Lane: We’re Just Focusing On Getting Our Performance Out There

Emily Lane says the synergy and connections within the Ireland squad are stronger than ever as they gear up to face England in Saturday’s Guinness Women’s Six Nations opener at Allianz Stadium, Twickenham (kick-off 2.25pm).

An expanded Celtic Challenge season, which included play-offs for the first time, has seen a lot of Scott Bemand’s national side playing together – particularly in the title-winning Wolfhounds back-line – while a number of other players have been featuring in the PWR across the water.

Five of Ireland’s starting pack for the England match are attached to English clubs. Amongst them are back rowers Aoife Wafer and Brittany Hogan, who have moved to Harlequins and Sale Sharks, respectively, and lock Dorothy Wall, with 10 appearances for Exeter Chiefs since her return from an Achilles tendon injury.

Lane comes into her third Six Nations campaign after helping the Clovers to a runners-up finish in the Celtic Challenge. She was involved in all bar one of their 12 matches, racking up 668 minutes on the pitch and captaining the team five times during Ruth Campbell’s injury-enforced absence.

Pleased with how Bemand’s charges are shaping up for the 2026 Championship, the livewire scrum-half said: “I think we’ve been really lucky that we’ve had two weeks (in camp) together. We had our calibration camp earlier in the year, and a lot of our girls have been playing together, whether that’s in the PWR or the Celtic Challenge.

“So I think those connections are so important going into a game like this, that we have that synergy and we have those games where it’s like, ‘I know what Dannah (O’Brien) is going to do, I know what Stacey (Flood) is going to do’. I think that’s the main thing.

“We’ve been building over the last couple of years under Scott, and it’s just about actually putting the performance out there. We got it for 50 minutes (against England) last year. It’s getting that 80-minute performance.”

Lane was referencing last April’s Six Nations encounter with England in her native Cork. She wore the number 9 jersey that day and played for almost an hour, with Ireland scoring first through a memorable Amee-Leigh Costigan try and trailing by just two points at half-time.

While England managed to seize control during the second half and run out 49-5 winners, the performance and result was a marked improvement for Ireland on the 2024 meeting at Twickenham. They return to the south west London venue this weekend, determined to show the further strides they have made.

Bemand conceded it was ‘quite a chastening experience’ for his young Ireland team two years ago, but believes they have the capability now to ‘create more pressure deeper’ into games against the world’s leading teams, and doing so in front of a record Six Nations crowd would be a significant step forward.

“With 75,000 tickets sold, it is so exciting,” beamed Lane, who will partner O’Brien at half-back on the occasion of her 21st Test cap. “We’re raring to go and just buzzing to get out on the pitch for the first game of the Six Nations.

“It is nerves and excitement. There is no denying it is going to be a tough challenge against the World champions, but all we can do is stick together and feed off that crowd.

“We’re just focusing on getting our performance out there and really going for it. It is going to be intense. It is going to be a first for a lot of our players in front of that many people. But we’re just focusing on ourselves and making sure that we get our game-plan out there.”

There have been changes in both the Ireland and England set-ups since last year’s Rugby World Cup. Notably, the girls in green have a new forwards coach in Alan O’Connor, the former Ulster second row, and nine uncapped players in the extended playing group.

Two of them, Eilís Cahill and Katie Whelan, are on the bench for this first round date with England, and there is a Six Nations debut in the green jersey for Ellena Perry at loosehead prop, and a second Six Nations start for Vicky Elmes Kinlan on the left wing.

There are eight starters retained in the Irish starting XV from the 2024 fixture, including centres Eve Higgins and Aoife Dalton. England’s wider Six Nations squad contains seven uncapped players, a total of 25 Rugby World Cup winners, and a new captain in experienced centre Meg Jones.

Acknowledging that the start of a new World Cup cycle brings a reset and an opportunity for freshened-up selections, Lane explained: “The last game England played was eight months ago, and a lot could change and it is the same for us. A lot has changed for us too.

“I think we just want to start fast, make sure that we come out of the blocks firing and just keep pressure on them. It’s exciting that we get to focus on ourselves and bring our game to it.

“We’re really focusing on ourselves and we’ve had the opportunity the past two weeks to really nail down what our game-plan is and how we want to attack this game.”

Ireland will be led for the first time by Lane’s longtime Sevens team-mate Erin King, the youngest of this year’s Six Nations captains at just 22. King is set to make her international return after sadly missing the World Cup due to the horrific knee injury she suffered against England last year.

Commenting on King’s new leadership role, the Mallow native added: “Erin is so inspiring. Her work-rate is unbelievable. She is someone that literally lives by her actions.

“She’ll never say something that she won’t do herself, and she’s just someone who we all get behind. No matter what she does or says, we trust her 100%, and I think having a leader like that is unbelievable.

“On top of that as well, we’re so lucky we still have Sam (Monaghan) around. We still have ‘Leigh’ (Amee-Leigh Costigan), Clíodhna (Moloney-MacDonald). We still have so many leaders in this squad. We’re really lucky to have such good leadership.”