One change for Ireland, with 30,000 tickets sold for Scotland clash
IRELAND HEAD COACH Scott Bemand has made one change to his starting XV for Sunday’s final-round Women’s Six Nations clash with Scotland at the Aviva Stadium [KO 2.30pm, Virgin Media One].
30,000 tickets have been sold for Ireland’s first-ever standalone game at the Dublin venue, meaning Sunday’s game will smash the existing attendance record for a home Irish game of 9,206.
Bemand has tweaked his pack with the inclusion of Sam Monaghan in the second row, as Dorothy Wall drops onto the bench.
Otherwise, it’s an unchanged starting XV as Stacey Flood, Béibhinn Parsons, and Robyn O’Connor form the back three, Eve Higgins partners Aoife Dalton team up in midfield, and Emily Lane and Dannah O’Brien make up the halfback pairing.
Ellena Perry, Cliodhna Moloney-MacDonald and Linda Djougang start in the front row for the fifth consecutive time, Monaghan joins Fiona Tuite in the second row, while Brittany Hogan, captain Erin King, and Aoife Wafer form the back row again.
Vicky Elmes Kinlan returns on the Irish bench as Bemand opts for a 5/3 split this weekend.
Ireland are hoping to secure third place in the Six Nations with a victory, while the teams are also competing for the new Siobhan Cattigan Trophy, which is named after Scotland international Siobhan Cattigan, who passed away in 2021 at the age of 26.
Ireland:
15. Stacey Flood14. Béibhinn Parsons13. Aoife Dalton12. Eve Higgins11. Robyn O’Connor10. Dannah O’Brien 9. Emily Lane
1. Ellena Perry 2. Cliodhna Moloney-MacDonald3. Linda Djougang4. Sam Monaghan5. Fiona Tuite 6. Brittany Hogan 7. Erin King (captain)8. Aoife Wafer
Replacements:
16. Neve Jones17. Sadhbh McGrath18. Eilís Cahill19. Dorothy Wall20. Ruth Campbell21. Katie Whelan22. Vicky Elmes Kinlan23. Niamh Gallagher
Scotland:
15. Chloe Rollie14. Rhona Lloyd13. Rachel Philipps12. Meryl Smith11. Shona Campbell10. Helen Nelson (captain)9. Leia Brebner-Holden
1. Leah Bartlett2. Elis Martin3. Elliann Clarke 4. Emma Wassell5. Louise McMillan6. Becky Boyd7. Eva Donaldson8. Emily Coubrough
Replacements:
16. Aicha Sutcliffe17. Demi Swann18. Molly Poolman19. Hollie Cunningham20. Holland Bogan21. Rhea Clarke22. Lucia Scott23. Coreen Grant
Referee: Aurélie Groizeleau [FFR].
