Greg McWilliams side will host their opponents in Musgrave Park in Cork later this afternoon.
AT THIS REMOVE, Ireland’s target in this year’s women’s Six Nations championship is a fourth-place finish. That’s where they wound up after last year’s tournament too.
A week on from that 31-5 pummeling, Ireland must now reset to face last year’s competition runners-up France in Cork’s Musgrave Park. That venue was a solid fortress for the Ireland U20s who successfully defended their Grand Slam title earlier this month. But, in simple terms, it will have to be a ground that serves a different purpose for the women’s team.
The most obvious solution to this issue of player crossover would be to establish separate pathways for Sevens and 15s. While the Sevens game is an important arm of the game, the 15s game is the one that always has the spotlight and the media coverage. Such a concentrated level of focus brings its positives in one respect, but it cannot be easy for a player to be on the receiving end of a heavy defeat with the knowledge that this game is also being shown on national television.
The most recent setback for Ireland is the loss of Enya Breen for the rest of the competition to injury. Munster’s Caplice also featured on Off The Ball this week, where she pointed to a big deficiency in the women’s system: There is no Ireland women’s U20s team. Players like McGrath would benefit from playing in a development team like that.
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