IRELAND WOMEN’S HEAD coach Scott Bemand has made three changes to his starting XV for Saturday’s WXV3 fixture with Colombia in Dubai [KO 2pm Irish time].
Ireland opened their WXV3 campaign last weekend with a record 109-0 defeat of Kazakhstan.
Bemand has changed his half-backs for the second round tie, with Nicole Fowley and Aoibheann Reilly both starting, while Eimear Corri replaces Dorothy Wall in the second row.
Méabh Deely continues at full-back, with Beibhinn Parsons and Natasja Behan switching wings from last weekend. Fowley is at out-half with Reilly starting at scrum-half.
The front row is unchanged, with Linda Djougang, Neve Jones and Christy Haney all keeping their place, as Corri joins co-captain Sam Monaghan in the second row after winning her first cap off the bench last Saturday.
Grace Moore, co-captain Edel McMahon and Brittany Hogan form an unchanged back row.
On the bench, Ulster’s Fiona Tuire is set to win her Test debut.
“Whilst it was great to get the performance we did last week, we are looking to further grow our playing identity,” Bemand said.
“We have had another competitive training week this week. It is another opportunity to see a couple of new faces take to the pitch.
“We want to keep raising performance standards, so we become a really tough team to play. We want to enjoy our rugby and do our family and friends proud and it was great to see some of them join us in Dubai to support the team.”
Ireland (v Colombia):
- 15. Méabh Deely
- 14. Béibhinn Parsons
- 13. Eve Higgins
- 12. Aoife Dalton
- 11. Natasja Behan
- 10. Nicole Fowley
- 9. Aoibheann Reilly
- 1. Linda Djougang
- 2. Neve Jones
- 3. Christy Haney
- 4. Eimear Corri
- 5. Sam Monaghan
- 6. Grace Moore
- 7. Edel McMahon
- 8. Brittany Hogan
Replacements:
- 16. Sarah Delaney
- 17. Niamh O’Dowd
- 18. Megan Collis
- 19. Fiona Tuite
- 20. Dorothy Wall
- 21. Molly Scuffil-McCabe
- 22. Dannah O’Brien
- 23. Leah Tarpey
