There were just two changes made to Scott Bemand's squad as they prepare to take on World Cup runners up England in Twickenham this Saturday.
Co-captain Sam Monaghan has been left out of this weekends squad as she continues to recover from last weekends clash. Hannah O' Connor comes in to cover her position in the 2nd row. Speaking about this decision, defence coach Declan Danaher said
She's just not hitting her markers to give us the opportunity to play her. That is the simplest way to describe it. She's just not fully recovered from the game last weekend. She put in a massive effort but she's just not hit her markers to be ready so it obviously gives Hannah an opportunity to step in which is brilliant as it just shows the depth of our squad.
In other news Aoife Dalton comes in at inside centre as Enya Breen is shifted to the bench. Speaking about change Danaher said
With Aoife coming in there's great competition between her and Enya. Both of them have strengths and are both slightly different but we know that whoever will slot into that 12 jersey they will not let us down so I think it's brilliant that we've two players that we can call on and that can step up. Enya will be on the bench but we'll be able to get her on and hopefully she'll make an impact when called upon.
Looking at the bench the forward replacements remain unchanged with freshly capped Shannon Ikahihifo joining Cliodhna Moloney, Niamh O’ Dowd, Sadhbh McGrath and Fiona Tuite.
Whereas the backs replacements have slightly shifted as Enya Breen and Méabh Deely join Molly Scuffil-McCabe.
With close to 45,000 tickets being sold and pop superstar Sophie Ellis-Baxter set to perform at half-time, it is truly shaping up to being an absolute cracker of a day for fans that travel. For those of us stuck at home the match will be live on RTE with the game kicking off at 2:15pm so be sure to tune in and show your support for the girls in green as they reach the closing stages of this years Guinness Women's Six Nations.
IRELAND: Lauren Delany, Katie Corrigan, Eve Higgins, Aoife Dalton, Beibhinn Parsons; Dannah O' Brien, Aoibheann Reilly; Linda Djougang, Neve Jones, Christy Haney; Dorothy Wall, Hannah O' Connor; Aoife Wafer, Edel McMahon; Brittany Hogan.
Subs: Cliodhna Moloney, Niamh O’ Dowd, Sadhbh Mcgrath, Fiona Tuite, Shannon Ikahihifo, Molly Scuffil-Mccabe, Enya Breen, Méabh Deely
