‘Exceptional’ Abby Dow to win 50th England cap, Alex Matthews returns

Abby Dow will bring up a half century of England caps against Ireland in Cork on Saturday, as Alex Matthews starts her first match of the 2025 Guinness Women’s Six Nations following suspension.

Dow, who has scored 42 tries in her 49 Test appearances to date, forms part of an unchanged backline from the Red Roses’ 67-12 victory against Wales in round two.

The only changes from that line-up are in the forwards where Hannah Botterman and Maud Muir come into the front row and Matthews replaces Maddie Feaunati at No.8.

‘This Energy Never Stops’ – Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025

‘This Energy Never Stops’ – Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025

Feaunati and Sarah Bern drop to the bench while Kelsey Clifford comes into the squad in place of Mackenzie Carson, who has been ruled out of the rest of the championship through injury.

Dow made her England debut against Canada in November 2017, scoring two tries on the same day that back-three colleagues Jess Breach and Ellie Kildunne won their first caps.

Kildunne was the first of that trio to reach the 50-cap milestone, against Wales in Cardiff a fortnight ago. Breach, meanwhile, needs six more to get to the same mark.

Dow scored a brace of tries on her return to the side at the Principality Stadium and asked about the Trailfinders Women winger, England attack coach Lou Meadows was glowing in her praise.

“She’s obviously a phenomenal athlete but she’s also extremely smart. She is very good at identifying opportunities and bringing new ideas to the table,” Meadows said.

“That girl is someone that I’ve watched even before I joined the Red Roses as being an exceptional individual on and off the ball.

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“Her speed is obviously a super strength, but she’s got an incredible skill set that she’s worked on really, really hard, especially her kicking game. So, to actually see that in full action at Principality and the confidence in the execution was brilliant.

“I’m super proud of her. The rest of the team know that she is always going to put them on the front foot as well, so she’s obviously… a great person to have on the team and to be honest we trust her, we back her and she delivers.”

Meadows suggested that Dow’s move to Ealing from Harlequins two years ago had helped her develop as both a player and a person.

She added: “I think actually that’s where the growth of Abby has come to a new level because she’s had to be a leader.

“So, she’s had to really work on her communication skills, her social skills as well in terms of how she connects with people and better understands them across the team.”

Meanwhile, Matthews has been recalled at the first opportunity following her ban for a dangerous tackle in the Premiership Women’s Rugby final last month.

Meadows admitted the No.8 would be aware of how well her deputy Feaunati had performed against Italy and Wales but backed the 72-cap veteran to perform on her return in Cork.

“Alex is extremely focused on her craft and her trade,” Meadows said. “She always wants to get better.

“She’s someone who technically can give so much in terms of physical space and she’s always looking at how she could grow her skill set to be even better on the pitch, whether that’s in the middle of it or on the edges.

“I think that’s where her craft is going to grow. She has the ability to use her physicality as another layer of skill on top of that so that defences don’t know what she’s going to do. On both sides of the ball, she knows how to create an impact.”

England head to Cork on the back of consecutive bonus-point victories against the Azzurre and Wales to kick off their 2025 championship.

John Mitchell’s side, who have won 22 matches in a row and lost only once in their previous 53 Tests, won 48-0 on their last visit to Virgin Media Park two years ago.

Despite suffering a record 88-10 defeat to England in Twickenham 12 months ago, Ireland have improved since ex-Red Roses assistant coach Scott Bemand became coach in 2023 and are hoping for a sell-out on Saturday.

Red Roses team to play Ireland

15 Ellie Kildunne (Harlequins, 50 caps)
14 Abby Dow (Trailfinders Women, 49 caps)
13 Megan Jones (Leicester Tigers, 22 caps)
12 Tatyana Heard (Gloucester-Hartpury, 27 caps)
11 Jess Breach (Saracens, 44 caps)
10 Zoe Harrison (Saracens, 55 caps)
9 Natasha Hunt (Gloucester-Hartpury, 77 caps)
1 Hannah Botterman (Bristol Bears, 53 caps)
2 Lark Atkin-Davies (Bristol Bears, 63 caps)
3 Maud Muir (Gloucester-Hartpury, 37 caps)
4 Morwenna Talling (Sale Sharks, 19 caps)
5 Abbie Ward (Bristol Bears, 71 caps)
6 Zoe Aldcroft (Gloucester-Hartpury, 60 caps) – captain
7 Sadia Kabeya (Loughborough Lightning, 20 caps)
8 Alex Matthews (Gloucester-Hartpury, 72 caps)

Replacements
16 Amy Cokayne (Leicester Tigers, 81 caps)
17 Kelsey Clifford (Saracens, 10 caps)
18 Sarah Bern (Bristol Bears, 68 caps)
19 Rosie Galligan (Saracens, 21 caps)
20 Maddie Feaunati (Exeter Chiefs, 12 caps)
21 Lucy Packer (Harlequins, 28 caps)
22 Holly Aitchison (Bristol Bears, 37 caps)
23 Helena Rowland (Loughborough Lightning, 36 caps)