Ireland ready for French scrum, says Nic a Bhaird
Women’s Six Nations
Ireland v France
Tomorrow: Donnybrook, 7pm
TV: Live on RTE 2
Daire Walsh
Ballincollig’s Deirbhile Nic a Bhaird believes Ireland are equipped to challenge the French scrum when the sides meet in the Women’s Six Nations at Donnybrook tomorrow (kick-off 7pm).
Even though they lost out to England and Italy either side of a bonus-point win over Scotland, the Irish set-piece has stood up to scrutiny throughout the campaign.
“They’re a bigger pack unit than we are, but the English definitely were bigger than us in terms of weight and we had very positive moments against them in the scrum. Same goes for the Italians, they were probably bigger than us as well. Though we weren’t consistently dominant, we did show moments where we could dominate them,” Nic a Bhaird said.
“Against France we’ll be looking to have that same mentality of our set-piece being our bread-and-butter. That’s part of what Ireland is all about. Being dominant there in those positions is really important for us.”
Nic a Bhaird’s international debut against Scotland had been a long time coming. A member of the training camp for the 2017 World Cup, she subsequently switched to the Sevens programme.
She was part of the squad that reached the World Series semi-final in Sydney last month, before being called up by 15s chief Adam Griggs.
“I started with 15s, so I would have come into the Sevens through the 15s programme. Getting back to it has been really interesting.
“It has been really enjoyable, getting back into camp with a lot of girls I would have played with up along all the way.
IRELAND: Lauren Delany (Firwood Waterloo/IQ Rugby); Eimear Considine (UL Bohemian/Munster), Enya Breen (UL Bohemian/Munster), Sene Naoupu (Old Belvedere/Leinster), Alison Miller (Old Belvedere/Connacht); Nicole Fowley (Galwegians/Connacht), Kathryn Dane (Old Belvedere/Ulster); Laura Feely (Galwegians/Connacht), Deirbhile Nic a Bhaird (UL Bohemian/Munster), Fiona Reidy (UL Bohemian/Munster), Aoife McDermott (Railway Union/Leinster), Nichola Fryday (Galwegians/Connacht); Ciara Griffin (UL Bohemian/Munster), Claire Molloy (Wasps), Claire McLaughlin (Old Belvedere/Ulster).
Replacements: Emma Hooban (St Mary’s College/Leinster), Lindsay Peat (Railway Union/Leinster), Linda Djougang (Old Belvedere/Leinster), Anna Caplice (Richmond), Claire Boles (Railway Union/Ulster), Nicole Cronin (UL Bohemian/Munster), Ellen Murphy (Old Belvedere/Leinster), Beibhinn Parsons (Ballinasloe/Connacht).
FRANCE: Tremouliere; Boujard, Yengo, Vernier, Jason; Bourdon, Rivoalen; Arricastre, Thomas, Joyeux; Ferer, Forlani; Hermet, Diallo, R Menager.
Replacements: Touye, Traore, Pelle, Bobo, Lecat, Coudert, Imart, M Menager.