BY RICHARD BULLICK
IRELAND are all but assured of finishing third in the Guinness Six Nations for a second year running ahead of Saturday’s showdown with Scotland in Edinburgh (2.30pm, BBC iPlayer), but there is still plenty resting on this final fixture.
This has been a very encouraging campaign for Scott Bemand’s side, with emphatic away wins over Italy and Wales each coming immediately after spirited showings in home defeats against England and France respectively.
But the women in green want to finish strongly a few months out from this summer’s World Cup and complete the hat-trick of victories on the road which has been their stated objective from before this Championship started.
Coming third again, but this time on the back of three away wins rather than just two victories last year, both achieved with home comforts, would undoubtedly represent progress for a team that has shocked world champions New Zealand in between.
Ireland have come an awfully long way from the corresponding game two years ago, when the visitors were hammered 36-10 in Edinburgh by Scotland to complete a soul-destroying whitewash.
That final fixture of the 2023 Six Nations was to double up as a last at the helm for the then head coach Greg McWilliams, who left the role shortly afterwards, and a tearful farewell for captain Nichola Fryday, who later retired from international rugby aged just 28.
An ever-present starter both in that tournament – as a teenager – and the current campaign, centre Aoife Dalton was reflecting in her press conference this week what a difference those two years have made in Irish women’s rugby.
So much has changed in the meantime that the 21-year-old says Ireland’s last visit to Hive Stadium hasn’t really been talked about ahead of this return trip, though no doubt the Scots will want to avenge their Belfast loss of 12 months ago.
On that occasion, Ireland came from behind to claim a 15-12 victory at Ravenhill which not only secured third place in the Six Nations table but qualification for this year’s World Cup and a ticket to WXV1, where they finished as runners-up last autumn.
Scotland certainly won’t lack motivation this weekend, playing in front of their home crowd and wanting to atone for being beaten by Italy in their own Edinburgh backyard before taking a predictable tanking from England last Saturday.
Aoife Dalton (centre) has been on the field every minute of the campaign so far
They have had more time to recover from their round four exertions than Ireland, who have had the tricky challenge of managing back-to-back away games just six days apart against their celtic cousins to round off this competition.
The Hive visitors will also have to cope without their taliswoman Aoife Wafer, who picked up a knee injury during her latest two-try Player of the Match performance against Wales last Sunday which has kept her out of this game.
On occasions over the past couple of years, Bemand’s Ireland men’s counterpart Andy Farrell has branded adversity as a positive in terms of the opportunity for growth and development provided by having to face challenges and solve problems.
That finding-a-way was never more apparent than when the men in green won in Edinburgh with veteran prop Cian Healy having to pack down in the middle of the front row and flanker Josh van der Flier throw into the lineout after a hooker double whammy.
In the case of Ireland’s women, they had to deal with outhalf Dannah O’Brien being sinbinned in Newport last week and now the psychological challenge of playing without Wafer, never mind missing the world-class loose forward’s actual contribution.
Wafer’s absence now compounds the earlier loss of fellow back-rower Erin King to a longer-term knee injury, which will keep her out of the World Cup, but Ireland responded well against Wales on the back of that heartbreaking news.
Even without Wafer, King and – by selectorial choice – Deirbhile Nic a Bhaird, Bemand can still field a very formidable back row featuring three of the proudest women ever to pull on a green jersey in Dorothy Wall, skipper Edel McMahon and Ulster’s Brittany Hogan.
Simply magnificent in Newport where she scored two tries, carried monstrously, took over the mantle from King as Ireland’s go-to at the lineout, Wall reverts to her original role of blindside flanker before Fryday’s retirement prompted the switch to lock.
Meanwhile, the reshuffle also sees Hogan go back to No 8, the position in which she started in every one of Bemand’s first dozen matches at the helm up until the French clash at the start of this Six Nations.
Hogan was Player of the Match against Scotland last April, while Wall and McMahon made as astonishing 63 tackles between them in the one game this season that they paired up as flankers for Exeter Chiefs in the PWR.
The return of Wafer’s fellow Wexford woman Niamh O’Dowd at loosehead prop after missing the Welsh match with a short-term shoulder problem is also a boost, well though understudy Siobhan McCarthy did in Newport on her first start in the green jersey.
O’Dowd has fond memories of facing Scotland, for her superb performance against them in Belfast last spring was a significant factor in Ireland’s comeback victory and helped propel her to becoming part of the first-choice front row by the autumn.
The flame-haired loosehead’s usurping of experienced campaigner Christy Haney was facilitated by the adaptability of the remarkable Linda Djougang, who is happy playing either side of the front row.
The most capped player in the present squad, who will make her 46th Test appearance this weekend, Djougang joined Wall and Wafer in bagging a brace of tries against Wales and she is a very important presence in this Irish pack.
Like Djougang, Ulsterwoman Neve Jones has become a constant in this Irish side and she has also started all five fixtures in this Six Nations despite Bemand having a formidable alternative to call upon in Cliodhna Moloney.
Moloney might have hoped for at least one start somewhere but the formula is working well and, in the wake of losing King, Bemand may have been reluctant to tamper further with a lineout that has functioned efficiently for the most part during this Six Nations.
It also means that he can call on two experienced replacement forwards to complement the uncapped Jane Clohessy, young Ulsterwoman Sadhbh McGrath and her provincial colleague Claire Boles, who hadn’t featured for Ireland from 2019 until the Wales match.
That match in Newport was McGrath’s first outing since last April’s Twickenham trouncing for the Donegal girl was an unused sub against Scotland thereafter and, following surgery, then didn’t feature during the autumn or in the first three Six Nations matches this spring.
The second and back rows selections seemed more or less sewn up for the World Cup just a few weeks ago but Boles and Clohessy have been given great opportunities to stake their claim for inclusion by being picked ahead of Nic a Bhaird and Grace Moore.
While winning is exceptionally important for Ireland for the reasons outlined above, and it won’t be easy to get a result in Edinburgh, Bemand appears to have opted for a little experimentation in his back three selection for Saturday.
First choice fullback Stacey Flood was outstanding against Wales but takes a turn on the bench here with the previously uncapped Aoife Corey of Munster brought in for her debut in the No 15 jersey.
Likewise, Vicky Elmes-Kinlan is given her first Six Nations start by being picked on the right wing in place of Parma hat-trick hero Anna McGann, who scored those three tries in the 54-12 record rout of Italy in round two.
It is a reasonably big call to start both rookies in the same sector, away from home against a useful Scottish side, but Bemand will hope the pair rise to the challenge, helped by the excellent chaperoning of Amee-Leigh Murphy-Crowe and Dalton.
With Flood’s diversion to the bench this week, winger Murphy-Crowe and centre Dalton are the only two players in Ireland’s starting team against Scotland that have been on the field for every minute of this campaign.
Stand-in skipper against France and England in McMahon’s absence, Murphy-Crowe is a tremendous mentor for her inexperienced colleagues in the back three while, although just 21, Dalton has a key organisational role as ‘defence captain’ and communicates well.
This Six Nations has been a real triumph for Dalton who ended up being benched for the three home matches last spring after a run of 11 consecutive starts since her debut and she was actually an unused sub against Scotland this weekend 12 months ago.
That is the only time the young Offaly woman hasn’t made it onto the field in Ireland’s last 24 matches and this Saturday will be her 20th start in the green jersey since making her debut on the historic tour to Japan in the summer of 2022.
O’Brien, who won her first cap the same day as Dalton, has been in every Ireland matchday squad during that period too and the 21-year-old from Carlow has really cemented her hold on the No 10 jersey in this campaign.
Her older rival Nicole Fowley has made only one matchday squad with Enya Breen being relied upon for cover in the other four fixtures, from the bench against France and Italy and then as the starting inside centre for these last two games.
Providing O’Brien doesn’t get injured, whether Breen gets more time at stand-off this weekend will likely depend on whether Ireland have established control by the final quarter as they had done in Newport.
Ireland’s Exeter Chiefs flanker combo Dorothy Wall (left) and Edel McMahon (right)
Although Ireland found themselves seven down early on against Wales and didn’t register a score until midway through the first half, then had 40 points on the board by early in the final quarter, just after Bemand made six substitutions in one go.
This seems certain to be a much closer contest, especially in Wafer’s absence, as Scotland are appreciably better than Wales at present, though there were aspects of Ireland’s performance in Newport which they are keep to improve upon.
The breakdown work was sloppy initially, there were far too many handling errors overall and Ireland were frustrated by a wasteful failure to convert chances which denied them hitting the half-century mark for a second time in two away games.
Affable forwards coach Denis Fogarty said during this week that a desire to be more efficient is part of what has been driving Ireland ahead of this Scottish clash and tough taskmaster Bemand will undoubtedly be demanding more clinical execution.
Dalton acknowledged the ever-increasing expectations of Ireland now, but insisted the squad are embracing that challenge while also drawing confidence from the performances and results which have given rise to their burgeoning reputation.
The other thing which will keep Ireland on their toes, especially with the World Cup coming up is fierce competition for places, with that three-way tussle for two starting spots between centres Breen, Eve Higgins and Dalton being a case in point.
Despite skippering Ireland in the last two matches at WXV1 with McMahon out injured, Breen found herself on the bench against France and Italy, while former vice-captain Higgins has done well enough to be shortlisted for Team of the Championship yet isn’t starting now.
For the first time in this Six Nations, O’Brien has the same halfback partner for a second game in a row with Molly Scuffil-McCabe retaining the No 9 jersey but both she and Emily Lane know Aoibheann Reilly is really breathing down their neck.
Ireland have appeared very relaxed in terms of the official behind-the-scenes video capturing this week in camp along with the light-hearted shots from travel day and also around the team photo at Friday’s captain’s run.
But this is also a very hungry group and, although their Scottish hosts perhaps should have more motivation on paper, Ireland really will want to finish this campaign with a victory to affirm their status as ‘best of the rest’ behind England and France.
It will be a very proud day for fullback Corey, who has had a whirlwind week which included doing all the media on behalf of UL Bohs ahead of Sunday’s Energia All Ireland League final, that she was expected to be playing in.
A likeable, infectiously enthusiastic character, the 23-year-old trainee teacher from Clare has been handed a golden opportunity to stake her claim for the second fullback berth in Ireland’s World Cup squad and it would be brilliant to see her grab it with both hands.
Generally secure under the high ball, Corey’s kicking game may be a little less developed than converted outhalf Flood, but she brings her own strengths including a robust physicality both in attack and defence.
Arguably unlucky not to be named in Ireland’s training squad last autumn or ahead of this season’s Six Nations, Munster vice-captain Corey has kept pushing hard both with Clovers and UL Bohs and her chance has actually come quite unexpectedly in the end.
The selection of Corey and her UL Bohs clubmate Clohessy in this matchday squad testifies to how this Irish side isn’t a closed shop even so relatively close to the World Cup and that is a fantastic incentive for whoever is included in the training group from June onwards.
Before then though, and ahead of some well-earned down-time, there is a tough Test match to be won against the Scots and, if Ireland can get the job done without Wafer, it will be another notable notch on the belt.
Scotland have plenty of capable players – many of them familiar names from that thumping of Ireland last time at Hive Stadium – with skipper Rachel Malcolm returning at blindside flanker to bolster their pack and the backline looking threatening.
Thanks to their impressively rapid progress over the past year, Ireland’s best should probably be good enough – even in Wafer’s absence – and as Dalton observed they have earned the right to unashamedly declare their target of three away wins this spring.
Ireland definitely walked the walk against Italy, when Player of the Match Dalton set the ball rolling with an early try, and had plenty to spare against Wales, but being stung by the thistle this weekend would definitely detract from the good work which has gone before.
Despite the absence of current World Player of the Year Ellie Kildunne due to injury, England are favourites to win a seventh Six Nations title in a row by beating France at Twickenham, where they hope to be back for the World Cup final this autumn.
The Pope’s funeral means that what was originally intended to be the opening game of a Super Saturday triple-header will now take place on Sunday, with Wales needing to beat hosts Italy in Parma to avoid an unwanted whitewash.
However, Italy ran France close last time out and know a bonus-point win against the Welsh could yet see them finish level on points with Ireland, though that would mean Bemand’s side having left Edinburgh without even a losing bonus-point the day before.
SCOTLAND: Chloe Rollie; Rhona Lloyd, Emma Orr, Lisa Thomson, Francesca McGhie; Helen Nelson, Leia Brebner-Holden; Leah Bartlett, Lana Skeldon, Elliann Clarke, Jade Konkel, Sarah Bonar, Rachel Malcolm (capt), Rachel McLachlan, Evie Gallagher. Replacements: Eilis Martin, Anne Young, Molly Poolman, Becky Boyd, Gemma Bell; Rhea Clarke, Evie Willis, Lucia Scott.
IRELAND: Aoife Corey; Vicky Elmes-Kinlan, Aoife Dalton, Eve Higgins, Amee-Leigh Murphy-Crowe; Dannah O’Brien, Molly Scuffil-McCabe; Niamh O’Dowd, Neve Jones, Linda Djougang, Ruth Campbell, Fiona Tuite, Dorothy Wall, Edel McMahon (capt), Brittany Hogan. Replacements: Cliodhna Moloney, Sadhbh McGrath, Christy Haney, Jane Clohessy, Claire Boles; Emily Lane, Eve Higgins, Stacey Flood.
Forward Jane Clohessy, pictured scoring a try for Clovers, is in line for her first cap (©INPHO/Nick Elliott)
Ireland will miss the inspirational presence of injured star Aoife Wafer (centre)
Loosehead prop Niamh O’Dowd returns after missing the game against Wales (©INPHO/Dan Sheridan)
Recalled lock Fiona Tuite (right) with her fellow Ulster forward Sadhbh McGrath (©INPHO/Ben Brady)
Aoife Dalton says Ireland have been transformed since their last visit to Scotland (©INPHO/Laszlo Geczo)
Ireland are aiming to end a very encouraging Six Nations campaign on a high
Aoife Corey was expecting to be playing in this weekend’s AIL final for UL Bohs
