Lyons and Claffey to miss rest of Six Nations
Women’s Six Nations
Daire Walsh
Ireland Women’s head coach Adam Griggs confirmed yesterday that Leah Lyons and Michelle Claffey have been ruled out for the remainder of the Six Nations Championship.
Having suffered a shock Round Three defeat to Italy, this is a headache the New Zealand native was hoping to avoid ahead of France’s visit to Donnybrook on Saturday (kick-off 7pm).
“We’ve lost Leah Lyons and Michelle Claffey, two big players for us, They’ll be out for the Six Nations. Leah is an AC joint. I think that’s a grade two,” Griggs revealed.
“She’ll be hopeful of getting back for the [English] Premiership in the next four to six weeks. Claffey, unfortunately, needs surgery on her ankle. That was a bad enough injury to her.”
Claffey’s enforced withdrawal last Saturday week in Parma led to a significant re-shuffle in the Irish back line. After registering a brace of tries from the right-wing, Eimear Considine was moved into the centre alongside Sene Naoupu.
The former Clare GAA dual star appears to be the most likely candidate to fill the breach this weekend, but Griggs will take into account the danger she can create in the wide channels.
“The one position we hadn’t tried planning for was losing Claffey at 12. Eimear knows she was covering 13 [Naoupu moved to 12]. She has always been that back-up in terms of on the pitch, but to lose a player in that position was hard,” Griggs acknowledged.
“We’ve got a couple of younger players as well that have been going quite well. It’s just about making sure that the balance of the group is right. Eimear on those edges and on the wing is a real threat. It’s probably no harm trying to keep her out there if we can, but again she’s more than able at covering 13 for us.”