Donegal women Nora Stapleton and Larissa Muldoon renew their half-back partnership for the first time in 2017 as the Ireland Women face England in a Grand Slam showdown on St Patrick’s Day.
Ireland and England have unblemished records heading into the final game of the campaign.
Fahan woman Stapleton was the Player of the Match at the weekend when Ireland overcame Wales in Cardiff.
For the joust with England at Donnybrook, she will be partnered by Muldoon, who hails from Cappry in Ballybofey and who plays for Railway Union.
Scrum-half Muldoon is elevated from the bench in what is the only change to the Irish team.
“There’s a very strong spirit in this squad that’s been developing nicely over the last few months and, while the performances to date haven’t been as accurate or as clinical as we would have liked, we’ve ground out four wins in a row to set up a very big game this Friday in Donnybrook,” Tom Tierney, the Irish head coach, said.
“England are arriving to Dublin on the back of a huge win against Scotland so their confidence will be high, and deservedly so. The have shown throughout the Championship that they can score tries from anywhere and they have a strong and skilful pack as well.
“From our point of view, we have a huge opportunity on St. Patrick’s Day and for us it’s about looking to rectify some of the areas of our game that we haven’t been happy with over the past few weeks and if we can make those small changes, then Friday’s game should be a great one.”
The finale to the Women’s Six Nations Championship is part of a double header at Donnybrook, as the Ireland Under-20s face their English counterparts in the earlier match at 6pm.
