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Ireland name team for TikTok Women's Six Nations Opener

Holly Aitchison of England is tackled by Dorothy Wall and Nichola Fryday of Ireland during the TikTok Women's Six Nations match between England and Ireland at Mattioli Woods Welford Road Stadium on April 24, 2022 in Leicester, England. (Photo by Matthew Lewis - RFU/The RFU Collection via Getty Images)

Ireland Head Coach Greg McWilliams has named his match day squad for Saturday’s TikTok Women’s Six Nations clash against Wales in Cardiff.

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The IRFU press release reads:
Nichola Fryday will captain the side from the second row, with two uncapped players named in the Match Day squad.

18-year-old Ulster prop Sadhbh McGrath is selected in the front row having impressed McWilliams and the Ireland coaching team during the recent Celtic Challenge competition, while Leinster’s Niamh O’Dowd is also in line for her debut cap off the bench.

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The Ireland backline contains an exciting blend of youth and experience, with the likes of Méabh Deely, Aoife Dalton and Natasja Behan – who all made their debuts during last summer’s historic Tour of Japan – set to make their first Six Nations appearances.

Deely, Behan and Aoife Doyle make up the back three, with Dalton joined by the experienced Enya Breen in the Ireland midfield. Nicole Cronin and Molly Scuffil-McCabe are named as half-backs, with Dannah O’Brien and Vicky Irwin providing the backline reinforcements on the bench.

Up front, debutant McGrath packs down alongside Neve Jones and Linda Djougang, with captain Fryday and Sam Monaghan in the second row. Dorothy Wall, Maeve Óg O’Leary and Brittany Hogan are selected in the back row, with the uncapped O’Dowd, Deirbhile Nic a Bhaird, Christy Haney, Jo Brown, Grace Moore and Hannah O’Connor giving McWilliams strong options from the bench.

In injury news, Edel McMahon and Aoife Wafer have been unfortunately ruled out of the Championship through injury.

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Ireland team to play Wales:

15. Méabh Deely (Blackrock College RFC/Connacht)(2 caps)
14. Aoife Doyle (Railway Union RFC/Munster)(12)
13. Aoife Dalton (Old Belvedere RFC/Leinster)(2)
12. Enya Breen (Blackrock College RFC/Munster)(16)
11. Natasja Behan (Blackrock College RFC/Leinster)(2)
10. Nicole Cronin (UL Bohemian RFC/Munster)(21)
9. Molly Scuffil-McCabe (Railway Union RFC/Leinster)(4)

1. Sadhbh McGrath (City of Derry/Cooke RFC/Ulster)*
2. Neve Jones (Gloucester-Hartpury/Ulster)(13)
3. Linda Djougang (Old Belvedere RFC/Leinster)(24)
4. Nichola Fryday (Exeter Chiefs/Connacht)(29)(Captain)
5. Sam Monaghan (Gloucester-Hartpury/IQ Rugby)(10)
6. Dorothy Wall (Blackrock College RFC/Munster)(16)
7. Maeve Óg O’Leary (Blackrock College RFC/Munster)(3)
8. Brittany Hogan (Old Belvedere RFC/Ulster)(10)

Replacements:

16. Deirbhile Nic a Bhaird (Old Belvedere RFC/Munster)(4)
17. Niamh O’Dowd (Old Belvedere RFC/Leinster)*
18. Christy Haney (Blackrock College RFC/Leinster)(5)
19. Jo Brown (Worcester Warriors/IQ Rugby)(1)
20. Grace Moore (Saracens/IQ Rugby)(5)
21. Hannah O’Connor (Blackrock College RFC/Leinster)(14)
22. Dannah O’Brien (Old Belvedere RFC/Leinster)(2)
23. Vicky Irwin (Sale Sharks/Ulster)(1)

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J
JW 1 hour ago
Half-back depth is the flaw in 'Razor's' 4-4-4 Rugby World Cup plan

Well there’s a couple of distinctions here that are important aren’t there?


First though like I replied to Tk where does it say theres need to test vets, or proven reliable players? It is simply ‘test quality’.


Now, I have created a list that I think is test quality, so all weve got to do is upskill the missing pieces right? No. Razor might not mean to have given every player half a dozen matchs but he will want to have identified and assured himself that each individual is indeed test quality. So yes, plays like Darry and Lord may still be included in a few squads and used so he’s happy to include them as say 5th and 6th ranked locks, but that doesn’t mean he needs to go to the same level to ensure for himself the 7th and 8th ranked locks.


He might be happy basing performances off SR Finals, or organizing an AB XV match against a team like France or SA with similar locking depth (even organizing say Warner Dearns to be part of the Japan XV etc), and I’m sure they’re going to have a very large squad over in South Africa for two months.


I don’t think he is quite in the same predicament as SA to have to rest top stars. And this is obviously just goal setting, they’re supposed to be hard. As you can see by the context around this series, arbitrary targets like everyone getting some minutes are made. That could also simply be how he ensures he has met the 4. So hookers would be ticked, as he’s already used 5 at test level. If you looked at the Baabaas SA game you’d see Beehre performing like an accomplished test player, that already makes 7 locks with more than 2 full seasons to go. You take the point BA was making about Marshalls previous remarks about Razor want players to be able to play 3/4/5 different positions, that would mean if Razor was really happy with Finau at lock last week he already has 8 test quality locks as well, etc, etc.


TLDR sorry for the big reply, it’s just a goal, the teams not going to suddenly fail if he doesn’t reach it, I think theres many means and many players for him to be comfortable in getting 4 in each position. He’s obviously not going to be able to get 4 proven, hardened test players in each by then, no.

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