Ireland have named five uncapped players in a squad of 35 for next month's Women's Six Nations Championship, which will be played under a new one-off format.
All five have been capped at Sevens and represented Ireland at the HSBC World Rugby Sevens. The quintet includes Amee Leigh Murphy Crowe who was the series top try scorer in 2019 and named in the Dream Team.
Stacey Flood, Eve Higgins, Emily Lane, Grace Moore and Murphy Crowe have been part of the training squad since the conclusion of the championship back in October.
Claire Boles and Emma Hooban were also added to the squad at the same time and are named for the upcoming tournament.
Ireland will be without the experienced trio of Ciara Cooney, Edel McMahon and Grand Slam winner Larissa Muldoon as all three are unavailable due to injury.
Dates and kick-off times for the championship were confirmed on Tuesday with Ireland starting their campaign away to Wales on Saturday, April 10th with a 5pm kick-off at Cardiff Arms Park.
A week later they are back at Energia Park in Donnybrook to face France, with that game down for a 2.15pm start.
The tournament concludes with a final round of games on April 24th determined by results over the first two rounds.
Ciara Griffin will captain the squad which also includes Katie O'Dwyer, Neve Jones and Brittany Hogan, who all made their debut against Italy last October.
Ireland head coach Adam Griggs commented: "It means a huge amount to us to have Test rugby on the horizon. This group have been working very closely together over the past number of months and the Six Nations was always going to be a priority for us.
“We have two more camps to fine tune things ahead of the first fixture and competition for match squad places will be high.”
Ireland squad for Women’s Six Nations Championship 2021
*denotes uncapped player
Backs (16)
Enya Breen (UL Bohemian/Munster) 4 caps, Eimear Considine (UL Bohemian/Munster) 15, Kathryn Dane (Old Belvedere/Ulster) 10, Lauren Delany (Sale Sharks/IQ Rugby) 12, Aoife Doyle (Railway Union/Munster) 6, Katie Fitzhenry (Blackrock College/ Leinster) 13, Stacey Flood (Railway Union/Leinster)*, Eve Higgins (Railway Union/Leinster)*, Ailsa Hughes (Railway Union/Leinster) 12, Emily Lane (Blackrock College/Munster)*, Ellen Murphy (Blackrock College/Leinster) 7, Amee Leigh Murphy Crowe (Railway Union/Munster)*, Sene Naoupu (Old Belvedere/ Leinster) 38, Beibhinn Parsons (Ballinasloe/Blackrock College/Connacht) 8, Laura Sheehan (Exeter Chiefs/IQ Rugby) 4, Hannah Tyrrell (Old Belvedere/ Leinster) 17.
Forwards (19)
Claire Boles (Railway Union/Ulster) 3, Anna Caplice (Harlequins/IQ Rugby) 14, Linda Djougang (Old Belvedere/Leinster) 9, Laura Feely (Blackrock College/Connacht) 15, Nichola Fryday (Blackrock College/Connacht) 15, Ciara Griffin (UL Bohemian/ Munster) 33, Brittany Hogan (DCU/Old Belvedere/Ulster) 1, Emma Hooban (Blackrock College/Leinster) 7, Neve Jones (Malone/Ulster) 1, Leah Lyons (Harlequins/IQ Rugby) 25, Aoife McDermott (Railway Union/Leinster) 13, Claire Molloy (Wasps/IQ Rugby) 70, Cliodhna Moloney (Wasps/IQ Rugby) 23, Grace Moore (Railway Union/IQ Rugby)*, Hannah O'Connor (Blackrock College/Leinster) 2, Katie O'Dwyer (Railway Union/Leinster) 1, Chloe Pearse (UL Bohemian/Munster) 2, Lindsay Peat (Railway Union/Leinster) 31, Dorothy Wall (Blackrock College/Munster) 4.
Fixtures
Wales v Ireland, Cardiff Arms Park, Saturday, April 10th, 5pm
Ireland v France, Energia Park, Saturday, April 17th, 2.15pm
