It's a shame these matches are not played in Paris where the main event is taking place. Irish and French fans in the capital are always looking for something to watch and the South of France at 8pm on the same day as the Irish men play France at 2.30pm in the north is not sympathetic timing.
Spreading the rugby gospel around the country is all well and good but the Irish women seem pleased with the move to Donnybrook, more centrally located in Dublin, after some years in Ashbourne.
One change
Ireland
arrive in Perpignan having beaten Wales in their opening match and coach
Tom Tierney
has left well alone save for one change at hooker where Railway Union’s
Cliodhna Moloney
comes in,
Zoe Grattage
moving to the replacements.
France also come into the match after a whopping 39-0 win over Italy so they too will face into the second game with confidence high and a home crowd behind them.
“The French will present a very difficult test this weekend. They had an impressive win over Italy, so they’ll be coming into this game very confident,” said Tierney this week.
“However we’re confident ourselves that if we look after the basics and put in a good performance we’ll put ourselves in a position to get our first win here against France.”
Ireland have never won on French soil and obviously need to do that to keep Grand Slam hopes alive. The team may look again to captain and fullback Niamh Briggs, who claimed 11 points last week. It was her counter attack that also led to Sophie Spence going over for the second score.
It is a benchmark game for the Irish and a win would send expectations soaring. No harm in that at all.
