Jones relishing the extra edge to Twickenham test
NEVE JONES believes there will be an extra ‘edge’ to Saturday’s Women’s Six Nations showdown with England at Twickenham.
Jones is one of several Ireland players who ply their trade in the Premier 15s competition across the Irish Sea. The 25-year-old plays her club rugby with Gloucester-Hartpury as does co-captain Sam Monaghan while Edel McMahon, who also shares the leadership duties, is with the Exeter Chiefs.
And Jones is relishing the chance to face down many of her clubmates at England HQ this weekend.
‘I know quite a few of them, our two cocaptains are both (playing) in England so it’s always very exciting to come up against them,’ said the hardhitting Ireland hooker. ‘There’s that friendly rivalry, that’s not so friendly so it just puts that extra edge because you know how each other play. It’s just very exciting.’
The hosts are chasing an unprecedented sixth consecutive Grand Slam, John Mitchell’s side already claiming three emphatic bonus-point wins against Italy, Wales and Scotland in the first three rounds.
The hosts will be without experienced hooker Amy Cokayne, however as she was sent off in the second half of last weekend’s 46-0 win against Scotland in Edinburgh.
Meanwhile, Munster expect Antoine Frisch to remain at the province next season despite strong speculation that the French-born centre is nearing a move to the Top14 this summer.
Frisch recently declared his intention to play international rugby with the land of this birth, with the Reds centre tipped to make his Test debut for Les Bleus on their summer tour of Argentina.
Should that occur, Frisch will no longer be classed as an Irish-qualified player and with Kiwi Alex Nankivell already on the books, he is expected to seek pastures new in France. However, attack coach Mike Prendergast said yesterday that he believes Frisch will be on board next season.