Doyle recalled andfivenew faces named in Irish squad
ADAM GRIGGS has named five uncapped players in the Ireland women’s squad for next spring’s Six Nations as they look to improve this year’s fifth-place finish.
Claire Keohane, Dorothy Wall, Grace Miller, Katie O’Dwyer and Shannon Tuohey have all been included in the 38-strong squad alongside experienced names such as Sene Naoupu, Lindsay Peat and Ciara Griffin.
Former Ireland sevens player Aoife Doyle makes her return to the set-up after last appearing in the 2015 Women’s Six Nations, where she got three caps coming off the bench.
Current Sevens internationals Katie Fitzhenry, Hannah Tyrrell, Laura Sheehan and Claire Boles, one of three Ulster players in the squad — the others are Kathryn Dane and Claire McLaughlin — have also been included.
The team will have weekly training camps throughout January which will include a training game against Wales ahead of the tournament.
Ireland start their 2020 Women’s Six Nations campaign with back-to-back home games in Energia Park against Scotland and Wales on the first two Sundays in February before they play England away in Doncaster on February 23.
The team will then be at home for their penultimate game against Italy on March 8, before travelling to France for their final game of the tournament on March 15.
“There is some good continuity coming from our autumn squad into the Six Nations,” Griggs said.
“We have a core group of players that have been involved now for a number of years so it’s important they use their experience to drive our standards of play and make sure we produce quality performances from the start.
“We also have some exciting talent coming through who are getting better with each training camp.
“It’s great that we are starting to build that quality depth in the squad which will be needed in such a tough and physical tournament like the Six Nations.”