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Women’s Rugby World Cup Preview: Ireland v Australia

A Rugby World Cup on home soil, it does not get much better than that. Roared on by the vast majority of the UCD Bowl crowd, the Ireland Women will aim to put their best foot forward against Australia on the opening night of WRWC 2017.

2017 WOMEN’S RUGBY WORLD CUP – POOL C: Wednesday, August 9

IRELAND WOMEN v AUSTRALIA WOMEN, UCD Bowl, 7pm (live eir Sport 1/RTÉ Two/www.rte.ie/live (Republic of Ireland only)/ITV 4/www.rwcwomens.com live stream (in certain regions))

Team News: Compared to the Ireland team that played England in March’s Grand Slam decider, head coach Tom Tierney has made four personnel changes and two positional switches with Ashleigh Baxter and Heather O’Brien both making welcome returns to 15s international rugby.

Baxter, who is part of the IRFU Women’s Sevens programme, was the youngest member of Ireland’s 2014 World Cup squad which claimed a best ever finish of fourth. She was a winger back then, but the 25-year-old has converted to the back row in the past year and will start at blindside flanker tonight.

Cork woman O’Brien, another star performer from the 2014 tournament, will pack down at number 8 with the back row trio completed by newly-appointed World Cup captain Claire Molloy. It will be O’Brien’s first competitive start for Ireland since the 2016 Six Nations.

Sophie Spence and Ciara Griffin are the two players to make way with Paula Fitzpatrick, who captained Ireland during this year’s Six Nations campaign, moving from number 8 to the second row where she links up with the towering Marie Louise Reilly.

Cliodhna Moloney, who has been preferred to Leah Lyons at hooker, and her Railway Union club-mate Lindsay Peat will make their Women’s Rugby World Cup debuts in the front row, teaming up with experienced tighthead Ailis Egan.

Donegal-born half-back duo Nora Stapleton and Larissa Muldoon, who have 86 caps between them, will lead an exciting back-line which includes three more WRWC newcomers in Sene Naoupu, who resumes her centre partnership with Jenny Murphy, Clare flyer Eimear Considine, who comes in on the right wing, and Hannah Tyrrell who makes the switch to full-back in the absence of injured captain Niamh Briggs.

The ever-threatening Alison Miller will win her 37th cap on the left wing, while it will be Considine’s second start and third cap for Ireland after her debut against Scotland in February. Galwegians and Connacht props Ruth O’Reilly and Ciara O’Connor join Lyons as the front row reserves, and the selected bench also includes uncapped scrum half Nicole Cronin and fellow Ireland Sevens international Katie Fitzhenry.

Looking forward to launching Ireland’s WRWC 2017 campaign, Tierney said: “The squad are very excited to get the tournament underway. They’ve had excellent preparation and things have really come together since arriving into UCD on Saturday afternoon and everyone’s been extremely focused on their role and the challenge ahead.

“The Australians are a good team and we’ll have to be very good for the opening game. The players are all very clear on the challenges that the Wallaroos pose.

“However, this is a home World Cup and we’re confident that the crowd will get behind us (tomorrow), which will be an added benefit for us, and we’re all looking forward to getting the tournament up and running.”

Meanwhile, Mahalia Murphy and Trilleen Pomare will make their Wallaroos debuts in Australia’s World Cup opener, starting on the left wing and at out-half respectively when they line out against host nation Ireland.

The highly-rated Murphy is one of three Australia Sevens stars named in the starting XV, with Shannon Parry captaining the side from openside flanker and Sharni Williams featuring inside breakout star Kayla Sauvao in the centre.

Liz Patu, Cheyenne Campbell and Hilisha Samoa will form a powerful all-Queensland front row, with Chloe Butler and Millie Boyle pairing up in the second row. The 13-times capped Rebecca Clough and Ashleigh Hewson, who is the most-capped Wallarroo in the current squad with 15 Tests behind her, have to be content with places on the bench.

Mollie Gray makes her return to international rugby at blindside flanker alongside Parry and Grace Hamilton, who will start at number 8. Gray suffering an horrific knee injury in February when she damaged her anterior cruciate ligament, medial collateral ligament and posterior cruciate ligament, dislocated her kneecap and suffered cartilage damage.

Katrina Barker and WA product Pomare form a new-look half-back combination, with Murphy, Nareta Masters and Samantha Treherne adding plenty of pace to the back-three.

Australia head coach Paul Verrell said: “Nine changes since the last game against Canada in June but the Sevens players have come in, I think we have a good mix of youth and some older players that I think will challenge Ireland.

“Everyone is telling us it’s going to be very loud, it’s a sell-out for the home nation. I’m just trying to get it into the girls’ heads that once the ball has been kicked off, it’s just another game. We will do what we have prepared for, make sure we stick to how we are trying to play the game and just stay in the game for 80 minutes.

“All the pressure is on them – they’re the home nation hosting the World Cup – if we’re in front in the last 10 or 15 minutes, all the pressure is on them and that’s what we will be aiming to do.”

WRWC 2017 Ticket Exchange Programme

WRWC 2017 Journey Planner

Where To Watch – WRWC 2017 Broadcast Information

For more on the 2017 Women’s Rugby World Cup, visit the tournament website – www.rwcwomens.com. Buy your match tickets for the #WRWC2017 finals stages now on www.ticketmaster.co.uk/wrwc2017 and www.ticketmaster.ie/wrwc2017.

IRELAND: Hannah Tyrrell (Old Belvedere/Leinster); Eimear Considine (UL Bohemians/Munster), Jenny Murphy (Old Belvedere/Leinster), Sene Naoupu (Harlequins), Alison Miller (Old Belvedere/Connacht); Nora Stapleton (Old Belvedere/Leinster), Larissa Muldoon (Railway Union/Ulster); Lindsay Peat (Railway Union/Leinster), Cliodhna Moloney (Railway Union/Leinster), Ailis Egan (Old Belvedere/Leinster), Paula Fitzpatrick (St. Mary’s/Leinster), Marie Louise Reilly (Old Belvedere/Leinster), Ashleigh Baxter (Cooke/Ulster), Claire Molloy (Bristol/Connacht) (capt), Heather O’Brien (Highfield/Munster).

Replacements: Leah Lyons (Highfield/Munster), Ruth O’Reilly (Galwegians/Connacht), Ciara O’Connor (Galwegians/Connacht), Sophie Spence (Old Belvedere/Leinster), Ciara Griffin (UL Bohemians/Munster), Nicole Cronin (UL Bohemians/Munster), Katie Fitzhenry (Blackrock/Leinster), Mairead Coyne (Galwegians/Connacht).

AUSTRALIA: Samantha Treherne (Queensland/Sunnybank); Nareta Marsters (Queensland/Sunnybank), Kayla Sauvao (Sydney/Parramatta), Sharni Williams (Australia Sevens/ACT/Canberra Royals), Mahalia Murphy (Australia Sevens/NSW/Campbelltown); Trilleen Pomare (Western Australia/Wanneroo), Katrina Barker (NSW Country/Newcastle University); Liz Patu (Queensland/Wests), Cheyenne Campbell (Queensland/Redlands), Hilisha Samoa (Queensland/Brothers), Chloe Butler (South Australia/Parramatta), Millie Boyle (ACT/Canberra Royals), Mollie Gray (Australian Defence Force/NSW/Maitland), Shannon Parry (Australia Sevens/Queensland/Redlands) (capt), Grace Hamilton (Sydney/Sydney University).

Replacements: Emily Robinson (Sydney/Warringah), Violeta Tupuola (ACT/Canberra Royals), Hana Ngaha (Queensland/Sunnybank), Rebecca Clough (Western Australia/Cottesloe), Alisha Hewett (Australian Defence Force/Queensland/GPS), Fenella Hake (Queensland/Redlands), Sarah Riordan (Australian Defence Force/Victoria/Melbourne Unicorns), Ashleigh Hewson (Sydney/Sydney University).

Referee: Tim Baker (Hong Kong)
Assistant Referees: Sara Cox (England), Rose Labreche (Canada)
Television Match Official: David Grashoff (England)

Match Odds (Paddy Power): Ireland Women to win: 1/4; Draw: 14/1; Australia Women to win: 7/2

Pre-Match Quotes – Claire Molloy (Ireland Women): “Australia are going to bring a lot of fight, they are going to be aggressive, they are going to be physical. They are going to look to spoil our party, it is a home World Cup.

“They want to have a big scalp, they want to take the hosts out, who wouldn’t? If I was Australian I’d be thinking the same thing, that would be exactly what I’d be rubbing my hands together about.

“We have got to be prepared for that and we are well aware what they are going to try to do. Try to take all the negatives and try to make it a pressure situation for us, but we have just got to remember it’s a game of rugby.

“We are the best rugby players in our country and we can go out and do it. We don’t have to do anything different, we just have to get our set piece right, we have got to be accurate, we have got to be physical and it will happen. Just go and play rugby.”

Shannon Parry (Australia Women): “I think for us we have got a huge first-up game against Ireland and at the moment that is all we are focusing on. We have got to start off our World Cup campaign on a positive note and from there anything can happen.

“We are definitely looking at a top-four finish but it starts with that first game. We are not distancing ourselves too far into the tournament, at this point in time we are just focusing on Ireland and everything is focused on that.”

Pre-Match Links –

WRWC 2017 Team News: Match Day 1

Captains’ Call – Women’s Rugby World Cup 2017

In Pics: Ireland Captain’s Run At UCD On Eve Of World Cup

In Pics: President Higgins Presents The Ireland Match Jerseys

RTÉ Gets Behind Ireland’s WRWC 2017 Campaign

Kim Flood Joins Belton And Rosser On Eir Sport’s WRWC 2017 Team

WRWC 2017: Stat Attack –

IRELAND –

Best finish: Fourth (2014)
Worst finish: 14th (2002)
Women’s Rugby World Cup record: Played 27/Won 12/Lost 15
Women’s Rugby World Cup points scored: 387
Most-capped player in squad: Claire Molloy (53 caps)
Did you know?: Alison Miller’s try at WRWC 2014 gave Irish Rugby their first ever 15s international win over New Zealand at any level and also ended the Black Ferns’ 20-match unbeaten run in the tournament.
Head coach: Tom Tierney
Captain: Claire Molloy

AUSTRALIA –

Best finish: Third (2010)
Worst finish: Seventh (2006, 2014)
Women’s Rugby World Cup record: Played 24/Won 14/Lost 10
Women’s Rugby World Cup points scored: 497
Most-capped player in squad: Ashleigh Hewson (15 caps)
Did you know?: Captain Shannon Parry and Sharni Williams led Australia to the first Olympic Sevens gold medals at Rio 2016 on August 8 last year.
Head coach: Paul Verrell
Captain: Shannon Parry