Before we look forward to this weekend’s clash we need to reflect on how last weekend went.
As I've said previously wins against England won't come overnight, they are the top team in the world for a reason. Then there was the added element of a 50,000 strong crowd in the legendary Twickenham stadium. England were there to put on a show and that is exactly what they did.
You can't help but compliment and commend their brilliance and how well they executed every aspect of the game.
They were excellent at scrum time, they were excellent at line out time. Their back line really gelled together and then they had the added impact of the bench. Having players like the experienced Emily Scarratt coming on late in the game is just such a massive boost and added massively to an already strong side.
England treated the game as a chance for players to put their hands up for a starting jersey for France this weekend. They were never going to take their foot off the pedal. They wanted to cement their places in the starting team for the Super Saturday showdown against France.
In terms of Ireland, I think they will have to look at themselves. They'll have to be honest and they’re the words Scott used. Look, they will reflect on those mistakes that they made individually. That’s the main thing that happened really. Individually they made too many errors, mainly in defence and when you have a miss tackle count of 50+ , you can’t expect to win essentially.
20 April 2024; Ireland players acknowledge supporters after their side's defeat during the Women's Six Nations Rugby Championship match between England and Ireland at Twickenham Stadium in London, England. Photo by Juan Gasparini/Sportsfile
Especially amongst our back 3 and we saw just how dangerous theirs are which we spoke about before the game and how we would have to curtail the damage that they could do.
Take Ellie Kildunne, for example. She has most tries scored, metres made and defenders beaten in this year’s 6 Nations alone. She was phenomenal to watch!
The final Test
In terms of our team for this weekend, there were no surprises as Sam Monaghan comes into the 2nd row again leaving us with two leaders and captains on the team.
Enya Breen returns to the centre pairing with Eve Higgins. Enya will have great memories of the last time she played in this fixture, in this venue, where she scored that try at the very end and got the conversion to win the game for them and ensure an all-important 3rd place.
30 April 2022; Ireland players celebrate as Enya Breen scores her side's second try during the Tik Tok Women's Six Nations Rugby Championship match between Ireland and Scotland at Kingspan Stadium in Belfast. Photo by John Dickson/Sportsfile
That 3rd place spot is up for grabs again, depending on results, Ireland could move up to 3rd with a bonus point win this weekend.
Méabh Deely who came off the bench at full back last week is starting tomorrow. What Méabh adds to this position is she has a lot of experience at playing out half so she has a good boot on her which will relieve some pressure from the back field area.
She’s a very fast player, has played with Connacht and with the Irish 7s and she got her debut for the 15s in Japan during that summer tour in 2022.
It is interesting to see Katie Heffernan on the bench. She has been a key member of the 7s squad for the last number of years. She played a few games in the Celtic Challenge and obviously Scott was impressed with what he saw.
I suppose with Méabh starting you’ll have Molly Scuffil-McCabe, Aoife Dalton and Katie Heffernan on the bench meaning Enya might be utilised more as a kicking option and she is an option if anything happens to Dannah during the game.
I imagine we’re going to have to dust the cob webs off from last week and move on really quickly to be able to capitalise one this game.
In relation to Scotland they are similar to Ireland in that there is only one change in the forward pack. Emma Wassell comes into 2nd row who, similar to Sam, is a fantastic player and has such a wealth of experience. It will be a massive boost to the forward pack who have been playing so well this season.
Their back line will be weakened with the loss of Rhona Lloyd to GB 7s Olympic prep. She’s got huge pace and power and again has a wealth of experience so she will be missed hugely.
They are also without full back Chloe Rollie who is out due to a suspension. So to lose two of their regular starters in their back three is a massive blow to their back line but they have lots of experienced backs. Helen Nelson at 10: she controls things really well and she’s has a great kicking game.
Lisa Thomson and Emma Orr in the centre are fantastic. Lisa Thompson is such an experienced ball carrier and has the added experience of playing with GB 7s in the past and also Emma Orr, we saw how lightening she can be in this seasons campaign.
Scotland will be up for the game. They’ll have confidence on how they’ve played so far this tournament. They beat Italy in Parma and we saw how close they got to France. They had excellent defence against England early on in the game.
Given how they have played this season a bonus point win is a big ask for Ireland because Scotland have shown massive evolution this year in the Six Nations.
But it will hopefully be a cracking game and a great way to finish out a successful Guinness Women's Six Nations tournament for both teams.
