Anthony Eddy
, the
Ireland
women’s director of rugby, has named 12 uncapped players in a much changed squad ahead of the
Six Nations
.
Nine players have not returned from last season. Retirees like former captain Fiona Coghlan, Lynne Cantwell, Grace Davitt, Siobhan Fleming and Laura Guest are joined by Sharon Lynch, Ashleigh Baxter and Niamh Kavanagh (all injured), along with Hannah Casey.
An interesting inclusion, however, is Sene Naoupu, the wife of Connacht number eight George Naoupu, who qualifies via residency.
She is one of the seven players also playing for the Ireland Sevens squad.The others are Nicole Cronin, Katie Fitzhenry, Hannah Tyrrell, Megan Williams, Alison Miller and Jenny Murphy.
Murphy and Miller are established members of the 15-a-side squad that reached the World Cup semi-final last August.
New head coach Tom Tierney will announce a captain after Sunday's warm-up game against Wales (kick-off 1pm). Caps will not be awarded for this fixture. The opening Six Nations match is in Florence on Friday, February 6th. FIXTURES: Fri 6 Feb 19:00 Italy v Ireland Stadio Mario Lodigiani; Fri 13 Feb 19:30 Ireland v France Ashbourne RFC; Fri 27 Feb 19:30 Ireland v England Ashbourne RFC; Sun 15 Mar 12:00 Wales v Ireland Swansea RFC; Sun 22 Mar 13:00 Scotland v Ireland Broadwood Stadium.
