Ahead of a daunting Six Nations encounter against France at Stade Ernest Wallon in Toulouse this afternoon (kick-off 2.15pm Irish time), Nicole Cronin has admitted it may take some time before things start to fully click for the Ireland women’s rugby team.
Following a 27-19 defeat to Wales in the opening round of the Championship at the RDS last weekend, Greg McWilliams’s charges will be rank outsiders for their first visit to France in more than four years.
Whereas Ireland will be left idle when the World Cup takes place in New Zealand this autumn, the remaining teams in the Six Nations will all be travelling to the southern hemisphere. This is something Cronin believes the Irish public would do well to keep in mind.
“It’s not just a new group of players, it’s also a new group of management. Everything takes time. The pressure will build, everyone wants wins. We’re not naive to that. People just need to be a little bit patient in regards to this is going to take time, but there is something special from this group,” Cronin explained.
“We also have to appreciate that this Six Nations, five other teams have a different goal. Their goal is to go to a World Cup and to do well. Fair play to them, they’ve qualified. We haven’t, so our goal is to be in a pretty good situation come the start of next year.
“That’s not to say that we’re not targeting this year, but we just have to be very realistic about what to expect from certain teams that are going to a World Cup. They throw up different punches. We’ll be prepared and we’ll go out putting our best foot forward every week, but we’re just in a very different situation.”
Limerick native Cronin comes from good stock with her cousins Neil and Sean Cronin both currently plying their trades in professional rugby. While three-time Six Nations winner Sean has played as a hooker for three different provinces, his brother Neil operates at scrumhalf in the red of Munster.
Nicole made her international debut in the latter position back in 2017, but transitioned to outhalf in recent months and was selected there for the visit of Wales to Ballsbridge. This consequently freed up Stacey Flood for a move to inside centre and Cronin has enjoyed exploring a dual playmaker brief with the Dubliner.
“It works really well because Stacey is a left-footer. It gives us both options. It’s not like the typical 10 being the only playmaker. We have a playmaker on both sides of the ball now. If you’re in a position that you’re not getting around the corner, for whatever reason it may be, Stacey steps in there and does a mighty job,” Cronin added.
Despite the result going against his side, McWilliams has opted for an unchanged match day 23 for today’s game. This means a second straight start in 2022 for loosehead prop Linda Djougang, who plays her club rugby in France with the Clermont Auvergne-affiliated ASM Romagnat.
Christy Haney is still awaiting her debut after being held in reserve the last day out, but given the physical challenge that is anticipated in Toulouse, McWilliams may well call upon the services of the Leinster captain on this occasion.
The team regarded as the most likely to deny England a fourth consecutive Six Nations crown, France began their campaign with a 39-6 win over Italy in Grenoble last Sunday.
Yet – in stark contrast to their Irish counterparts – they have made a total of seven changes to their starting line-up from that game.
FRANCE: E Boulard; C Banet, M Filopon, G Vernier, M Llorens; C Drouin, L Sansus; C Lindelauf, L Touyé, C Joyeux; M Fall, A Forlani; A Berthoumeu, G Hermet, R Ménager.Replacements: C Domain, A Deshaye, A Khalfaoui, C Ferer, J Annery, A Chambon, J Trémoulière, C Jacquet.
IRELAND: E Considine; A-L Murphy Crowe, E Higgins, S Flood, L Mulhall; N Cronin, A Reilly; L Djougang, N Jones, K O’Dwyer; N Fryday, S Monaghan; D Wall, E McMahon, B Hogan.Replacements: E Hooban, C Pearse, C Haney, A McGann, H O’Connor, K Dane, E Breen, B Parsons.
