Irish Rugby : RBS 6 Nations : Ireland Squad Training At The RDS, Tuesday, February 23, 2010

The Ireland Women's Sevens squad are preparing to take the next step this weekend at the Amsterdam International 7s and you can watch highlights of the action on YouTube.

Jennifer Murphy made her debut for Ireland in the 2012 Women's Six Nations. She is now concentrating her efforts as part of a new training programme for Women's Sevens. We spoke to her this week about the transition from GAA and soccer to rugby and the approach to the Sevens game.

The Irish Rugby Football Union is pleased to announce that they have appointed Dave Clark as the new Head of Fitness to oversee all areas of elite performance in professional and representative teams.

Looking forward to his 85th appearance for Ireland against England on Saturday, second row Donncha O'Callaghan said: "It's disappointing to say, but we were probably caught short (against them last August). We know the process for us to get right, that involves playing a lot of north-south rugby. It'll be a battle for the gain-line and who can dominate in both attack and defence."

Ireland assistant coach Mark Tainton talks about the threats in the England team named for Saturday's RBS 6 Nations showdown at Twickenham, while team manager Michael Kearney said there are 'no late injury concerns' among the squad with the players also looking forward to tonight's visit from Christy Moore.

Looking forward to leading Ireland out at Twickenham, stand-in captain Rory Best said: "If we don't get the result on Saturday, we'll finish well down the table. That's not acceptable for this Irish team. Regardless of who you're playing in a green shirt, there should be that bit of bite to your performance and I'm sure Saturday will be no different."

Speaking at the team announcement press conference, Ireland head coach Declan Kidney said: "I think it'll be a really tough game (against England). We just have to make sure we do everything we can to put in the best 80-minute performance of our season, and that's what it will take to get a victory."

Ireland head coach Declan Kidney said there are no late injury worries after the players completed the Captain's Run at the Aviva Stadium. "We trained away this morning, just putting the final touches to things. We're looking forward to it now, especially after the down day yesterday...which was good for us," he said.

Previewing Saturday's RBS 6 Nations encounter with Scotland, Ireland number 8 Jamie Heaslip said: "When we have the ball we'll really have to focus on the breakdown...getting the right numbers to rucks and bringing a lot of intensity, because Scotland have two number 7s on the pitch and they're very good at what they do."

Commenting on his side's build-up to their penultimate Six Nations match against Scotland, Ireland head coach Declan Kidney said: "I think we're progressing from game to game. Our performance has stepped up each time that we've played. It's a state of where the players are that they've gone to Paris, gotten a draw and been disappointed with that result."

Commenting on the build-up to Ireland's third match of the RBS 6 Nations against France, Ireland captain Paul O'Connell said: "We've had a good few weeks together, we've trained hard and worked hard, built a team atmosphere. To get last week's win under our belts was good for the confidence of the side going to Paris," he said.