Ireland women’s head coach Scott Bemand has named his squad for Saturday’s final round of the WXV3 against Spain at the Sevens Stadium in Dubai (kick-off time 5pm local time/2pm Irish time.
Bemand’s side have recorded two impressive wins against Kazakhstan and Colombia in the opening rounds, with Saturday’s showdown against Spain set to determine the overall winners of the inaugural WXV3 title.
Bemand has selected another experienced squad for the final round match on Saturday evening, with co-captains Sam Monaghan and Edel McMahon starting in the second row and back row respectively.
The co-captains form part of a strong pack, with Linda Djougang, Neve Jones and Christy Haney named in the front row, as Dorothy Wall starts the game this week, and joins Monaghan in the engine room. Grace Moore is at blindside flanker, McMahon at openside and Brittany Hogan at number eight.
The backline once again contains an exciting blend of youth and experience, with Meabh Deely, Beibhinn Parsons and Natasja Behan starting in the back three, centre partnership of Aoife Dalton and Eve Higgins, as Molly Scuffil-McCabe and Dannah O’Brien are selected in the halfbacks.
Commenting on the squad announcement, Bemand said: “Competition for places in this final round squad has been high, this is exactly where we want to be. It has taken 31 players to get to this point and both this squad and individuals have grown over these three weeks.
“It’s great to see Aoife Wafer back in the group, after some time away from international rugby and looking forward to seeing what this team’s best performance can look like.”
Ireland team to play Spain: Méabh Deely, Natasja Behan, Eve Higgins, Aoife Dalton, Béibhinn Parsons, Dannah O’Brien, Molly Scuffil-McCabe; Linda Djougang, Neve Jones, Christy Haney, Dorothy Wall, Sam Monaghan, Grace Moore, Edel McMahon, Brittany Hogan.
Replacements: Clare Nielson, Niamh O’Dowd, Sadhbh McGrath, Eimear Corri, Aoife Wafer, Aoibheann Reilly, Nicole Fowley, Leah Tarpey.
