Galwegians Carol Staunton forces her way back into the starting line up after an impressive display in the All Ireland Cup against Belfast Harlequins.
The Ireland Women’s team to play Wales in the Women’s RBS 6 Nations Championship on Sunday has been named by head coach Philip Doyle for Sunday’s match at Cross Keys Rugby Club. KO 2:30pm.
The selected team is again captained by prop Fiona Coghlan who has been announced as the Irish Times Sportswoman of the Month for February. The Irish captain is the second Irish Women’s player to be honoured this season with FRU Favourite Niamh Briggs receiving our very first Weekend Warrior Award back in November for her performance for Munster against Ulster. 
Philip Doyle has made two changes in personnel to the side that beat Scotland 22-5 in their last Six Nations outing a fortnight ago.
Ulster’s Lauren Day and Connacht’s Carol Staunton make their return to the starting line-up in the front and back row respectively. Laura Guest, who started at blindside flanker against Scotland, will partner Marie Louise Reilly in the second row.
Ailis Egan comes into the squad as a replacement prop as Doyle seeks to increase the number of players gaining experience at this level. Heather O’Brien will also provide back-up on the bench.
Speaking ahead of Sunday’s game, Doyle said:
The squad are looking forward to this weekend’s test. Wales away is always a strong challenge and we are under no illusions about the strength of this Welsh side.
We have had good results so far in the tournament and are striving for another positive result this weekend.
The Front Row Union caught up with Ulster’s experienced Irish prop Lauren Day to find out how the girls were feeling about the Six Nations campaign so far:
Everyone is excited about the upcoming game against Wales. We know they are going to be tough at home but we just need to focus on our own game and hopefully we can come away with a win. Obviously we’d be delighted if we could win this weekend which would really set things up for the final match against England at home. But maybe that’s looking too far ahead!
It’s hard not to think about the French game at home, it still hurts losing by two points, it was pretty devastating, just two points, but the team has responded very well and the match gave us a lot of confidence and helped us put in a strong performance against Scotland.
There is a feeling in the camp that we are building a good squad and Ulster girls Stacey (Lea Kennedy) and Larissa (Muldoon) both got some game time in the match against Scotland, both are coming along very well in their first season. Both are enjoying their experience in the Ireland set-up and it will definitely help Ulster in the years to come.
Certainly from the games we’ve seen this season the Irish Women’s game has continued to improve post World Cup and, though difficult, a top two finish in this seasons championship is not out of the question.
It is difficult not to look ahead to next Fridays mouth watering fixture against an English side who have dominated the Championship since its inception and, as Lauren says, Wales will be a difficult challenge in their own back yard, but I fancy this group to tough it out and come away with their third win on the road setting up a Triple Crown showdown for next Friday night!
| Position | Nation | Games | Points | Table points |
|||||||
| Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | For | Against | Difference | Tries | ||||
| 1 | England | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 103 | 8 | 95 | 15 | 6 | |
| 2 | France | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 70 | 31 | 39 | 10 | 4 | |
| 3 | Ireland | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 60 | 24 | 36 | 10 | 4 | |
| 4 | Wales | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 49 | 43 | 6 | 7 | 2 | |
| 5 | Italy | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 22 | 102 | -80 | 3 | 2 | |
| 6 | Scotland | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 20 | 116 | -96 | 3 | 0 | |
IRELAND WOMEN: (15-9) Niamh Briggs (Munster), Niamh Kavanagh (Munster), Lynne Cantwell (Exile), Geraldine Rea (Munster), Mairead Kelly (Munster), Nora Stapleton (Leinster), Amy Davis (Leinster). (1-8) Fiona Coghlan (Leinster) (capt), Gillian Bourke (Munster), Lauren Day (Ulster), Laura Guest (Munster), Marie Louise Reilly (Leinster), Carol Staunton (Connacht), Claire Molloy (Connacht), Joy Neville (Munster). (16-22) Stacey Kennedy (Ulster), Ailis Egan (Leinster), Deirdre O’Brien (Leinster), Heather O’Brien (Munster), Larissa Muldoon (Exile), Gillian Nolan (Leinster), Jackie Shiels (Leinster)
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