While uncertainty had been the consensus amongst the Ireland camp off the pitch this week as they waited to hear whether France would be granted permission to skip mandatory quarantine, their performance last week against Wales was nothing but definitive.
Ireland’s 45-0 victory on Saturday in Cardiff put them in prime position for their contest with France this weekend, the winner of which will face England in the final of the restructured Six Nations on the 24th of April.
In what is effectively a semifinal, Adam Griggs has named an unchanged squad to battle it out against France this Saturday at 2.15pm in Energia Park.
— Women's Six Nations (@Womens6Nations) April 15, 2021
Captain Ciara Griffin once again will lead out the Girls in Green alongside Claire Molloy and Dorothy Wall in the back row, while Aoife McDermott and Nichola Fryday sure up the second row and ex basketball player Lindsey Peat joins Cliodhna Moloney and Linda Djougang to complete the front line.
Try of the week nominees Beibhinn Parsons and Eimear Considine will without doubt be focused on by France’s defence as they tore apart Wales last week with their ferocious acceleration and eye catching scores.
— Women's Six Nations (@Womens6Nations) April 12, 2021
Eve Higgins looks to build on her first Fifteens cap in Ireland’s opener this weekend, while fellow Sevens international legend Amee-Leigh Murphy Crowe has been named on the bench with the potential to make her debut on Saturday.
Player of the match in the bonus point win Hannah Tyrell cements herself in the number 10 position where she is once again joined by Sene Naoupu, Kathryn Dane and Lauren Delany.
Speaking ahead of the match Griggs said his side were “happy” with the result against Wales, while also having honed in on areas they could “improve on” before kicking off in this third round of fixtures.
"We know France will be another step up in terms of intensity and physicality and have quality players across the park. We have spoken a lot in this group about testing ourselves against world class opposition.”
Ultimately, we have to stay focused on improving our own game with each performance, so to play the fourth ranked team in the world will give us a great indication of where we are currently at” he says.
Available live on RTE2, this highly anticipated Women’s Six Nations match will do exactly that! Ireland heading into this clash Vs the semi pro side will be cautiously optimistic they will get the result they need and capitalise on the momentum gained from last week.
