Cooke’s Ilse van Staden and Jemma Jackson have joined fellow Cookie Claire McLaughlin in the Ireland Women’s Rugby training squad ahead of their Six Nations warm-up fixture against Wales. The game takes place on Sunday afternoon at Donnybrook, kick off 2:00 pm.

It’s the end of a long journey for both players, who have been on the fringe of Ireland involvement for some time. Hopefully, it will be the beginning of another adventure in their rugby careers. The Front Row Union would like to add their congratulations to the pair. And it’s a big up to McLaughlin, who now goes into her second Six Nations series. 

After a disappointing autumn series for Ireland Women’s Rugby head coach Tom Tierney has called in eight new names in total to the squad. Van Staden and Jackson are joined by ex-Ulster player Laura Feely as well as Ciara O’Connor, Jennie Finlay, Ailsa Hughes, Eimear Considine and Deirbhile Nic a Bhaird. 

The squad also features the return of FRU favourite Jenny Murphy. 🙂 

Here’s the squad in full.

Forwards	Backs
Elaine Anthony (Highfield/Munster)	Niamh Briggs (UL Bohemians/Munster) (capt)
Anna Caplice (UL Bohemians/Munster)	Eimear Considine (UL Bohemians/Munster) *
Ailis Egan (Old Belvedere/Leinster)	Mairead Coyne (Galwegians/Connacht)
Laura Feely (Galwegians/Connacht) *	Mary Healy (Galwegians/Connacht)
Jennie Finlay (Old Belvedere/Leinster) *	Ailsa Hughes (Railway Union/Leinster) *
Paula Fitzpatrick (St. Mary’s/Leinster)	Jemma Jackson (Cooke/Ulster) *
Orla Fitzsimons (St. Mary’s/Leinster)	Niamh Kavanagh (UL Bohemians/Munster)
Nichola Fryday (Tullamore/Connacht)	Claire McLaughlin (Cooke/Ulster)
Ciara Griffin (UL Bohemians/Munster)	Alison Miller (Old Belvedere/Connacht)
Leah Lyons (Highfield/Munster)	Jenny Murphy (Old Belvedere/Leinster)
Claire Molloy (Bristol/Connacht)	Sene Naoupu (Aylesford Bulls)
Cliodhna Moloney (Railway Union/Leinster)	Deirbhile Nic a Bháird (UL Bohemians/Munster) *
Heather O’Brien (Highfield/Munster)	Nora Stapleton (Old Belvedere/Leinster)
Ciara O’Connor (Galwegians/Connacht) *
Lindsay Peat (Railway Union/Leinster)
Marie Louise Reilly (Old Belvedere/Leinster)
Ilse van Staden (Cooke/Ulster) *