McMahon: 'I’m just excited to be back with the girls and be on the pitch with them'

EdeL McMahon and Sam Monaghan are hoping to get the approval of match referee Sara Cox to both be a point of contact with the woman in the middle though they are prepared to accept the English official’s decision if she prefers to speak to just one of them.

CO-CAPTAINS: Ireland co-captains Edel McMahon and Sam Monaghan are relishing the opportunity to finally lead together when they welcome Wales to Cork on Saturday. Pic:©INPHO/Ben Brady

Ireland co-captains Edel McMahon and Sam Monaghan are relishing the opportunity to finally lead together when they welcome Wales to Cork on Saturday for their round three Guinness Women’s Six Nations clash.

The forward duo were handed joint custody of the national team ahead of the 2024 championship by head coach Scott Bemand but have yet to lead in tandem in the campaign to date.

Monaghan missed the opening-round defeat in France as the second row completed return to play protocols following a head injury while on club duty with Gloucester-Hartpury while back-rower McMahon was omitted from the matchday squad for the following weekend’s home loss to Italy at the RDS.

Saturday’s game at Virgin Media Park (kick-off 4:45pm) has thus been a long time coming for the co-captains and speaking after their eve of match training session on the 4G pitch on Friday afternoon, McMahon said: “It's just really exciting. Just nice to see some hard work and the rewards for that. But I’m just excited to be back with the girls and be on the pitch with them.” Monaghan added: “And we’re more excited to have her back.” 

The duo are hoping to get the approval of match referee Sara Cox to both be a point of contact with the woman in the middle though they are prepared to accept the English official’s decision if she prefers to speak to just one of them.

“It’s something we’ve spoken about before,” Monaghan said. “We kind of take it in turns, obviously Tricky (McMahon’s nickname) took the first game, I took the second game so Tricky’s going to lead but we’re going to speak to the referee tomorrow and see if she’s happy for both of us (to speak to her).

“Some referees are, some aren’t. It’s great to have two brains on the pitch to see more vision all round but we’ve Eve (Higgins) as well who’s a fantastic leader and has taken our spots as we came off the last couple of games so yeah it's just about having another set of eyes on the pitch.” 

McMahon continued: “We just bounce off each other really. If we’re both allowed to speak to her, that’s the avenue we’ll go and if it’s through one pathway, let’s say, I’ll just get messages from Sam, Eve and the rest of the leaders and make sure I communicate that to the ref.” 

Both captains welcomed the return of experienced hooker Cliodhna Moloney to the matchday 23. McMahon’s Exeter Chiefs team-mate has been recalled following injury to Sarah Delaney and is set for her 32nd Ireland cap off the bench as back-up to Neve Jones in her first international appearance since November 2021.

Moloney was exiled from the Irish setup following comments about the IRFU on social media but McMahon said the hooker had brought full buy-in to the squad since her return to camp this week.

“I’m sure she’s very proud of herself from all the hard work that she’s been doing in club-land the last couple of years. She’s desperate to be part of a successful Ireland. I’ve said it before, it's great to have someone with that want inside the squad, that experience. She’s slotted in seamlessly with girls so really excited for her.” Monaghan backed Moloney to make a significant contribution from the bench.

“Oh, massive impact. She’s such a strong ball-carrier. Her work-rate around the pitch is immense. She’s class, just to have that experience as well. She’s a dog on the pitch. I love playing with her, don’t love playing against her so much, so really excited to be taking the field with her tomorrow.” 

The Ireland co-captains are set to lead their team out in front of at least 5,900 fans in Cork on Saturday, according to the latest ticket update from the IRFU on Friday afternoon and McMahon outlined what how she hoped her side would reward that support as they go in search of a first Six Nations victory since the final round of 2022.

“(Giving them) something exciting to cheer about. Hopefully we continue to create opportunities like we did against Italy and actually just execute that, get some scores on the board.

“We’re starting to see that in our campaign, we’re getting tries, it’s something we’ve really been going after; our savage set-piece, we want the crowd screaming for us and we want to entertain them.”