WOMEN ROUND 3 – MATCH PREVIEWS
ENGLAND v IRELAND
- England Women have won three of their last four tests. Their only home defeat in their last eleven fixtures came to France at Twickenham in round 3 last season – their only previous defeat in eleven matches at HQ.
- Ireland Women have lost just one of their last twelve fixtures in all tournaments: 6-23 to England at Esher in 2012.
- England Women won their first 17 encounters with Ireland until their 0-25 defeat at Ashbourne last season.
- Ireland Women have played at Twickenham just once before losing 0-51 in 2004.
Two Changes to Ireland Women XV to play England at Twickenham
Ireland Women Head Coach Philip Doyle has made two changes to the side that earned a hard fought victory against Wales in Round 2 of the RBS Womens 6 Nations Championship.
Ashleigh Baxter comes in on the wing for Hannah Casey and Gillian Bourke replaces Stacey-Lea Kennedy at hooker. Both Casey and Kennedy will start from the bench. The only other change to the match day 23 sees Laura Guest come into the replacements in place of Paula Fitzpatrick.
Niamh Briggs and Larissa Muldoon who came into the side after the opening round are retained at full-back and scrum-half respectively.
Philip Doyle, Ireland Women’s Head Coach, commented, “The team showed great character to secure the win against Wales but they are in for a huge test this weekend facing England at Twickenham. England will be smarting from last year’s defeat and are a quality side who have shown their power and skill already in this Championship.”
The Ireland Women’s team will play their first ever fixture at the Aviva Stadium when they play Italy in Round 4 of the RBS 6 Nations Championships on March 8th. This game will kick-off approximately 40minutes after Ireland’s RBS 6 Nations clash against the Azzuri has concluded. Tickets for the Women’s match are available through Ticketmaster.ie.
IRELAND WOMEN v England Women – RBS 6 Nations Championship
Player / Club / Province / Caps
15. Niamh Briggs (UL Bohemians/Munster) 38
14. Ashleigh Baxter (Belfast Harlequins/Ulster) 10
13. Lynne Cantwell (Richmond /Exile) 80
12. Jenny Murphy (Old Belvedere/Leinster) 10
11. Alison Miller (Portlaoise RFC/UCC/Connacht) 16
10. Nora Stapleton (Old Belvedere/Leinster) 20
9. Larissa Muldoon (Bristol/Exile) 17
8. Heather O’ Brien (Highfield/Munster)11
7. Claire Molloy (Bristol/Connacht) 28
6. Siobhan Fleming (Tralee/Munster) 12
5. Marie –Louise Reilly (Old Belvedere/Leinster) 27
4. Sophie Spence (Old Belvedere/Leinster) 12
3. Ailis Egan (Old Belvedere/Leinster) 14
2. Gillian Bourke (UL Bohemians/Munster ) 38
1. Fiona Coghlan (UL Bohemians/Leinster) 77 capt
Replacements
16. Stacey-Lea Kennedy (Cooke/Ulster) 10
17. Fiona Hayes (UL Bohemians/Munster) 3
18. Kerrie –Ann Craddock (Saracens/Exile) 1
19. Laura Guest (Highfield/Munster) 31
20. Amy Davis (Blackrock /Ulster) 33
21. Hannah Casey (Saracens/Exiles) 2
22. Grace Davitt (Cooke/Ulster) 48
23. Jackie Shiels (Richmond/Exile) 9
England Women name team for Six Nations Ireland double header
England Women’s Head Coach Gary Street has made seven changes to the team that defeated Scotland two weeks ago for Saturday’s Six Nations clash against Ireland at Twickenham Stadium, kick off 6:20pm.
In a must win match for England against the defending Six Nations Grand Slam champions, Street has called up a new front row with Rochelle Clark, Emma Croker and Sophie Hemming all starting. Also in the pack Maggie Alphonsi returns in the backrow, partnering Hannah Gallagher and Sarah Hunter.
Worcester’s Katherine Merchant and Bristol’s Kay Wilson form a new wing partnership whilst Lichfield’s Natasha Hunt returns at scrum-half.
Street said: “It has been a tough selection this week but I think the quality of our bench shows the depth we have in this squad. We’ve had good week training and the players are feeling really positive and excited about playing against Ireland at Twickenham on Saturday.”
England last played Ireland in the Six Nations, and it was the Irish who came out on top winning 25-0 in Ashbourne. Phillip Doyle’s side now head to Twickenham, just like Ireland Men, in search of the Triple Crown whilst England know they have to win to keep any hopes alive of taking back the Six Nations crown after their defeat to France earlier this month.
“This is obviously a big game,” said Street. “With our defeat last season to Ireland, playing at Twickenham and knowing we must win, this is a big match. That said, at the same time, for us every game is a big game all the way through to the Rugby World Cup in August now as this is our target.
“Ireland have a strong all round game with some powerful forwards and pace in their backs whilst we’ve learned a lot from our defeat to France and we are feeling ready for this. I think this will be a great expansive game of rugby for the Twickenham crowd to enjoy.”
Rugby fans can watch England Women v Ireland Women for free with free entry to the stadium after England Men v Ireland.
England team v Ireland
15 Emily Scarratt (Lichfield)
14 Katherine Merchant (Worcester)
13 Amber Reed (Bristol)
12 Rachel Burford (Thurrock)
11 Kay Wilson (Bristol)
10 Katy Mclean (Darlington Mowden Park Sharks) C
9 Natasha Hunt (Lichfield)
1 Rochelle Clark (Worcester)
2 Emma Croker (Richmond)
3 Sophie Hemming (Bristol)
4 Rebecca Essex (Richmond)
5 Joanne McGilchrist (Wasps)
6 Hannah Gallagher (Saracens)
7 Margaret Alphonsi (Saracens)
8 Sarah Hunter (Lichfield) VC
Replacements:
16 Victoria Fleetwood (Lichfield)
17 Laura Keates (Worcester)
18 Sasha Acheson (Bristol)
19 Tamara Taylor (Darlington Mowden Park Sharks)
20 Marlie Packer (Wasps)
21 La Toya Mason (Wasps)
22 Ceri Large (Worcester)
23 Lydia Thompson (Worcester)
ITALY v SCOTLAND
- Italy Women have won just one of their last five contests: 12-11 against Wales at Aberavon in round 1.
- Scotland Women have lost their last twelve matches since their victory over the Netherlands in Amsterdam in November 2011, a run which has seen them fail to score a point in 10 of those contests.
- Italy have won their last three matches with Scotland since their 6-all draw at Colleferro in 2010.
- This is the first ever major rugby match to be played at Stadio Parco Urbano.
WALES v FRANCE
- Wales Women have lost their last three matches since beating Scotland 13-0 at Scotstoun in round 4 last season.
- Wales have lost their last four home games since beating Italy at the Millennium Stadium in March 2012.
- France Women have begun their campaign with a pair of victories for the third time in the last four seasons, whilst their only defeat in their last six fixtures in the tournament was to Ireland at Ashbourne last season.
- Wales have won just three of their last 18 clashes with France at this level, the last of which was in the semi-finals of the FIRA championship in Leiden in 2008.
HOW THEY STAND IN 2014
Source : RugbyRedefined.com & http://www.rbs6nations.com/
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