Parsons: It’s A Happy Moment Bringing Green Wave Out West

Over 8,000 tickets have been sold for Saturday evening’s match against Italy at the Galway venue, which is the headline event in a double header with the Under-21 Women’s Six Nations Series opener between the Ireland and Italy U-21s.

It is set to be a landmark occasion in Parsons’ career, getting to represent her country at the home of Connacht Rugby, a ground she graced with Ballinasloe RFC during her underage days when it was a grass pitch, and most recently with the Clovers in the Celtic Challenge.

When she faces the Clan Stand for the anthems, she will be able to pick out plenty of familiar faces, as a big Ballinasloe contingent, including all of her close family, will be there to support her as the Green Wave rolls into her home county.

“We were told that the Clan Stand is sold out, so we know that we’re going to have a really warm welcome, and it’s really exciting have our first game in Galway,” she said.

“Obviously for me personally, I can’t wait to go back to some home turf. I think I’ll embrace it, to be honest. I feel really supported and it’s a happy, happy moment more than (being) too emotional for me. I think I’ll just really enjoy it.

“I’ve played two games now in the new stadium. A couple in the Celtic Challenge. Probably my favourite games there have been underage, Ballinasloe versus Westport in some Connacht finals. Me and Dexcom Stadium go way back.

“The fact we’ve built our Green Wave so much and travelled abroad with it when playing in England at the World Cup. Now to come back and be able to play at home is amazing. There’s no better place in the west.

“I think it’s great that we have a travelling stadium and we know we can go to Galway and still sell out a stand. So for that reason, I’m really excited. The vibes in camp are unreal. We had a really, really tough training week, so yeah, everyone’s excited now to get into the game.”

Like a number of her Ireland team-mates, Parsons played at Dexcom Stadium as recently as four weeks ago. She was a try scorer in the Clovers’ 32-20 semi-final win over Gwalia Lightning, and showed impressive form during the cross-border competition with five tries in seven games.

The 24-year-old winger missed last year’s Six Nations as she worked her way back from a second leg break. She was back in the green jersey for their two Rugby World Cup warm-up fixtures, scoring twice against Canada, and she also crossed the whitewash during the pool victory over Japan.

She is the top try scorer in the current Irish squad with 18 tries, and one of the most-capped backs alongside Eve Higgins and Dannah O’Brien, who have also played over 30 Tests. She wants to have a greater impact this weekend after not being at her best in the 33-12 defeat to England.

Parsons had 60 minutes on the Allianz Stadium, Twickenham pitch, making 41 metres and two tackle breaks from five carries. She was frustrated to be turned over at one stage by Jess Breach, who ripped the ball away from her grasp barely a minute into the second half.

“I think my own personal performance left a lot to be desired, and I think that was one of the things, getting more involvements and being able to impose my game and fire some shots. It is something I’ll definitely be going after this week.

“I think there’s a good few people that felt a similar way, that they didn’t impose their game the way they wanted to. I do think that it was a big occasion (at Twickenham), but I don’t think that was why.

“I think we were really revved up as a squad, really ready for all that. I think last weekend maybe us wingers didn’t get as much ball as we would have hoped, but I think this Saturday will be a different story. We have a really nice shape that allows us to get off our wings.”

Meanwhile, Jane Clohessy’s hopes of being involved in this year’s Six Nations are sadly over after suffering a broken arm. It is a recurrence of the injury she sustained during the Celtic Challenge campaign, but in a new place on the same arm.

“It’s unfortunate for Jane. She worked so hard to get back into the squad but that is the nature of the game in rugby,” said backs and kicking coach Gareth Steenson, when giving the media an injury update yesterday at the IRFU High Performance Centre.

With Clohessy undergoing surgery and her season at an end, Ireland head coach Scott Bemand has called up uncapped lock Kate Jordan to train with the squad. She was a Celtic Challenge winner with the Wolfhounds, and helped Blackrock College to qualify for the Energia All-Ireland League final last weekend.

Looking at Saturday’s opponents Italy, Parsons has experienced being on the losing side against the Azzurre – she started on the left wing in the 27-21 loss at the RDS two years ago. However, she has mostly positive memories of past meetings, including scoring in Parma in the 2021 World Cup qualifier.

The Ireland 15s and Sevens flyer is hoping the back-three, which features debutant Robyn O’Connor, can have a big influence on the Galway clash, especially as Italy have a highly-rated back-line of their own, including Parsons’ opposing winger, the 59-times capped Aura Muzzo.

“Italy have got a really explosive and fast back-three. We know they have threats across the board. They have a strong kicking game too, cross-field kicks, they like to feed off box kicks as well, so we’ve been practising on them throughout our training week and we’re ready to go.

“We know that we just want to come and impose our game-plan. That’s probably one thing that we missed out on last weekend, just us really firing shots. So we’re going to be brave and try to dominate,” she added.