 is taken by Giada Franco. Filling the openside flanker berth is Franco’s Rugby Colorno colleague, Isabella Locatelli.
Veteran scrum half Sara Barattin could make her 114th appearance for the Azzurre off the bench. The replacements, made up of a six-two forwards-backs split, include the uncapped trio of Alice Cassaghi, Laura Gurioli and Alissa Ranuccini.
TikTok Women’s Six Nations Results/Fixtures
TikTok Women’s Six Nations Table
ITALY WOMEN: Beatrice Capomaggi (Villorba Rugby); Aura Muzzo (Villorba Rugby), Michela Sillari (Valsugana Rugby Padova), Beatrice Rigoni (Valsugana Rugby Padova), Alyssa D’Incà (Villorba Rugby); Veronica Madia (Rugby Colorno), Sofia Stefan (Valsugana Rugby Padova) (capt); Gaia Maris (Valsugana Rugby Padova), Vittoria Vecchini (Valsugana Rugby Padova), Lucia Gai (Valsugana Rugby Padova), Sara Tounesi (Sale Sharks), Giordana Duca (Valsugana Rugby Padova), Francesca Sgorbini (ASM Romagnat), Isabella Locatelli (Rugby Colorno), Giada Franco (Rugby Colorno).
Replacements: Emanuela Stecca (Villorba Rugby), Alice Cassaghi (Cus Milano Rugby), Sara Seye (Transvecta Calvisano), Valeria Fedrighi (Stade Toulousain), Laura Gurioli (Villorba Rugby), Alissa Ranuccini (Rugby Colorno), Sara Barattin (Villorba Rugby), Emma Stevanin (Valsugana Rugby Padova).
IRELAND WOMEN: Lauren Delany (Sale Sharks/IQ Rugby); Aoife Doyle (Railway Union RFC/Munster), Aoife Dalton (Old Belvedere RFC/Leinster), Anna McGann (Railway Union RFC/Connacht), Natasja Behan (Blackrock College RFC/Leinster); Dannah O’Brien (Old Belvedere RFC/Leinster), Ailsa Hughes (Railway Union RFC/Leinster); Linda Djougang (Old Belvedere RFC/Leinster), Neve Jones (Gloucester-Hartpury/Ulster), Christy Haney (Blackrock College RFC/Leinster), Nichola Fryday (Exeter Chiefs/Connacht) (capt), Sam Monaghan (Gloucester-Hartpury/IQ Rugby), Dorothy Wall (Blackrock College RFC/Munster), Grace Moore (Saracens/IQ Rugby), Deirbhile Nic a Bháird (Old Belvedere RFC/Munster).
Replacements: Clara Nielson (Exeter Chiefs/IQ Rugby), Sadhbh McGrath (City of Derry RFC/Cooke RFC/Ulster), Kathryn Buggy (Gloucester-Hartpury/IQ Rugby), Hannah O’Connor (Blackrock College RFC/Leinster), Brittany Hogan (Old Belvedere RFC/Ulster), Molly Scuffil-McCabe (Railway Union RFC/Leinster), Vicky Irwin (Sale Sharks/Ulster), Méabh Deely (Blackrock College RFC/Connacht).
Referee: Aurélie Groizeleau (France)
Assistant Referees: Maria Latos (Germany), Mary Pringle (Scotland)
Television Match Official: Ian Tempest (England)
The game is live on Virgin Media Two in the Republic of Ireland, while viewers in Northern Ireland/the UK can watch it live on the BBC iPlayer.
Pre-Match Quotes – Linda Djougang (Ireland Women): “We know it’s never an easy game playing in Parma. The mentality is going in and performing, it’s our performance.
“We’ve been working so hard and can’t be thinking about a World Cup qualifier (from the past) going into the game. We just need to stick to our systems and try to not make individual errors. We just need to put a performance out there.
“We know Parma. Italy are a strong team and we respect them, so it’s not going to be easy. It hasn’t been easy in the past.”
Giovanni Raineri (Italy Women): “We come into our next game with a better understanding of our strengths and with the objective of making up for the start of the Six Nations, which in terms of results has not been the best.
“The players have prepared for the game as well as possible, with the aim of producing a good performance and coming away with a positive result.”
Opta Facts – Italy Women v Ireland Women:
– Ireland have won 15 of their previous 16 matches against Italy in the TikTok Women’s Six Nations (L1), including each of their last three by margins of 14-or-more points
– However, Ireland’s only loss to the Azzurre in the Championship came in their most recent trip to Italy (29-27 in 2019)
– Italy have lost their first two games of this year’s Women’s Six Nations after winning their last two of the 2022 edition. Nonetheless, they have lost just four of their last 11 round 3 fixtures in the Championship (W6, D1)
– Only England (47) have attempted more kicks in play in this year’s Women’s Six Nations than Italy (37), with the Azzurre also ranking second for kicking metres (894)
– Ireland have made the fewest kicks in play (23) and registered the fewest kicking metres (550) of any side in this year’s Championship
– Italian duo Francesca Sgorbini (19) and Giada Franco (18) are two of just three players to hit more than 16 defensive rucks in this year’s Women’s Six Nations, while only Marlie Packer (4) has made more breakdown steals than Sara Tounesi (3) in the Championship this year
– Ireland’s Neve Jones has made more dominant tackles than any other player in this year’s Women’s Six Nations (6) and has made 35 tackles overall without missing any – no other player has attempted more than 30 without missing at least one in this year’s Championship
Recent Meetings –
2020: Women’s Six Nations: Ireland Women 21 Italy Women 7, Energia Park
2021: Women’s Six Nations: Ireland Women 25 Italy Women 5, Energia Park; Rugby World Cup Qualifier: Italy Women 7 Ireland Women 15, Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi, Parma
2022: TikTok Women’s Six Nations: Ireland Women 29 Italy Women 8, Musgrave Park
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