Head coach Adam Griggs wants ‘a big reaction and a big turnaround’ from the Ireland Women, as they look to put the disappointment of last week’s home defeat to Scotland behind them when they visit England’s Red Roses in the final round.
2018 WOMEN’S SIX NATIONS CHAMPIONSHIP: Friday, March 16
ENGLAND WOMEN (2nd) v IRELAND WOMEN (3rd), Ricoh Arena, Coventry, 5.30pm (live RTÉ Two/www.rte.ie/live (island of Ireland only)/Sky Sports Main Event/Sky Sports Action/Sky Sports Mix/YouTube Live Stream (France))
Team News: The selected side for Ireland’s final game of the 2018 Women’s Six Nations shows three personnel changes and three positional switches to the one that lost 15-12 to Scotland at Donnybrook last Sunday afternoon.
Hannah Tyrrell moves to full-back where she takes over from the benched Kim Flood, with fellow Sevens international Louise Galvin stepping up to make her first Six Nations start on the left wing. Tyrrell made four appearances at full-back during last year’s World Cup.
Nicole Cronin gets the nod at scrum half, having been promoted from the bench to make her first Six Nations start. She links up at half-back with UL Bohemians and Munster team-mate Niamh Briggs, who kicked the decisive penalty in Ireland’s most recent win over England in February 2015.
Up front, Paula Fitzpatrick shifts from number 8 to the second row where she teams up with impressive newcomer Aoife McDermott. Ashleigh Baxter, who made her Six Nations return last weekend off the bench, slots in at blindside flanker for the final round with captain Ciara Griffin making the move to number 8.
Railway Union lock Ciara Cooney makes a welcome return to the matchday squad. Her quicker-than-expected recovery from an ankle injury sustained against France in the opening round sees her gain a bench spot, while UL Bohemians back rower Anna Caplice has also been added to the replacements.
Speaking ahead of the clash in Coventry, head coach Adam Griggs said: “We have big test ahead of us playing England at home in our last game of the tournament. They could potently still win the tournament and we have no doubt they will want to finish the tournament on a positive note.
“We have a huge opportunity, and we want to rectify some of the areas of our game that we haven’t been happy with over the past few weeks. If we can make those small changes, then Friday evening’s game should be a great one.”
The Ireland Women’s final round match against England will be broadcast live on RTÉ Two and across Sky Sports, with coverage beginning at 5.15pm and 5pm respectively. Click here to buy match tickets for tonight’s double header in Coventry involving the England and Ireland Women’s and U-20 sides.
Meanwhile, England Women’s head coach Simon Middleton has made four changes to the team that lost 18-17 to unbeaten France, who are gunning for a Grand Slam, at Grenoble’s Stade des Alpes last Saturday night.
Gloucester-Hartpury winger Kelly Smith, who earned her first international cap recently against Scotland, gets her first start as does Bristol’s Caity Mattinson who comes in as a direct swap for the benched Leanne Riley at scrum half.
Lagi Tuima, another of the Bristol contingent, is named at outside centre with the experienced Rachael Burford moving to number 12, while Richmond’s Rowena Burnfield and Poppy Cleall from Saracens have been added to the back row and second row respectively.
There are three new players included on the bench – Harlequins’ Shaunagh Brown, who is set to make her Six Nations debut, along with Zoe Harrison (Saracens) and Cath O’Donnell (Loughborough Lightning) who both featured in the recent victories over Italy and Scotland respectively.
Defending champions England are second in the table on 16 points, six clear of third-placed Ireland but they trail France by three. Middleton’s side will be hoping that Wales can do them a massive favour by ending les Bleues’ winning run tonight in Colwyn Bay.
Women’s Six Nations Results/Fixtures
ENGLAND WOMEN: Ellie Kildunne (Gloucester-Hartpury); Kelly Smith (Gloucester-Hartpury), Lagi Tuima (Bristol), Rachael Burford (Harlequins), Danielle Waterman (Wasps); Katy Daley-Mclean (Darlington Mowden Park Sharks), Caity Mattinson (Bristol); Vickii Cornborough (Harlequins), Amy Cokayne (Wasps), Sarah Bern (Gloucester-Hartpury), Abbie Scott (Harlequins), Poppy Cleall (Saracens), Rowena Burnfield (Richmond), Marlie Packer (Saracens), Sarah Hunter (Loughborough Lightning) (capt).
Replacements: Lark Davies (Worcester Valkyries), Rochelle Clark (Wasps), Justine Lucas (Wasps), Cath O’Donnell (Loughborough Lightning), Shaunagh Brown (Harlequins), Leanne Riley (Harlequins), Zoe Harrison (Saracens), Amber Reed (Bristol).
IRELAND WOMEN: Hannah Tyrrell (Old Belvedere/Leinster); Megan Williams (Old Belvedere/Leinster), Katie Fitzhenry (Blackrock/Leinster), Sene Naoupu (Old Belvedere/Leinster), Louise Galvin (UL Bohemians/Munster); Niamh Briggs (UL Bohemians/Munster), Nicole Cronin (UL Bohemians/Munster); Lindsay Peat (Railway Union/Leinster), Cliodhna Moloney (Railway Union/Leinster), Leah Lyons (Highfield/Munster), Aoife McDermott (Railway Union/Leinster), Paula Fitzpatrick (St. Mary’s/Leinster), Ashleigh Baxter (Cooke/Ulster), Claire Molloy (Bristol), Ciara Griffin (UL Bohemians/Munster) (capt).
Replacements: Ciara O’Connor (Galwegians/Connacht), Laura Feely (Galwegians/Connacht), Fiona Reidy (UL Bohemians/Munster), Ciara Cooney (Railway Union/Leinster), Anna Caplice (UL Bohemians/Munster), Ailsa Hughes (Railway Union/Leinster), Michelle Claffey (Blackrock/Leinster), Kim Flood (Railway Union/Leinster).
Referee: Alhambra Nievas (Spain)
Assistant Referees: Nicola Reynolds, Katherine Ritchie (both England)
Television Match Official: Stefano Pennè (Italy)
Match Odds (Paddy Power): England Women to win: 1/20; Draw: 25/1; Ireland Women to win: 13/1
Pre-Match Quotes – Hannah Tyrrell (Ireland Women): “England be hurting after last week’s loss to France. Hopefully the bodies are still a bit sore as well. I think they’ll be looking to make amends as well. Two teams coming off losses should be a really good contest.
“Look, we’ve had some highs and lows in this Six Nations. The girls didn’t really get the performance they wanted in France, but we got the win with Italy. We had a really good performance against Wales. Scotland didn’t go the way we wanted, but so far under new management, I think we’re not doing too badly.
“We’ve another couple of years before the World Cup comes. We’re still building. We’ve a couple of new caps come in and they’re doing quite well. We’re building and hopefully we’ll finish off on a high this weekend.
“I’ve only been in (the Six Nations squad) a couple of weeks, but I’ve worked under Adam before and I think he’s a fantastic coach. He’s done quite a good job with us so far. It’s up to us to repay that faith by performing in matches, but he’d be a great addition to have if he was to stay on.”
Simon Middleton (England Women): “We fully expect the game against Ireland to be a tough yet exciting encounter. They are a dangerous side who will be looking to bounce back after their defeat by Scotland last week.
“We are really looking forward to playing them at the Ricoh on Friday night in front of a bumper crowd. We’ve made changes across the starting 15, with new combinations in the forwards and the backs.
“We have depth in the EPS (elite player squad) and are confident that the players coming in will relish the opportunity to showcase their talents in the Six Nations, one of the flagship competitions in the Women’s game. We are determined to come away with the win on Friday night.”
Recent Meetings –
2015: Women’s Six Nations: Ireland Women 11 England Women 8, Ashbourne RFC; Autumn Test: England Women 8 Ireland Women 3, Twickenham Stoop
2016: Women’s Six Nations: England Women 13 Ireland Women 9, Twickenham; Women’s November Series: Ireland Women 10 England Women 12, UCD Bowl
2017: Women’s Six Nations: Ireland Women 7 England Women 34, Donnybrook
Support the Ireland Women on www.irishrugby.ie/facebook or search #ENGvIRE, #BringIt and #wrugby on www.twitter.com/irishrugby.
This website uses cookies.
Read More