Neil Treacy looks head to Ireland's opening game of the 2024 Guinness Women's Six Nations against France in Le Mans.
It's just under 11 months since Irish women’s rugby hit rock bottom. We thought the World Cup qualification disaster of 2021 was as low as it could go, but a first Six Nations wooden spoon for 19 years saw the former champions and World Cup semi-finalists go through the floorboards, and into a basement we never knew existed.
The reality is that a fourth or fifth-place finish would almost certainly be enough for them to secure qualification later this year through the WXV. In 2023, Ireland struggled to"fire some shots" in any of their five games, scoring just three tries and a total of 25 points in 400 minutes of rugby. Monaghan will at least be back for the visit of Italy, but in the absence of Nic a Bháird and Fryday, the likes of Dorothy Wall, Hannah O’Connor and Brittany Hogan will be expected to step up and make the hard yards.
When Ireland did get good field position in the 2023 Six Nations, particularly in the Round 3 defeat to Italy in Parma, an inconsistent set-piece hurt them. In Linda Djougang, Neve Jones and Christy Haney Ireland had one of the stronger front rows in the championship and their scrum produced consistently, but at lineout they struggled, with a 69% success rate.
Joining her in the second row on Saturday is O’Connor, who takes the place of Monaghan. The 33-year-old was initially only included in the Six Nations squad as a 'training panelist’, but it’s telling that Bemand has called upon her experience for the trip to France. Both Parsons and Higgins start in France this week, for what will be their first Six Nations appearances since the third-round win against Italy in 2022, although they did line out in the WXV for Ireland in the autumn. Between them they scored 10 tries.
France also debut an 18-year-old on the right wing as Toulouse’s Kelly Arbey comes in, one of five changes to their side from their most recent outing, a 29-20 defeat to Canada in the WXV.
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