Ireland look to keep the foot down as they face up to Colombia in Dubai

Scott Bemand’s side scored 17 tries in record-breaking 109-0 win in opener against Kazakhstan

Daire Walsh

WXV 3 Round 2: Ireland v Colombia, Saturday, Sevens Stadium, Dubai, 5pm local, 2pm Irish time

Following their ruthless start to the tournament, the Ireland women’s rugby team will look to build further momentum in WXV 3 when they take on Colombia at the Sevens Stadium in Dubai on Saturday afternoon.

Thanks to an eye-watering haul of 17 tries – including four apiece for Béibhinn Parsons and Eve Higgins – Ireland heralded their WXV debut by registering a record-breaking 109-0 victory over Kazakhstan. This was a satisfying first game at the helm for new head coach Scott Bemand, who replaced Greg McWilliams as Irish supremo in the wake of a disappointing Six Nations campaign in the spring.

A bottom-place finish in this year’s Championship ensured Ireland found themselves in the third and final tier for the inaugural WXV and with the nine teams above them in the world rankings currently operating at a higher level in this global tournament, they are desperate to secure promotion up to WXV 2 for 2024.

While they can expect to encounter a more stubborn resistance than the one posed by Kazakhstan, Ireland should have enough firepower to prevail against a Colombian side that suffered a comprehensive 67-13 reversal to Fiji in their opening fixture.

The presence of Sevens stars Parsons and Higgins within the ranks is a huge bonus for Bemand in the early weeks of his reign and they are among a cohort of 12 players that maintain their spots in the starting line-up from the Kazakhstan game.

However, there will be a new halfback partnership for Ireland, with Nicole Fowley and Aoibheann Reilly selected in place of Dannah O’Brien and Molly Scuffil-McCabe. After kicking an impressive 12 points off the tee as a replacement last week, Sligo native Fowley is handed her first international start since a final round clash against Wales in the 2019 Six Nations.

Whereas Corri, Sarah Delaney and Megan Collis all made their debuts against Kazakhstan, Fiona Tuite is also set for an international bow after being named on the bench. The Old Belvedere and Ulster forward was part of the wider squad for this year’s Six Nations, but is finally set for a maiden opportunity in the green jersey.

IRELAND: M Deely; B Parsons, E Higgins, A Dalton, N Behan; N Fowley, A Reilly; L Djougang, N Jones, C Haney; E Corri, S Monaghan; G Moore, E McMahon, B Hogan.

Replacements: S Delaney, N O’Dowd, M Collis, F Tuite, D Wall, M Scuffil-McCabe, D O’Brien, L Tarpey.

COLOMBIA: L Garcia; M Rios Mena, M Mestra, L Fernanda Zurique, A Manyoma; C Lopera, S Sarmiento; M Antonia Cortes, S Olave, G Gomez; S Velez, V Alvarez; V Yepes Pena, A Alzate, L Gutierrez.

Replacements: N Caisedo, N Barajas, C Naranjo, D Roman Quintero, V Munoz, L Villota Noguera, S Granados Cardenas, M I Arzuaga.