BY RICHARD BULLICK
IRELAND have received a double boost ahead of this Saturday’s Guinness Six Nations opener against France at Ravenhill with confirmation that full back Stacey Flood and hooker Cliodhna Moloney should both be fit to play.
Flood needed surgery after injuring her ankle playing for Celtic Challenge champions Wolfhounds against Glasgow Warriors at Scotstoun at the start of February but has made a rapid recovery and trained with the squad on Tuesday.
Defence coach Hugh Hogan had revealed at the press conference ahead of that session that Flood was set to be available for selection along with experienced campaigner Moloney, who missed the end of Exeter Chiefs’ PWR campaign due to a calf problem.
As expected, the start of the Six Nations will come too soon for star winger Beibhinn Parsons, who broke her leg for the second time in four months playing for Ireland in the World Series sevens tournament in Cape Town at the start of December.
The Ballinasloe express had suffered the first fracture at last summer’s Paris Olympics but was back in action four months later and appears on course to return in a similar time-frame this time around.
Parsons was named in Scott Bemand’s preliminary Six Nations squad of 40 last month unlike co-captain Sam Monaghan who is still sidelined as a result of the cruciate rupture sustained in last May’s PWR final for Gloucester Hartpury, though she is in Ireland camp.
Her counterpart Edel McMahon is set to be fully fit for the start of Ireland’s campaign along with centre Eve Higgins, who limped off in the penultimate match of Wolfhounds’ successful Celtic Challenge title defence, away to Gwalia Lightning.
With Connacht fullback Meabh Deely, who started against Scotland in the final fixture of last season’s Six Nations, ruled out by a broken thumb, the versatile Higgins might have been the best bet for the No 15 jersey if Flood didn’t make it back in time.
Veteran Lauren Delany of Sale Sharks, who started the first four matches in the 2024 Championship, retired from international rugby last summer and recently announced that she is hanging up her boots completely at the age of 35.
The experienced Eimear Considine, who made a fairytale return to international rugby last autumn with a try-scoring comeback against Australia at Ravenhill before helping the team to runners-up place at WXV1, subsequently called time on her playing career.
Meanwhile, Leinster back three player Natasja Behan, who made 10 consecutive starts on the wing for Ireland up until the end of 2023 but can also play fullback, is still several months away from returning to play after a cruciate tear.
Munster vice-captain Aoife Corey was called up to join the training squad as a specialist last line of defence, while two exciting young talents got game time at fullback for their respective teams towards the end of the Celtic Challenge.
The highly-rated Caitriona Finn was brought to Canada as part of the WXV1 squad aged just 18 and, although largely seen as a 10-12 who can place-kick, the same applied previously to fellow left-footer Flood before Bemand brought her on at fullback against Australia!
Sevens specialist Amy Larn, who featured for Ireland in last summer’s Paris Olympics, has made the most of the Celtic Challenge shop window with nine starts for Wolfhounds, six on the wing followed by three in the No 15 jersey.
But being thrown in against the French in a relatively unfamiliar role would have been a baptism of fire for Finn or Larn, while Corey is uncapped too so having experienced professional Flood to call upon will doubtless be a big relief for Bemand.
Moloney was brought back from exile for the third round of last season’s Six Nations and, although Ulsterwoman Neve Jones has had a stranglehold on the green No 2 jersey in recent years, the former’s impact off the bench could be crucial.
Especially with Jones having put in a huge shift for Gloucester Hartpury on Sunday in their PWR final victory over Saracens, it would be no surprise to see Moloney come on for the final half hour at Ravenhill, where she scored against both Scotland and Australia last year.
Rookie Katie Corrigan scored tries in each of Ireland’s home matches in last season’s Six Nations aged just 18 and, having missed the autumn fixtures through injury, she should return here after again showing her cutting edge for Wolfhounds in the Celtic Challenge.
The other wide berth will be occupied by Irish sevens skipper Amee-Leigh Murphy-Crowe, who has been showcasing her lethal finishing in the Celtic Challenge for Clovers and is a very experienced professional player.
Unlike in last season’s Six Nations opener away to France, or against the USA last time out, the 21-year-old Dannah O’Brien could be chosen over Connacht captain Nicole Fowley at outhalf for what would be her 20th cap when the team is announced at noon on Thursday.
In Monaghan’s absence, Ulster’s Fiona Tuite looks likely to continue alongside Dorothy Wall in the engineroom in preference to Leinster’s rising star Ruth Campbell, and Niamh O’Dowd get the nod alongside Jones and Linda Djougang in the front row.
There isn’t much between the three scrumhalves fighting it out for the No 9 jersey but, with Aoibheann Reilly just back in action following a cruciate rupture, she is favourite to miss out on this week’s matchday squad despite starting all five matches in last spring’s Six Nations.
The well-established but now New Zealand-based Molly Scuffil-McCabe and sevens livewire Emily Lane shared the scrumhalf role at WXV1, with the latter having the starting spot by the end of the tournament.
If being put up for media duty during match week is any indication of selection in the run-on lineup, then the appearance at Tuesday’s press conference of Lane and Higgins could be bad news for Scuffil-McCabe and Aoife Dalton, or possibly even Enya Breen.
Like in the Ireland men’s set-up in recent times with Bundee Aki, Robbie Henshaw and Garry Ringrose, Bemand has had three excellent centres vying for two starting jerseys over the past 12 months in Breen, Dalton and Higgins.
Higgins started all five fixtures in the No 13 jersey in last season’s Six Nations, for which she was Ireland vice-captain, partnered by the then 20-year-old Dalton for the two away games and Breen for the three home matches.
Come last autumn, Breen had four consecutive starts in the No 12 jersey and captained the team against Canada and USA in McMahon’s absence. Dalton was at outside centre for three of those matches and Higgins just started one.
If Flood hadn’t been fit, picking Higgins at fullback would have avoided that habitually difficult choice at centre, while Moloney’s unavailability might have enabled the inclusion of five quality loose forwards in the matchday squad without sacrificing specialist second row cover.
That’s because dynamic Munsterwoman Deirbhile Nic a Bhaird, who is now back to her best after a year out with a serious knee injury, could have been named as bench hooker albeit still leaving a big call to be made regarding who starts in the back row.
Bemand must decide whether to stick with the combination which started in the victories over Wales, Scotland, Australia and New Zealand which would see World Rugby’s Breakthrough Player of the Year Erin King kept on the bench initially.
With Aoife Wafer having established herself as a world-class loose forward and Ulster’s Brittany Hogan – Player of the Match against Scotland – having started all 12 matches under Bemand, picking King would likely mean having to leave out regular skipper McMahon.
By omitting McMahon against Italy last spring, Bemand showed he isn’t afraid of making bold decisions and, although Monaghan isn’t there either at present, there is no shortage of alternative matchday captains in a squad well stocked with credible leaders.
However, there is also a compelling case for sticking with the status quo, with the freakish King unleashed later off a bench likely to include Campbell, Moloney, a fit-again Christy Haney and her fellow prop Siobhan McCarthy as the other forward replacements.
Cliodhna Moloney
