With an expected tight encounter against France to prepare for, another big England win will not serve either team this weekend. "We don't want to lose our shirt going into what will be the biggest game against France next week." "We have to turn up and make sure we perform because there are other players wanting our shirts," said captain Marlie Packer.
While there is little doubt of victory for them, England's players will be motivated by the high competition for places in the squad to play France in front of an expected record Twickenham crowd of more than 50,000. Hunt's individual cap count of 60 is one fewer than the entire Irish backline. Props Hannah Botterman and Maud Muir are reintroduced to the starting line-up, while World Cup star Helena Rowland is poised to return from injury off the bench.įor the hosts, back row Dorothy Wall is ruled out through injury and replaced by Brittany Hogan, with centre Vicky Irwin and scrum-half Molly Scuffil-McCabe coming into the Irish backline.Įngland's starting line-up has a total of 485 caps compared to Ireland's 185. Scrum-half Natasha Hunt returns to increase the Red Roses' speed of play even more and Claudia MacDonald is back on the wing. 'We don't want to lose our shirts' - Packerįrom an Irish point of view, Middleton has named a depressingly strong England side. Six Nations 'cannot continue in this guise'.We're in a growing phase and I just thank those supporters that are backing us." "I have no doubt that we will start to close the gap in the next year or two. All we ask for is that people give us time. "As much as we've had critique, we've had an outpouring of support as well. "It's about going out and fighting for these last two matches, not letting any outside noise drag us down. "We know that we're at the start of our journey," Fryday added. On top of the financial differences, Ireland's Six Nations team has been missing several stars who are away on sevens duty and last week the union disputed allegations of sexism at the organisation.
KORK AND KAP PROFESSIONAL
They have scored two tries in the tournament so far - one of which was a penalty try - and are likely to concede many more against an England attack averaging more than 10 tries per game.Įngland have been professional since 2019, while Ireland were only offered contracts - which not all players accepted - at the end of 2022. Ireland were hoping for a win against Italy last weekend at least, but were well beaten 24-7 in the end.īefore France and England began to invest in their women's sides - and surge ahead as a result - Ireland claimed the 2015 Six Nations title.įrance or England have won every subsequent edition of the tournament and Saturday's scoreline may be a sorry marker of how far Ireland have fallen in the 10 years since they won a Grand Slam in 2013.
0 kommentar(er)
