The squad named sees the return to international duty of former Ireland captain, Claire Molloy, who last year took a sabbatical from international rugby to focus on her medical career. Molloy will link up with the squad for a two-day training camp at the IRFU High Performance Centre this weekend, as Ireland step up their preparations for the visit of Italy to Energia Park on Sunday 25th October (Kick-off 1pm).

Unfortunately for Gregg, back row duo Edel McMahon and Claire McLaughlin and second row Aoife McDermott have all been ruled out of the Women’s Six Nations period through injury.

The Head Coach has named a 34-player squad ahead of the first two-day camp as Ireland build towards the conclusion of the 2020 Championship and beyond to December’s Rugby World Cup 2021 European Qualifiers.

“While it’s an unfortunate setback and timing for Edel, Aoife and Claire, they are all highly motivated and diligent players who I know will get stuck into the rehab and get themselves back fit and in contention for the World Cup Qualifiers,” Griggs said.

“The squad have made major strides over the last year and there is healthy competition for places. Each two-day camp now gives us an opportunity to focus on lifting our intensity and the quality of our training, where we will challenge the players to replicate match like demands so that come the end of October we are ready to perform and keep the standards we set out at the start of this competition.”

Ireland return to action with a Round 4 clash against Italy before travelling to Lille to face France on Sunday 1st October (Kick-off 1.30pm). The Rugby World Cup 2021 European Qualifiers are scheduled to be played as a single round-robin tournament on the weekends of 5th, 12th and 19th December.

Ireland squad for the Women’s Six Nations

Backs:

Enya Breen (UL Bohemian/ Munster)
Michelle Claffey (Blackrock College/ Leinster)
Eimear Considine (UL Bohemian/ Munster)
Nicole Cronin (UL Bohemian/ Munster)
Kathryn Dane (Old Belvedere/ Ulster)
Lauren Delany (Sale Sharks/ IQ Rugby)
Aoife Doyle (Railway Union/ Munster)
Katie Fitzhenry (Blackrock College/ Leinster)
Ailsa Hughes (Railway Union/ Leinster)
Claire Keohane (Railway Union/ Munster)
Larissa Muldoon (Railway Union/ Leinster)
Ellen Murphy (Blackrock College/Leinster)
Sene Naoupu (Old Belvedere/ Leinster)
Béibhinn Parsons (Blackrock College/ Connacht)
Laura Sheehan (UL Bohemian/ Munster)
Shannon Touhey (Suttonians/ Connacht)
Hannah Tyrrell (Old Belvedere/ Leinster)

Forwards:

Judy Bobbett (Blackrock College/ Leinster)
Anna Caplice (Harlequins/ IQ Rugby)
Ciara Cooney (Wasps / IQ Rugby)
Victoria Dabanovich O’Mahony (Old Belvedere/ Leinster)
Linda Djougang (Old Belvedere/ Leinster)
Laura Feely (Blackrock College/ Connacht)
Nichola Fryday (Blackrock College/ Connacht)
Ciara Griffin (UL Bohemian/ Munster)
Neve Jones (Malone/Ulster)
Leah Lyons (Harlequins/ IQ Rugby)
Claire Molloy (Wasps / IQ Rugby)
Cliodhna Moloney (Wasps/ IQ Rugby)
Hannah O’Connor (Blackrock College/ Leinster)
Katie O’Dwyer (Railway Union/ Leinster)
Chloe Pearse (UL Bohemian/ Munster)
Lindsay Peat (Railway Union/ Leinster)
Dorothy Wall (Blackrock College/ Munster).

The post Irish Women’s 6 Nations Squad Announced appeared first on SportsNewsIreland.

Gregg named a 36-player squad for his team’s remaining games in this year’s Women’s Six Nations Championship. Ireland’s final two games of the tournament were postponed earlier this year due to Covid-19 restrictions.

Ireland will host Italy in their Round 4 fixture on the weekend of 24th October before concluding the Championship with an away trip to France on the weekend of 31st October.

Discussing his squad with Irish Rugby.ie. the Irish Women’s Head Coach said:

“We are picking up where we left off over five months ago. At the outset of this year’s tournament we had clear priorities set. Our aim was to win our three home games and play competitively in our two away games and we felt like we were in a good place before the postponement of the tournament.

“We have stayed connected as a team who trained remotely throughout the lock-down. We have a number of training dates in the schedule ahead of the tournament and it will be good to get together. We have a busy few month ahead of us, and look forward to getting back to playing rugby.”

Rugby World Cup 2021 European Qualifiers, which had been due to take place in September, will now be played as a single round-robin tournament on the weekends of 5th, 12th and 19th December 2020.

Ireland will be joined in the tournament by Six Nations rivals Scotland and Italy and the winner of the Women’s Rugby Europe Championship 2020, which will be completed in October.

The winner of the Rugby World Cup 2021 European Qualifiers will qualify for Rugby World Cup 2021 and the runner-up will progress to the final qualification tournament next year.

Ireland Women’s Squad, Women’s Six Nations 2020

Backs:
Enya Breen (UL Bohemian/ Munster)
Michelle Claffey (Blackrock/ Leinster)
Eimear Considine (UL Bohemian/ Munster)
Nicole Cronin (UL Bohemian/ Munster)
Kathryn Dane (Old Belvedere/ Ulster)
Lauren Delany (Sale Sharks/ IQ Rugby)
Aoife Doyle (Railway Union/ Munster)
Katie Fitzhenry (Blackrock/ Leinster)
Ailsa Hughes (Railway Union/ Leinster)
Claire Keohane (Railway Union/ Munster)
Larissa Muldoon (Railway Union/ Leinster)
Ellen Murphy (Blackrock/Leinster)
Sene Naoupu (Old Belvedere/ Leinster)
Béibhinn Parsons (Blackrock/ Connacht)
Laura Sheehan (UL Bohemian/ Munster)
Shannon Touhey (Suttonians/ Connacht)
Hannah Tyrell (Old Belvedere/ Leinster)

Forwards:
Judy Bobbett (Blackrock/ Leinster)
Anna Caplice (Harlequins/ IQ Rugby)
Ciara Cooney (Railway Union/ Leinster)
Victoria Dabanovich O’Mahony (Old Belvedere/ Leinster)
Linda Djougang (Old Belvedere/ Leinster)
Laura Feeley (Blackrock/ Connacht)
Nichola Fryday (Old Belvedere/ Connacht)
Ciara Griffin (UL Bohemian/ Munster)
Neve Jones (Malone/Ulster)
Leah Lyons (Harlequins/ IQ Rugby)
Aoife McDermott (Railway Union/ Leinster)
Claire McLaughlin (Old Belvedere/ Ulster)
Edel McMahon (Wasps/ IQ Rugby)
Cliodhna Moloney (Wasps/ IQ Rugby)
Hannah O’Connor (Blackrock/ Leinster)
Katie O’Dwyer (Railway Union/ Leinster)
Chloe Pearse (UL Bohemian/ Munster)
Lindsay Peat (Railway Union/ Leinster)
Dorothy Wall (Railway Union/ Munster)

Ireland Fixtures and Results, Women’s Six Nations 2020
Sun, 2nd Feb, Ireland Women 18 v 14 Scotland Women
Sun, 9th Feb, Ireland Women 31 v 12 Wales Women
Sun, 23rd Feb, England Women 27 v 0 Ireland Women
WE 24th October, Ireland Women v Italy Women – TBC
WE 31st October, France Women v Ireland Women- TBC

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