Irish women’s rugby coach Greg McWilliams has gone with the same starting side that lost to England 48-0 last week in Musgrave Park for the final match of their Six Nations Championship against Scotland on Saturday (7.30 Virgon Media Two and BBC iPlayer).
Hoping to finish the campaign on a high and looking for their first win of the year, Ireland travel to DAM Health Stadium in Edinburgh having made just two changes on the bench from last week.
The fit-again Dorothy Wall is recalled to the matchday squad as she and Ailsa Hughes are named among the replacements.
“It has been a challenging championship but we have learned a huge amount throughout the course of the campaign, and we have seen improvements week-on-week,” said McWilliams.
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“The focus now is to put all those learnings to the test and produce our best performance of the season in Edinburgh.”
Lauren Delany, Aoife Doyle and Natasja Behan have been retained in the unchanged back three, with Vicky Irwin and Aoife Dalton making up the midfield partnership.
Molly Scuffil-McCabe continues alongside her Leinster team-mate Dannah O’Brien in the halfbacks.
“The group is hugely motivated to finish the Six Nations with a positive performance and result, but we know it will be a huge challenge against a very talented Scotland side who are really building under Bryan Easson,” added McWilliams. “We’re looking forward to a big occasion with a record crowd expected in Edinburgh on Saturday night.”
In the Irish pack tighthead Linda Djougang, hooker Neve Jones and Christy Haney start together in the frontrow for the fourth consecutive match, with captain Nichola Fryday and Sam Monaghan once again forming a partnership in the secondrow.
Flanker Brittany Hogan again starts on the blindside with Grace Moore continuing at openside and Deirbhile Nic a Bháird at number eight.
Among the Irish replacements Clara Nielson, Sadhbh McGrath, Kathryn Buggy, Hannah O’Connor and Wall provide cover for up front, with Hughes, Anna McGann and Méabh Deely completing the matchday squad of 23.
IRELAND (v Scotland, Saturday, DAM Health Stadium, 7.30): Lauren Delany (Sale Sharks/IQ Rugby) 21 caps; Aoife Doyle (Railway Union/Munster) 16, Aoife Dalton (Old Belvedere/Leinster) 6, Vicky Irwin (Sale Sharks/Ulster) 5, Natasja Behan (Blackrock College/Leinster) 6; Dannah O’Brien (Old Belvedere/Leinster) 6, Molly Scuffil-McCabe (Railway Union/Leinster) 8; Linda Djougang (Old Belvedere/Leinster) 28, Neve Jones (Gloucester-Hartpury/Ulster) 17, Christy Haney (Blackrock College/Leinster) 9; Nichola Fryday (Exeter Chiefs/Connacht) (capt) 33, Sam Monaghan (Gloucester-Hartpury/IQ Rugby) 14; Brittany Hogan (Old Belvedere/Ulster) 14, Grace Moore (Saracens/IQ Rugby) 9, Deirbhile Nic a Bháird (Old Belvedere/Munster) 8.
Replacements: Clara Nielson (Exeter Chiefs/IQ Rugby) 3, Sadhbh McGrath (City of Derry/Cooke RFC/Ulster) 4, Kathryn Buggy (Gloucester-Hartpury/IQ Rugby) 3, Hannah O’Connor (Blackrock College/Leinster) 18, Dorothy Wall (Blackrock College/Munster) 19, Ailsa Hughes (Railway Union/Leinster) 18, Anna McGann (Railway Union/Connacht) 5, Méabh Deely (Blackrock College/Connacht) 6.
