The Ireland Women face arguably their stiffest challenge of the season when they renew rivalries with France, the only team to beat them in last year’s Women’s RBS 6 Nations.
2016 WOMEN’S RBS 6 NATIONS CHAMPIONSHIP: Saturday, February 13
FRANCE WOMEN (1st) v IRELAND WOMEN (3rd), Stade Aimé Giral, Perpignan, 9pm local time/8pm Irish time (live France 4/RTÉ Two/www.rte.ie/live (island of Ireland only))
Team News: The Ireland Women’s team, sponsored by Aon, has been named for their Women’s RBS 6 Nations second round game against France in Perpignan.
Head coach Tom Tierney has made one change to the side that beat Wales 21-3 at Donnybrook last Saturday. The change comes at hooker where Railway Union’s Cliodhna Moloney swaps jerseys with Zoe Grattage who moves to the replacements.
Tierney is looking forward to a tough match in Perpignan, saying: “The French will present a very difficult test this weekend. They had an impressive (39-0) win over Italy, so they’ll be coming into this game very confident.
“However, we’re confident ourselves that if we look after the basics and put in a good performance we’ll put ourselves in a position to get our first win over France on French soil.”
Saturday night’s eagerly-awaited clash will be broadcast live on RTÉ Two from 7.45pm, with kick-off at 8pm (Irish time).
Meanwhile, France coaches Jean-Michel Gonzalez and Philippe Laurent have made one enforced change to the side that beat Italy 39-0 last time out.
The influential Coumba Diallo misses out due to an ankle injury, with the experienced Laëtitia Grand from Lons taking over from her in the back row alongside Montpellier duo Pauline Rayssac and Safi N’Diaye.
Rayssac and N’Diaye’s club-mate Caroline Boujard, who starts on the right wing, scored the second half try which helped les Bleues to a 10-5 success when these sides met in Ashbourne last year.
Women’s RBS 6 Nations Fixtures/Results
FRANCE WOMEN: Julie Billes (Montpellier); Caroline Boujard (Montpellier), Lucile Godiveau (Bobigny), Elodie Poublan (Montpellier), Laura Delas (Tarbes); Audrey Abadie (Blagnac-Saint Orens), Yanna Rivoalen (Lille-Métropole RC Villeneuvois); Lise Arricastre (Lons), Gaëlle Mignot (Montpellier) (capt), Julie Duval (Ovalie Caennaise), Celine Ferer (Bayonne), Audrey Forlani (Blagnac-Saint Orens), Laëtitia Grand (Lons), Pauline Rayssac (Montpellier), Safi N’Diaye (Montpellier).
Replacements: Agathe Sochat (Stade Bordelais ASPTT), Arkya Ait Lahbib (Stade Rennais Rugby), Romane Menager (Lille-Métropole RC Villeneuvois), Julie Annery (Bobigny), Laure Sansus (Stade Toulousain), Camille Imart (Stade Toulousain), Coralie Bertrand (Stade Toulousain), Patricia Carricaburu (Lons).
IRELAND WOMEN: Niamh Briggs (UL Bohemians/Munster) (capt); Elise O’Byrne White (Old Belvedere/Leinster), Aine Donnelly (Cill Dara/Leinster), Sene Naoupu (Galwegians/Connacht), Mairead Coyne (Galwegians/Connacht); Nikki Caughey (Railway Union/Ulster), Larissa Muldoon (Skewen); Ruth O’Reilly (Galwegians/Connacht), Cliodhna Moloney (Railway Union/Leinster), Ailis Egan (Old Belvedere/Leinster), Sophie Spence (Old Belvedere/Leinster), Marie Louise Reilly (Old Belvedere/Leinster), Paula Fitzpatrick (Toulouse), Claire Molloy (Bristol), Heather O’Brien (Toulouse).
Replacements: Zoe Grattage (Tralee/Munster), Lindsay Peat (Railway Union/Leinster), Fiona Reidy (UL Bohemians/Munster), Ciara Cooney (Railway Union/Leinster), Ciara Griffin (Tralee/Munster), Mary Healy (Galwegians/Connacht), Nora Stapleton (Old Belvedere/Leinster), Jackie Shiels (Richmond).
Referee: Jess Beard (New Zealand).
Pre-Match Quotes – Sophie Spence (Ireland Women): “We’ve had nine (training) camps since August and you can just tell how much that helps form a squad point of view. That’s something massive to go into the first game, to have five camps more than we usually get. It’s only positive.
“France are always going to be a strong team. They have a fantastic pack, really skilful backs. They’ll be looking towards the next World Cup but they’ll always want to put in a performance in the Six Nations.
“You’ve just got to look at what team we have now and what are our strengths and how are we going to overcome their strengths.
“It was brilliant to start off with a win (against Wales). We had a good performance for our first game in Donnybrook so it’s really positive to go back into camp and to be now focusing on France.
“We can now look forward to putting more things in place to battle on Saturday. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves, let’s look at our game-plan and what we’re going to put in place to play our style of rugby.
“I think that’s really important. We are away from home, France are going to have a brilliant crowd behind them – it’s about how do we stay calm and composed and produce a good performance.”
Pre-Match Links –
Ireland Women Enjoy Winning Start Against Wales
In Pics: Ireland Women 21 Wales Women 3
Irish Rugby TV: Ireland Women 21 Wales Women 3 – Full Replay
Match Facts –
– The France Women beat Italy 39-0 last weekend to top the table after the first round, avenging their defeat to the Italians in round 5 last season (their only loss in the tournament since 2013)
– The Ireland Women also began with a round 1 victory, over Wales, and have now won their last four matches in the Women’s Six Nations since tripping up at home to France in round 2 last year
– The two sides have met on 23 previous occasions with Ireland’s only two victories both being at home at Ashbourne in the Six Nations in 2009 and 2013
– Only one Women’s Test match has ever been played in Perpignan, with France beating Spain there 24-0 in the Six Nations in February 2004
Recent Meetings –
2013: Women’s Six Nations: Ireland Women 15 France Women 10, Ashbourne RFC
2014: Women’s Six Nations: France Women 19 Ireland Women 15, Stade du Hameau, Pau; Women’s Rugby World Cup 3rd-4th Place Play-Off: Ireland Women 18 France Women 25, Stade Jean Bouin, Paris
2015: Women’s RBS 6 Nations: Ireland Women 5 France Women 10, Ashbourne RFC
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