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Welcome back Clíodhna Moloney, Ireland has missed you
DING DING! Round three! Thank you to the participants of the European Champions Cup who provided us with some pleasant entertainment while the Women’s Six Nations teams took a well-earned breather before the final run of three games. But now, it’s back to business. Get your fantasy teams ready because this is going to be a cracker of a weekend.
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Despite the Red Roses hosting what looked like a great night at the darts, all was otherwise quiet across the national camps on their down week. A great opportunity to regroup, regather, do some good homework, take some chunks out of each other in training and iron out any wrinkles in performances.
The story goes so far that Scotland are a team on a mission. The champions of WXV2 probably couldn’t be in a better place preparing to host the reigning champions England in a sold-out Hive Stadium in Edinburgh on Saturday. 7,700 tickets have long been off the shelves and it will be a record attendance for Scotland.
One wonders how many could have been sold if more were available. Nevertheless, a huge achievement for Scottish rugby and a testament to the popularity of this experienced Scottish side who still go without one of their most capped players Jade Konkel who continues rehab on the sidelines.
England make the trip north with the self-made luxury of outstanding strength in depth. Captain Marlie Packer will take a break this weekend and former World Player of the Year Zoe Aldcroft will take the armband.
No matter how many changes England make in their squad, every weekend I find myself saying “Oof that’s some squad!” Both sides are well acquainted with each other through the English PWR and I’m excited to see how far Scotland can push this visiting English side.
Having only just hung on to victory in the last round in Dublin, Italy make another away trip, this time to Paris, to meet their French rivals at the Stade Jean Bouin on Sunday. The European mainlanders will certainly have sniffed out opportunities for attack in each others’ performances as neither seems to have hit top gear yet.
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Both teams still have a big performance in them but with home advantage, I feel like it could be France’s W for the taking as they continue to eye up a grand slam showdown with England in Bordeaux in the final round.
Saturday evening’s game takes place in Cork this week. As a wise Cork man once said “L’opportunité c’est énorme.” As Ronan O’Gara and his troops from La Rochelle vacate the Cork base where they have been training for the week in preparation for their Champions Cup quarter-final versus Leinster, the Irish women move in.
Wales come with a “must-win” mindset and are another side yet to hit top gear this tournament. However, they meet an Irish side who have had an unlikely boost to their squad.
The down week for Ireland went like it did for the other teams in the competition. Quiet and uneventful with not much to report on. Oh! Except for one tiny detail present in the squad update quietly released last week.”Clíodhna Moloney will join the squad for next week’s training at the IRFU performance centre.” This one short sentence might seem innocuous and just like any other detail in a squad update announcement. However, there is huge significance in this group of words.
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Ironically, the last time that Moloney donned the green jersey was also the last time that I wore it. Saturday, the 20th of November 2021. It’s a long time ago. Moloney has continued to perform excellently in the PWR for Exeter Chiefs yet has been deemed “out of form” for the Irish squad for the past two and a half years.
Considering the highest-capped player in the Irish squad is Linda Djougang with 34 caps, they could do with Moloney who trails just behind Djougang with 31 caps. Flicking through the player stats across every other Six Nations squads there are many players with 50+ caps and some nearing and even exceeding 100 caps.
Almost every round in the Six Nations tournament is marked by a milestone achievement by a player reaching 50 or 100 caps. The last time Ireland celebrated a milestone cap was when Nora Stapleton reached the 50 mark during the Rugby World Cup in 2017. Ireland lags so far behind in this area and I sigh when I think of how many Moloney and other retired players could be on now.
Without the intention of opening up old wounds, I want to extend my congratulations to Clíodhna for hopefully winning her 32nd cap for Ireland this weekend. I would also like to thank Clíodhna for sparking something in Irish women’s rugby that had been long overdue.
Many Irish players over the years had made attempts to have their voices and concerns heard by the union, but it never achieved what Moloney’s solitary tweet did. It sparked a revolution that led to a discussion between government, union, management and players and eventual commitment to progress from all sides.
Sometimes the pressures of high performance can cloud judgement of the processes of achieving goals. But we have to remember, we are all striving for the same thing. The success of Irish rugby. The growth of women’s rugby in Ireland. The opportunities for all young players who want to pick up the ball to access a real pathway to real success.
It might be some time before an Irish player turns up to a dressing room with balloons and banners around her hanger with a giant 5 and 0 (and eventually 100) signifying a milestone achievement. But it will come. Because gone are the days when players are sidelined for speaking their truth. For being punished for being too experienced. Let this be the last time this is ever heard of.
Welcome back, Clíodhna Moloney. Ireland has missed you.
Comments on RugbyPass
A Springbok 2-0 win: haha told you we were champions now shut up An Irish 2-0 win: the referee was under orders from world rugby to cheat us but luckily we don’t care because this is part of Rassie’s grand world Cup plan.
99 Go to commentsI hope they didn’t pay Jones fee?
2 Go to commentsTo be fair, the teams he's had to put out are reminiscent of those available to Gatland during his horrible run at the Chiefs in late 2020. Anyway, he's only got a two year contract and Wellingtonian Tamati Ellison will be ready by then, as will a lot of talented youngsters (like the Chiefs Gatland blooded). The Crusaders are planning for the long term.
5 Go to commentsGreat to see more community spending leading to higher participation in the community. It's a long road but that's a good first step.
2 Go to commentsPoetic justice for trying to sell him to Australia as another kiwi saviour coach, not ! Deans was just as bad actually but McCaw and Carter covered up for him. That’s why they didn’t want him as All Black coach, even after Graeme Henry’s bumbling effort in 2007.
5 Go to commentsSACK HIM !
5 Go to commentsSafas are so triggered by Ireland. 3 consecutive losses, incl RWC. 8 losses out of last 12 Tests. Always excuses, of course, with Bok fans. Now Rassie with his “88%” nonsense, the Claytons Excuse is an embarrassment to Bok teams of the past when every test mattered. Their fickle mojo will be on edge for the Ireland tour. Have the referees been appointed yet ? They will need security. Have WR laid out strict guidelines for TMO’s and replays on the stadium screens ? Will the constant stoppages from Bok forwards for cramps and bootlaces be tolerated ? We’re not talking a dominant Springbok team here, they won the LOTTO Cup and they know it whether they admit it or not. The Disney doco has their fans positively fermenting internally, its going to be a nasty hangover if they get beaten on home soil. What will the excuses be then……
99 Go to commentsGreat role model.
2 Go to commentsOne significant tell, not a single Waratahs player stopped to whinge to the ref about Finau’s tackle. They got on with playing the game. Great tackle.
8 Go to commentsWouldn’t be a bad move if Ireland pulled into SA with a young side. Particularly in Pretoria. Invaluable experience getting thumped in the bosveld.
99 Go to commentsIreland. The Princess Diana of Rugby. I never cheered so much for a team as i did for the All Blacks in that QF.
99 Go to commentsWill be great to see the Leinster first XV back in action again after their cotton wool time…
1 Go to commentsLooked up Grant Constable on google and reply was doppelgänger for Ben Smith
99 Go to commentsIt is so good that we now all get excited and debate who is best and emotionally get involved. We all back our teams which is great. Up until about 15-20 years ago, NZ was basically on its own, and then Saffa, Aussie and sometimes French and English were there. We now have at least 5-6 really top sides and another 4 who keep improving. This is so healthy. So we should not resort to rubbish comments and unhealthy debate, but rather all be chuffed that the product we watch is not competitive, exciting and often uncertain. It would be so good if World Rugger could find a way to align the rules to professional players as well as spectators. Live rugby games are SO boring as there is SO much down time as we wait for refs and TMOs and whoever else to look at every small event going back endless phases with the hope of eventually find a minute infringement to then decide cancel what was a wonderful try. This is the ultimate cork back in the bottle moment and feels like every balloon is always being popped. Come on- we must be better with the rules.
99 Go to comments“upon leaving said establishment I tripped over a stool knocking some bottles into the air and as I fell I accidently dislodged a police officer’s teaser who was passing by on an unrelated matter there by landing on said taser which caused it to discharge 50,000 watts into me. Out of shock I shouted Ireland are going to win the world cup. Upon waking up I apologised for the distress caused by my Ireland comment. The matter is closed. If you wish to pursue this matter may I remind you what I told Wayne Barnes when he sent me off. I AM A BIG ASS MAN”. Or was it “I AM A BIG ASS, MAN” or was it “I AM A BIG ASSMAN”?
2 Go to commentsThe only championship the Boks hold are: Great value for the incompetence of referees during the RWC Moaning endlessly and champions of spewing utterly ignorant 💩 at all times. Displaying the dangers of a third world education End of.
99 Go to commentsSouth Africa and Rassie do a phenomenal job of treating the 4 years in between World Cups as nothing more than a training exercise to build squad depth. The Six Nations money that keeps Irish rugby afloat is unfortunately too important to allow the same approach, and basic population size means we'll never get close to matching the depth of South Africa, England and France. That being said, Irish rugby is in a relatively good place and slowly improving inch by inch. If the other three provinces can pull the finger out and actually develop some players it'd be even better.
99 Go to commentsGood on Clarke for taking on the criticism and addressing his deficiencies, principally his laziness.
2 Go to comments“It is the people’s favourite against the actual favourite. It is the people’s champions against the actual champions. I’m joking, but it’s going to be a fantastic series.” Why did Darcy make that joke knowing it would be used as click bait? Why did RP headline it as a serious comment? Anyway, the tired comment isn’t very astute. SA players may have played more games etc. Darcy over estimated as a pundit.
99 Go to commentsNot sure Frisch will ever make the French team with Depoortère and Costes waiting in the wings to take over from Danty and Fickou.
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