Beibhinn Parsons handed a start as Ireland ring the changes for Italian test
Beibhinn Parsons
BEIBHINN Parsons is finally making her first Ireland start of the season, one of four changes that head coach Greg McWilliams has made to his starters for Sunday’s TikTok Six Nations clash against Italy in Musgrave Park (5pm).
There was some surprise that the brilliant Connacht winger was only used as a half-time replacement in Ireland’s losses to Wales and France.
Her return to the starters sees Lucy Mulhall switched to a new role at fullback in what is only her fourth cap at 15s with Eimear Considine losing out.
Head coach Greg McWilliams had made no changes to his selections for the first two games but has now reshuffled several lines and rewarded Kathryn Dane, Hannah O’Connor and Christy Haney for their good form off the bench last week.
Dane comes in for Aoibheann Reilly at scrum-half, O’Connor replaces Brittany Hogan at number eight, and Haney gets her very first Test start at tighthead prop in place of Katie O’Dwyer.
“The players coming into the team this week have worked hard and earned their chance, so we’re looking forward to seeing how they react and perform,” McWilliams said.
“Everyone’s pretty aware that our set-piece isn’t good enough yet. You’ve got to own that and we’re doing our best to make sure that’s better this week.
“We’ve worked hard and been pretty disciplined in what we’re trying to do and just hope we put on a show with less errors because, in this game, if you can maintain territory and keep your errors down you have a better chance of winning.
"It's going to be a competitive match, it's a good Italian side. They play with good width, they've got a good offloading game, and they're aggressive. It's going to be tough for us but our goal is to get a win this weekend and it's for the players. They deserve it for the effort they're putting in and that's their goal."
He's hoping that home advantage, in the Irish women’s historic first game in Musgrave Park, will also help.
Over 5000 tickets have already been sold and, if walk-ups are good, there’s every chance that the game could surpass the Irish women’s Six Nations record attendance of 6113 that was set in their first home game this season in the RDS.
“When I was there during the great times of 2013 and ’14 we were lucky to get 1,500 people in Ashbourne,” McWilliams noted. “So 5000 people in Musgrave Park is going to be incredible and it’s brilliant to bring it to the people of Munster, not just the supporters but the clubs and the young girls and boys. We want to engage with them.”
Aoife Doyle comes onto his bench at the expense of Considine. He said her form in training this week warranted selection but said “Eimear trained great on Tuesday night knowing that she wasn’t in the 23, like the true player that she is and we are looking forward to training with Eimear next week in the lead up to the England game.” Aoife Wafer, a product of Enniscorthy RFC who now plays with Blackrock, has got her first call-up.
She captained the Leinster U18s last season and also travelled to Dubai with the Ireland Women’s Development Sevens squad last December.
Wafer joins Emma Hooban, Chloe Pearse, Katie O’Dwyer and Brittany Hogan as the forward reinforcements. with Aoibheann Reilly, Enya Breen and Aoife Doyle completing the 23.
Wafer’s younger sister Orla is also lining out for Ireland this weekend as part of the Irish squad playing in the inaugural U-18 Six Nations Festival in Edinburgh. It involves Ireland playing 35-minute matches against England and France tomorrow (Sat, April 9) before a full 70-minute fixture against Wales next Wednesday.
Sunday's match is live on RTÉ2 and the BBC iPlayer.
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