After bonus point wins yesterday for Women’s Six Nations pacesetters England and France, Adam Griggs’ Ireland side have a good deal of ground to make up on the leading pair as they play Italy in the first of three successive home games at Donnybrook.
2018 WOMEN’S SIX NATIONS CHAMPIONSHIP: Sunday, February 11
IRELAND WOMEN (5th) v ITALY WOMEN (6th), Donnybrook, 1pm (live RTÉ Two/www.rte.ie/live (island of Ireland only)/Eurosport Italia/YouTube Live Stream (UK & France))
Team News: Ireland Women’s head coach Adam Griggs has named the team, sponsored by Aon, to take on their Italian counterparts in their first home game of the 2018 Women’s Six Nations.
There are three changes to the Ireland side that lost 24-0 away to France in the opening round, with Katie Fitzhenry, Paula Fitzpatrick and Nichola Fryday all coming into the starting XV, replacing the benched Claire McLaughlin and Orla Fitzsimons and the injured Ciara Cooney.
Fitzhenry, who played for the Ireland Women’s Seven team in Sydney recently, comes into the side to partner Sene Naoupu in the centre. The rest of the back-line is unchanged with Megan Williams and Ailsa Hughes set for their first home starts.
Former captain Fitzpatrick, who is back to full fitness, moves from the replacements to start in the second row where Tullamore clubwoman Fryday makes her second start and her first in the Six Nations. Cliodhna Moloney is flanked by Lindsay Peat and Fiona Reidy in the front row for the second game in a row, while captain Ciara Griffin is joined again by Anna Caplice and Claire Molloy in the back row.
Williams and reserve prop Laura Feely won their first caps in Toulouse, and there could be two more debuts at Donnybrook this weekend as the uncapped Edel McMahon, who played for the Barbarians in November, and Michelle Claffey, the Blackrock captain, have been included on a bench which also features World Cup scrum half Nicole Cronin, who is poised for her Six Nations bow.
Speaking ahead of the clash with Italy, Griggs said: “It was a very tough encounter in France last Saturday. It’s always hard to go to their back yard and get a result and while we were disappointed in some aspects of our execution, there was plenty to learn from and build on for this week.
“There were a number of new combinations and while that will take time to bed in, we are focused on improving our performance for the first of three home games in Donnybrook.”
Tickets for the Ireland Women’s home games in Donnybrook are available now via www.ticketmaster.ie. The IRFU is offering a bus subsidy of up to 400 euro per club for private transport hire. For more information on the bus subsidy for the 2018 Women’s Six Nations, contact womensrugby@irfu.ie before purchasing tickets.
Meanwhile, Italy head coach Andrea di Giandomenico has made three personnel changes to his team as they return to Ireland for the first time since finishing ninth at last year’s Women’s Rugby World Cup, which was played in Dublin and Belfast.
Out-half Jessica Busato comes in to win her third cap, forming a half-back partnership with her Iniziative Villorba Rugby club-mate Sara Barattin, the Italian captain who has 78 caps to her name and who was arguably their best performer during last week’s 42-7 defeat to England.
Full-back Manuela Furlan, prop Lucia Gai, hooker Melissa Bettoni and centre Michela Sillari also have plenty of Tests behind them with 62, 53, 42 and 40 caps respectively, giving the Azzurre an experienced spine to their starting XV.
The two other switches are in the pack where lock Giordana Duca and flanker Beatrice Veronese get a chance to impress. It will be Duca’s second cap in the engine room, alongside Valentina Ruzza, while it will be a third internatonal outing for Veronese on the blindside.
There are three players waiting to make their debuts off the Italian bench – Rugby Colorno pair Miriam Pagani and Giada Franco along with Frascati’s Arianna Corbucci, who was an unused replacement against the English. In all, the travelling reserves for the Azzurre only have seven caps between them.
Women’s Six Nations Results/Fixtures
IRELAND WOMEN: Kim Flood (Railway Union/Leinster); Megan Williams (Old Belvedere/Leinster), Katie Fitzhenry (Blackrock/Leinster), Sene Naoupu (Old Belvedere/Leinster), Alison Miller (Old Belvedere/Connacht); Niamh Briggs (UL Bohemians/Munster), Ailsa Hughes (Railway Union/Leinster); Lindsay Peat (Railway Union/Leinster), Cliodhna Moloney (Railway Union/Leinster), Fiona Reidy (UL Bohemians/Munster), Paula Fitzpatrick (St. Mary’s/Leinster), Nichola Fryday (Tullamore/Connacht), Anna Caplice (UL Bohemians/Munster), Claire Molloy (Bristol), Ciara Griffin (UL Bohemians/Munster) (capt).
Replacements: Leah Lyons (Highfield/Munster), Laura Feely (Galweigians/Connacht), Ciara O’Connor (Galwegians/Connacht), Orla Fitzsimons (St. Mary’s/Leinster), Edel McMahon (Galwegians/Connacht), Nicole Cronin (UL Bohemians/Munster), Michelle Claffey (Blackrock/Leinster), Claire McLaughlin (Cooke/Ulster).
ITALY WOMEN: Manuela Furlan (Iniziative Villorba Rugby); Sofia Stefan (Stade Rennais), Michela Sillari (Rugby Colorno), Beatrice Rigoni (Valsugana Rugby Padova), Maria Magatti (Rugby Monza 1949); Jessica Busato (Iniziative Villorba Rugby), Sara Barattin (Iniziative Villorba Rugby) (capt); Eleonora Ricci (CRATA Coruna), Melissa Bettoni (Stade Rennais), Lucia Gai (Stade Rennais), Valentina Ruzza (Valsugana Rugby Padova), Giordana Duca (Frascati Rugby Club 2015), Beatrice Veronese (Valsugana Rugby Padova), Isabella Locatelli (Rugby Monza 1949), Ilaria Arrighetti (Stade Rennais).
Replacements: Silvia Turani (Rugby Colorno), Giorgia Durante (Montebelluna Rugby 1977/Benetton Rugby), Michela Merlo (Rugby Mantova/Rugby Colorno), Miriam Pagani (Rugby Como), Giada Franco (Rugby Colorno), Arianna Corbucci (Frascati Rugby Club 2015), Anna Maria Gizzi (Frascati Rugby Club 2015), Aura Muzzo (Iniziative Rugby Villorba)..
Referee: Tim Baker (Hong Kong)
Assistant Referees: Hollie Davidson (Scotland), Helen O’Reilly (Ireland)
Television Match Official: Graham Hughes (England)
Match Odds (Paddy Power): Ireland Women to win: 1/7; Draw: 25/1; Italy Women to win: 9/2
Pre-Match Quotes – Sene Naoupu (Ireland Women): “There have been loads of positives taken from the last six months, even in the last game against France. Everyone has just been training so well and pushing for places. As individuals, we’re becoming a bit more smarter with the game.
“Coming back (from England) to Ireland to play for Old Belvedere and Leinster, it was also very, very pleasing for me, to come into a club competition (the All-Ireland League) that’s absolutely getting there. We just need to do something with the club structures.
“It’s really important that we build off club structures here. There is important grassroots work already being done here. My point is that, I suppose from a club and interpro perspective, it was probably one of the best interpro series I’ve played in – level-wise. So that speaks for itself. To come into the national set-up now, that’s getting better.”
Andrea di Giandomenico (Italy Women): “Let’s go to Ireland to continue our work. There were some good aspects of last week’s game against England and we’ve put in a good week’s work where we tried to improve the areas which let us down.
“It’s disappointing for the girls who reported injuries following the loss to England but the reaction from the squad has been positive. We know that this will be a tough match against Italy and we will aim to improve our quality at the breakdown and the effectiveness of our attack, while upping our consistency in defence.”
Recent Meetings –
2015: Women’s Six Nations: Italy Women 5 Ireland Women 30, Stadio Mario Lodigiani, Florence
2016: Women’s Six Nations: Ireland Women 14 Italy Women 3, Donnybrook
2017: Women’s Six Nations: Italy Women 3 Ireland Women 27, Stadio Tommaso Fattori, L’Aquila
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