BAPTISMS OF FIRE don’t come much hotter than that of Ireland’s Katie Corrigan in today’s opening round of the Women’s Six Nations.
The Leinster wing, 18, will make her international debut in front of 25-odd-thousand blue-clad fans in Le Mans as Scott Bemand’s side open their campaign away to France.
But whereas the Wicklow woman is the only uncapped player named in Ireland’s matchday 23 for this afternoon’s encounter, joint head coaches Gaëlle Mignot and David Ortiz have named three teenagers in their squad, two of whom are set to make their own senior bows for Les Bleues at the Stade Marie-Marvingt.
Indeed, this is a Six Nations curtain-raiser in which both sides’ right wingers are 18-year-old debutantes, with Toulousaine flier Kelly Arbey starting on the opposite flank to Corrigan.
And where Dannah O’Brien is fit enough only for a place on Ireland’s bench — meaning out-half Nicole Fowley will earn her first Six Nations minutes since 2019 from the get-go — France are equally unseasoned at 10: with Caroline Drouin ruled out of the tournament through injury, starter Lina Queyroi, 23, has just eight caps to her name and has played a lot of her career with Blagnac SCR as an inside centre. Queyroi is backed up by the 19-year-old Lina Tuy, who will earn her maiden cap off the bench.
Indeed, this is a noticeably young French side as Mignot and Ortiz seek a formula that will put them over the top of England after four consecutive runner-up finishes in the Six Nations.
No player in the France squad is older than 28, and an experimental WXV campaign which first yielded a victory over the world-champion Black Ferns but then successive defeats to Australia and Canada would suggest the French coaches are viewing this World Cup cycle through a broader lens.
That’s not to suggest that this France side is shorn of established stars: the incomparable Pauline Bourdon Sansus, player of the match in the same fixture last year, will again run the show from scrum-half, while Les Bleues will fancy they have the edge in what will be a key battle at lock.
Skipper Manae Feleu is partnered at second row by Madoussou Fall, who missed last year’s championship having starred a year earlier. They have a strong case for being the best four-and-five combo in this year’s championship, and their prowess in the lineout should give Bourdon Sansus and Queyroi the optimal platform from which to unleash exciting strike runners like midfield powerhouse Gabrielle Vernier and flying fullback Emilie Boulard.
With Ireland’s talisman and co-captain, Sam Monaghan, ruled out until next weekend’s visit of Italy as she follows return-to-play protocols for a head injury sustained on club duty with Gloucester-Hartbury, head coach Bemand has paaired the versatile Dorothy Wall with comeback queen Hannah O’Connor at lock.
O’Connor, 33, was initially named only in Ireland’s wider training squad for this year’s championship but forwards coach John McKee stressed on Thursday that her work throughout camp, combined with her experience, warranted the Galway-raised Leinster woman being catapulted straight into today’s starting XV.
Ireland’s cause has been boosted by their being able to call upon Sevens stars Aoibheann Reilly, Eve Higgins and Beibhinn Parsons, who start at scrum-half, outside centre and on the left wing respectively.
This will be an uphill battle in which the visitors may find entries into the French 22′ rare. Any opportunity in which Higgins cuts a hole through the middle or Parsons finds space on the edge must be made to count.
Ireland have never beaten France on away soil in the Six Nations, but then neither have Wales, Scotland or Italy.
Indeed, since Italy joined the Women’s Six Nations in 2007, France have won 35 of their 40 home games in the championship, with only England tasting success on five occasions on Le Crunch road trips.
On Ireland’s most recent three visits to Les Bleues’ turf, they’ve shipped a combined 82 points and scored just 11.
Last year’s encounter in Cork felt like one of several recent nadirs as Greg McWilliams’ underpowered side fell 53-3 to a French team that played for almost an hour at Musgrave Park with 14 women.
For that unacceptable margin to be seriously narrowed in Le Mans would feel like a step in the right direction, and the first step of the dozens required to gain meaningful ground on France and England in the medium term.
France: 15 Emilie Boulard, 14 Kelly Arbey, 13 Nassira Kondé, 12 Gabrielle Vernier, 11 Marine Ménager, 10 Lina Queyroi, 9 Pauline Bourdon Sansus; 1 Annaëlle Deshaye, 2 Agathe Sochat, 3 Assia Khalfaoui, 4 Manae Feleu (c), 5 Madoussou Fall, 6 Charlotte Escudero, 7 Gaëlle Hermet, 8 Romane Ménager.
Replacements: 16 Elisa Riffoneau, 17 Ambre Mwayembe, 18 Clara Joyeux, 19 Kiara Zago, 20 Emeline Gros, 21 Alexandra Chambon, 22 Lina Tuy, 23 Morgane Bourgeois
Ireland: 15 Lauren Delany, 14 Katie Corrigan, 13 Eve Higgins, 12 Aoife Dalton, 11 Beibhinn Parsons, 10 Nicole Fowley, 9 Aiobheann Reilly; 1 Linda Djougang, 2 Neve Jones, 3 Christy Haney, 4 Dorothy Wall, 5 Hannah O’Connor, 6 Aoife Wafer, 7 Edel McMahon (c), 8 Brittany Hogan
Replacements: 16 Sarah Delaney, 17 Niamh O’Dowd, 18 Sadbh McGrath, 19 Fiona Tuite, 20 Grace Moore, 21 Molly Scuffil-McCabe, 22 Dannah O’Brien, 23 Meabh Deely
