ADAM GRIGGS HAS confirmed his Ireland Women’s squad for the 2020 Six Nations.
There is a return to the squad for former Ireland Sevens player Aoife Doyle, who won her last cap during the 2015 Six Nations.
Irish Sevens Internationals Katie Fitzhenry, Hannah Tyrrell, Claire Boles, Laura Sheehan and Dorothy Wall are all also included.
“There is some good continuity coming from our Autumn squad into the Six Nations,” Griggs told IrishRugby.ie.
“We have a core group of players that have been involved now for a number of years so it’s important that they use their experience to drive our standards of play and make sure we produce quality performances from the start.
“We also have some exciting talent coming through who are getting better with each training camp. It’s great that we are starting to build that quality depth in the squad which will be needed in such a tough and physical tournament like the Six Nations.”
Ireland begin their campaign with home games against Scotland and Wales at Donnybrook’s Energia Park, before a trip to play England in Doncaster.
They then host Italy in Donnybrook before closing their campaign with an away tie against France.
The squad will be involved in weekly training camps in January along with a training game against Wales before the tournament kicks off on 2 February.
Ireland Women’s Six Nations Squad 2020:
Backs:
Enya Breen (UL Bohemian/Munster); Michelle Claffey (Blackrock/Leinster); Eimear Considine (UL Bohemian/Munster); Nicole Cronin (UL Bohemian/Munster);
Kathryn Dane (Old Belvedere/Ulster); Lauren Delany (Firwood Waterloo/IQ Rugby);
Aoife Doyle (Railway Union/Munster); Katie Fitzhenry (Blackrock/Leinster); Ailsa Hughes (Railway Union/Leinster); Claire Keohane (Railway Union/Munster)*;
Grace Miller (Old Belvedere/Leinster)*; Larissa Muldoon (Railway Union/Leinster); Ellen Murphy (Gloucester-Hartpury/IQ Rugby); Sene Naoupu (Old Belvedere/Leinster)
Beibhinn Parsons (Balinasloe/Connacht); Laura Sheehan (UL Bohemian/Munster); Shannon Touhey (Tullamore/Connacht)*; Hannah Tyrell (Old Belvedere/Leinster)
Forwards:
Judy Bobbett (Blackrock/Leinster); Claire Boles (Railway Union/Ulster); Anna Caplice (Harlequins/IQ Rugby); Ciara Cooney (Railway Union/Leinster); Victoria Dabanovich O’Mahony (Old Belvedere/Leinster); Linda Djougang (Old Belvedere/Leinster); Laura Feeley (Galwegians/Connacht); Nichola Fryday (Old Belvedere/Connacht); Ciara Griffin (UL Bohemian/Munster); Leah Lyons (Harlequins/IQ Rugby); Anne Marie O’Hora (Galwegians/Connacht); Aoife McDermott (Railway Union/Leinster); Claire McLaughlin (Old Belvedere/Ulster); Edel McMahon (Wasps/IQ Rugby); Cliodhna Moloney (Wasps/IQ Rugby); Niamh Ni Dhroma (Old Belvedere/Leinster); Hannah O’Connor (Blackrock/Leinster); Katie O’Dwyer (Railway Union/Leinster)*; Lindsay Peat (Railway Union/Leinster); Dorothy Wall (Railway Union/Munster)*
*Uncapped at this Level
Bernard Jackman joined Murray Kinsella and Sean Farrell in studio to chat about the remarkable John Cooney and the Ireland captaincy.
The42 Rugby Weekly / SoundCloud
Some would say that’s the very definition of a perfect headline – get people interested enough to start to read the story. Some would say it’s the very definition of the worst type of clickbait. But either way, of approx 1300 views at the time I’m writing this, I’d say about 1290 were from people puzzled as to how ireland could lead the Six Nations after Scotland, and only about 10 were from people who either knew or cared that it referred to the women’s team instead.
I watched the women’s game the other night. I was very impressed with the skill levels, crisp passsing, great ruck technique and some good set plays. It was a good game to watch with a great crash centre move to steal the game. Stuff the usual moronic comments that will inevitably appear on here. I’m looking forward to the next match. Oh, and you might show the lads how to win a tight game.
Look. My comment is merely about the headline here. Not about the skill levels in the women’s game, or the ability to win a tight match, or anything else. No matter how big a supporter you might be of the women’s game, you still surely have to accept that there wouldn’t be nearly as many clicks if the headline specified ‘Women’s Six Nations’. That’s all I’m saying.
Hey Jumperoo, I didn’t actually respond to your comment and was making a general point. In fairness, anyone that clicked thinking the irish mens team could be top having lost would want to go back to bed. Anyhow we’re all Irish fans of all Irish teams. Roll on next weekend.
Ps. Gave you a little green thumb there so we don’t fall out!