England women celebrating winning 2011 the Six Nations

There is one change to the starting XV, playing Scotland Women in Ashbourne RFC on Friday, March 9th (kick off 19:30). Paula Fitzpatrick making her first start of the championship in the front row between Fiona Coghlan and Ailis Egan.

Gillian Bouke moves to the replacements. The experienced Shannon Houston has also been recalled to the squad and is named on the replacements bench.

Ireland are third in the Women’s Championship following a five try win over Italy, a single point loss to France and a six try victory over Wales last weekend.

Ireland Women’s Coach Philip Doyle said “The win over Wales was fantastic and we enjoyed it but next day the focus switched to Scotland. We have put ourselves in a good position and the girls are playing some great rugby”.

“This week has been about fine tuning things and again the commitment in training has been excellent”.

Starting XV:
15 – Ashleigh Baxter
14 – Niamh Kavanagh
13 – Niamh Briggs
12 – Grace Davitt
11 – Alison Miller
10 – Lynne Cantwell
9 – Amy Davis
1 – Fiona Coghlan (capt)
2 – Paula Fitzpatrick
3 – Ailis Egan
4 – Sophie Spence
5 – Marie Louise Reilly
6 – Laura Guest
7 – Claire Molloy
8 – Joy Neville

Replacements:
16 – Gillian Bourke
17 – Ruth O’Reilly
18 – Siobhan Fleming
19 – Heather O’Brien
20 – Larissa Muldoon
21 – Shannon Houston
22 – Jennifer Murphy

Ireland Women’s 2012 Fixtures
Friday, March 9 – Ireland Women v Scotland Women, Ashbourne RFC, 7.30pm
Saturday, March 17 – England Women v Ireland Women, Esher RFC, 2pm