AON Ireland Women make four changes for historic clash at Aviva Stadium

Mar 5 • General News, International, Six Nations • 1986 Views • Comments Off on AON Ireland Women make four changes for historic clash at Aviva Stadium

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Ireland Women Head Coach Philip Doyle has made three personnel and one positional change to the side that ran out in Twickenham Saturday week ago. The reigning Women’s 6 Nations champions make their debut at the Aviva Stadium this coming Saturday.

In the backs experienced centre Grace Davitt comes in for Jenny Murphy and Amy Davis replacesLarissa Muldoon at scrum-half. Both Murphy and Muldoon take places among the replacements.

In the forwards, Gillian Bourke switches from hooker to tight-head with Stacey-Lea Kennedy slotting in at No.2 and Ailish Egan making way and lining out among the replacements. The only other change to the match day squad sees Paula Fitzpatrick replace Laura Guest among the substitutes.

Grace Davitt is set to make her 50th cap for Ireland on Saturday against Italy.

Philip Doyle, Ireland Women’s Head Coach, commented, “The team put in a strong performance against England at Twickenham and we are very much still in the hunt for the Championship. Italy pushed us all the way last year in the final game of the tournament so we will not be taking them lightly and will need to put in a clinical performance to ensure that we secure victory in our first outing at the Aviva Stadium.”

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 following Ireland’s RBS 6 Nations clash against the Azzuri. Tickets for the Women’s match are available through Ticketmaster.ie and are priced €10 for adults and €5 for children.

IRELAND WOMEN v Italy Women – RBS 6 Nations Championship

Player / Club / Province / Caps
15. Niamh Briggs (UL Bohemians/Munster) 39
14. Ashleigh Baxter (Belfast Harlequins/Ulster) 11
13. Lynne Cantwell (Richmond /Exile) 81
12. Grace Davitt (Cooke/Ulster) 49
11. Alison Miller (Portlaoise RFC/UCC/Connacht) 17
10. Nora Stapleton (Old Belvedere/Leinster) 21
9. Amy Davis (Blackrock/Ulster) 34

8. Heather O’ Brien (Highfield/Munster) 12
7. Claire Molloy (Bristol/Connacht) 29
6. Siobhan Fleming (Tralee/Munster) 13
5. Marie –Louise Reilly (Old Belvedere/Leinster) 28
4. Sophie Spence (Old Belvedere/Leinster) 13
3. Gillian Bourke (UL Bohemians/Munster) 39
2. Stacey-Lea Kennedy (Cooke/Ulster) 11
1. Fiona Coghlan (UL Bohemians/Leinster) 78 capt

Replacements
16. Ailis Egan (Old Belveder/Leinster) 15
17. Fiona Hayes (UL Bohemians/Munster) 4
18. Kerrie –Ann Craddock (Saracens/Exile) 2
19. Paula Fitzpatrick (St Mary’s/Leinster) 4
20. Larrissa Muldoon (Bristol/Exile) 18
21. Hannah Casey (Saracens/Exiles) 3
22. Jenny Murphy (Old Belvedere/Leinster) 11
23. Jackie Shiels (Richmond/Exile) 10

RBS 6 Nations Ireland Women’s Fixtures

IRELAND WOMEN v Italy Women
Aviva Stadium; 17:00
Saturday 8thMarch, 2014

France Women v IRELAND WOMEN
Stade du Hameau; 18:45
Friday 14th March, 2014

6 Nations Woman Rugby