Wholesale changes to women’s rugby team ahead of Kazakhstan clash
Head coach Philip Doyle made 10 changes to the starting side after their historic World Cup win against New Zealand.
Captain Fiona Coghlan is on the bench with Ireland’s most capped player Lynne Cantwell leading the team in her absence.
The line-up sees Jackie Shiels, Hannah Casey and Vikki McGinn all make their first starts of the tournament while Sharon Lynch and Siobhan Fleming will feature in the back row.
Larissa Muldoon starts at scrum-half and Orla Fitzsimons makes her first appearance of the competition in the second row. Kerri-Ann Craddock and Fiona Hayes both start in the front row.
Speaking to irishrugby.ie Doyle said the key to excelling in the World Cup was the ability to utilise the whole squad.
“This World Cup is - and always has been - about our 26-player squad,” said Doyle. “We are in a great position that we can use fresh players to maintain our standards and performances to date.”
The full team and replacements can be found here.
A win against Kazakhstan will see Ireland through to the semi-finals of the competition.
The match is Saturday at noon Irish time and will be shown live on TG4.
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