Ireland will take on their biggest challenge yet as they face England away in Round 4 of the TikTok Women’s Six Nations.They last faced England at home in February 2020 and while the red roses came away with the win, the gap between the two teams has only widened, according to former Irish international player Hannah Tyrrell.
“There’s been lot of changes and transitions since that time…retirements…we’ve lost a lot of experience within our squad, we’ve a new coach, new systems, new setups and ourselves and England have had very different pathways since that game back in 2020” said Tyrrell, who was a part of the team that lined up against England in Ireland’s last encounter.
“They’ve been professional, we haven’t. Covid hit us pretty hard in terms of domestic rugby where the AIL wasn’t played for a very long time whereas the English premier league was for the most part,” said Tyrell, “I suppose we’ve just seen a gap in the amount of rugby that both teams would have played”.
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It’ll be a relatively new team in the green jerseys this Sunday with seven players including Beibhinn Parsons, Anna McGann, Stacey Flood and Amee-Leigh Murphy Crowe out of the squad, as they prepare for the Sevens series in Canada.
“There’s opportunities for other players to come in and claim their jerseys and they’ll be chomping at the bit” Tyrrell told HerSport.
Laura Feely, Laura Sheehan, Mary Healy, Shannon Touhy, Sene Naoupu and the uncapped Leinster pair of Niamh Byrne and Alice O’Dowd have been called up to replace the Sevens players.
Sene Naoupu will take her place as one of the most capped players on the team although her selection proves surprising to Tyrrell, “considering she wasn’t included in the initial squad”.
“Sene has always given her all playing for Ireland…I suppose Greg thinks he will need that experience and leadership which she will bring in droves” Tyrell told Her Sport.
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With Sam Monaghan and Aoife Wafer both ruled out due to injury there is a host of new players in the team to face England. It’s something the home team are expected to capitalise on according to sports journalist Jessica Hayden.
“With England you tend to think they play their own brand of rugby but you have to play what’s in front of you. With Ireland missing those key players I would struggle to think that England wont capitalise on it…England will be looking to take advantage of the unforced errors in the Irish team like we saw in the game against France” Hayden told Her Sport.
England are currently top of the table having secured three bonus point wins from their last three games. They’ll be looking to build on their performance ahead of their final game against France for the chance to win the Grand Slam. Their focus will be putting pressure on Ireland’s scrum, according to Hayden.
“It’s something England are particularly strong at…its one of their fortes and what makes them one of the best teams in the world”.
The game will kick off on Sunday at 12 o’clock. Catch up on this week’s preview on the Her Sport Six Nations Show, brought to you in association with OPEL, exclusive car partner of the IRFU. New episode live every week of the Championship.
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