BY RICHARD BULLICK
UKSTER loose forward Brittany Hogan (above) is one of three players recalled to the Ireland starting team for this Saturday’s Guinness Six Nations showdown with title holders and hot favourites England at Musgrave Park (4.45pm, BBC 2).
The Killinchy native returns at blindside flanker in place of injured Ireland captain Edel McMahon, while former Munster skipper Dorothy Wall has been restored in the engineroom and Cork native Emily Lane at the base of the scrum.
Exeter Chiefs flanker McMahon and local hero Enya Breen have both been ruled out of this Cork clash by injury, so winger Amee-Leigh Murphy-Crowe will have the honour of captaining her country on Munster soil.
The Ireland sevens skipper had taken on a sort of caretaker captaincy role when McMahon was named among the replacements for last month’s Six Nations opener against France at Ravenhill, though the official leader was still heavily involved that day.
The pair led the team out together in Belfast, where McMahon stood at the inside end of the line for the pre-match anthems, took over the captaincy when brought off the bench and undertook the skipper’s post-match media duties.
However, World Series sevens legend Murphy-Crowe, now playing under her new married name of Costigan, will be in sole charge this time though Ulsterwoman Neve Jones may again be authorised to liaise with the referee from closer-range as designated vice-captain.
Head coach Scott Bemand had made three changes after Ireland’s 27-15 defeat against France, with the trio who were moved to the bench for the Italian job all reinstated in the starting line-up to tackle England.
While Hogan and Lane take over from McMahon and Aoibheann Reilly in a direct reversal of the changes after the French fixture, Wall’s inclusion in the second row is at the expense of Ruth Campbell rather than Ulster lock Fiona Tuite.
Having got through a lot of work in her first two Six Nations appearances last month, the 21-year-old Campbell takes a turn on the bench this time, with Wall and Tuite reprising their regular pairing from last autumn’s WXV1 tournament in Vancouver.
After fielding the exact same matchday 23 for the games against France and Italy albeit tweaking the starting team, the injuries to Breen and McMahon have necessitated some change this time, though Bemand has kept that to a minimum numerically.
He has, however, switched from the 6:2 bench split of the first two fixtures to a more traditional 5:3 here, with Connacht captain Nicole Fowley recalled to provide specialist outhalf cover for Dannah O’Brien in the absence of Breen.
travelling reserve for the France and Italy matches, Wicklow’s Vicky Elmes-Kinlan, who made her debut on the right wing against Australia at Ravenhill last September, is in line for her first Six Nations appearance this weekend off the bench.
Preferred to teenager Katie Corrigan, who scored a try in all three Ireland home matches in last spring’s Six Nations, Elmes-Kinlan’s selection suggests that the Parma hat-trick hero Anna McGann will be doubling up as centre cover.
Eve Higgins and Aoife Dalton, Player of the Match against Italy last time out, were tipped to continue their excellent centre pairing against England even if Skibbereen’s Breen, the Clovers captain, had been available for this match in her home county.
Stacey Flood, who can also cover centre, continues at fullback in an unchanged back three with the rangy McGann on one wing and Murphy-Crowe, who got one of the eight Ireland tries in Parma, filling the other wide berth.O’Brien now appears firmly ahead of Fowley as first-choice No 10 having been publicly backed by Bemand after missing all three conversions in the French game, and she responded by nailing seven from eight of her place-kicks against Italy.
That Parma match saw Reilly make her first start in the green jersey since suffering a cruciate rupture playing World Series sevens for Ireland after last year’s Six Nations, having come off the bench as Lane’s replacement against France.
Reily played well, as she had done in her Belfast comeback, but livewire Lane gets another go in the No 9 jersey this Saturday on the back of an eye-catching cameo against Italy, while experienced campaigner Molly Scuffil-McCabe remains outside the matchday squad.
Despite Exeter Chiefs hooker Cliodhna Moloney being put up for media duty on Wednesday, Ballymena native Jones retains her place in the middle of an unchanged front row, between the industrious Niamh O’Dowd and stalwart Linda Djougang, who will win her 44th cap.
Proud Corkonian Deirbhile Nic a Bhaird will, presumably, be bitterly disappointed not to have benefited from McMahon’s absence but Bemand has gone with one less forward, with Grace Moore getting the nod ahead of the Munster star as the back row replacement.
McMahon was superb against Italy, having also impressed off the bench in the French clash, and she provides very valuable leadership but Bemand can still field a mouth-watering all-Wolfhounds back row of Hogan, Erin King and Aoife Wafer.
Ireland’s taliswoman Wafer needs no introduction at this stage while World Breakthrough Player of the Year King has been generating some impressive stats so far this Six Nations and Hogan has been a real rock throughout the Bemand era.
The 26-year-old Ulsterwoman started all of Bemand’s first
The Ireland bench this Saturday is completed by replacement props Siobhan McCarthy and the very experienced Christy Haney, who was in the starting team for last April’s traumatic 88-10 Twickenham trouncing at the hands of England.
This weekend’s midfield trio of O’Brien, Dalton and Higgins –the two centres were the other way round then – all started that England game as did Djougang, though at loosehead that day, Jones, Wall, Hogan and Wafter albeit those last two have since swapped places.
Ireland boss Bemand insists that his improving side won’t be overawed by the challenge facing them this weekend despite that 14-try thrashing of 12 months ago or England’s ominous 67-12 mauling of Wales last time out.
Ranked first in the world, England are on a 31-game winning streak in the Six Nations, haven’t been beaten in the competition since 2018 and are hot favourites to complete a magnificent seven consecutive title triumphs.
IRELAND: Stacey Flood; Anna McGann, Aoife Dalton, Eve Higgins, Amee-Leigh Murphy-Crowe (capt); Dannah O’Brien, Emily Lane; Niamh O’Dowd, Neve Jones, Linda Djougang, Fiona Tuite, Dorothy Wall, Brittany Hogan, Erin King, Aoife Wafer. Replacements: Cliodhna Moloney, Siobhan McCarthy, Christy Haney, Ruth Campbell, Grace Moore; Aoibheann Reilly, Nicole Fowley, Vicky Elmes-Kinlan.
