41 CLIO RETURNS IRELAND CALL

WELCOME back Cliodhna Moloney — it is a shame you were ever excluded, you were gone too long.

There was enough joy to go around from the Ireland players and their coach to greet the return of the Galway-born leader — so prominent in the 2021 women’s rugby Rising that led to questions being asked in the Dail — to the Six Nations squad.

Pushed

Said co-caption Edel McMahon of a return that the players are believed to have pushed very strongly behind the scenes for: “I’m just really excited that she is back in the fold.

“The excitement in the squad when we heard that she was coming in, and where the squad wants to go to, we know how desperate she was to be back in and that’s

BACK IN THE FOLD: Ireland’s Cliodhna Moloney in training this week at the IRFU training centre in Blanchardstown ahead of the Wales match what we go after if we want to be a successful Ireland and we want to compete at World Cups and be our best.

“Having someone of her experience coming back in, and wanting to be back in, is our identity. It’s brilliant, she has slotted in really well.”

Coach Scott Bemand said: “She’s obviously a quality operator and it’s already been mentioned about her being experienced so what she is going to do is she has to transfer that club form into the international environment.

“We will have a couple of training opportunities this week and it looks to me like she has hit the ground running and people are accepting her into the group. We’re really excited to see how she puts her best foot forward.”