Ireland Women’s Under-20s Named For Summer Series Opener

The Ireland U-20 Women’s team, sponsored by PWC, has been named for their opening match of the Six Nations Women’s Summer Series against England (Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi, Parma, Thursday, July 4, kick off 6.30pm local time/5.30pm Irish time). Jane Neill captains the side and she’s joined in the 2nd Row by Ruth Campbell. They will [...]

Jane Neill captains the side and she’s joined in the 2nd Row by Ruth Campbell. They will pack down behind a front row of Hannah Wilson, Beth Buttimer and Sophie Barrett. The backrow sees Brianna Heylmann at 6, Eadoin Murtagh at 7 and Ivana Kiripati at 8.

Jade Gaffney and Kate Flannery are the half-back pairing with Ellen Boylan and Lucia Linn named in the centre. The back three sees Chisom Uguweru on the left wing, Hannah Clarke on the right wing and Robyn O’Connor at full-back. Four of the squad won the recent Energia All-Ireland League final with UL Bohemian – player-of-the-match Ugwueru, as well as Buttimer, Heylmann, and Flannery.

There are three permitted U-23 players in the match day squad – Uguweru, Campbell and Kiripati. Speaking about the tournament Head Coach Niamh Briggs said, “Competition within the squad has been huge, we’ve prepped really well. It’s going to be tough as England are a very strong team.

For us it’s about concentrating on us as we’re at a different stage of the path to them at the moment.” All matches will be live on Six Nations U20 Youtube – click here and IrishRugby YouTube. Ireland U-20 Women (v England U-20 Women, Six Nations Women’s Summer Series) 15.

Robyn O’Connor (Wexford Wanderers RFC/Leinster) 14. Hannah Clarke (Tuam/Oughterard RFC/Connacht) 13. Lucia Linn (Loughborough University/IQ Rugby) 12.

Ellen Boylan (Blackrock College RFC/Munster) 11. Chisom Ugwueru (UL Bohemian RFC/Munster) 10. Kate Flannery (UL Bohemian.