Ireland team named to play England in front of record-breaking crowd at Twickenham

IRELAND HEAD COACH Scott Bemand has named the team to play England in front of a record-breaking crowd at Twickenham for Saturday’s opening Women’s Six Nations clash (KO: 2.25pm, RTÉ 2, BBC 1).

Some 67,000 tickets had been sold as of yesterday, already surpassing the existing Six Nations record of 58,498, set when England hosted France in 2023.

Erin King will lead Ireland as captain, with Cliodhna Moloney-MacDonald set to reach the milestone of 50 Test caps, while uncapped prop Eilís Cahill and scrum-half Katie Whelan are in line for their debut appearances in green off the bench.

Stacey Flood starts at full-back, with Béibhinn Parsons and Vicky Elmes Kinlan on the wings for Ireland. Eve Higgins and Aoife Dalton are selected in midfield, as Emily Lane and Dannah O’Brien link up in the half-backs.

Ellena Perry, Moloney-MacDonald and Linda Djougang are Ireland’s starting front row.

Moloney-MacDonald will become the 16th Ireland women’s player to reach half a century of appearances in green, following on from Djougang hitting the milestone during last year’s Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025 in England.

Dorothy Wall and Fiona Tuite make up Ireland’s second row on Saturday, with Brittany Hogan at blindside flanker, captain King at openside and Aoife Wafer packing down at No 8.

On the bench, Neve Jones, Niamh O’Dowd, Ruth Campbell and Grace Moore are joined by the debutant Cahill as the forward reinforcements.

There is also a potential first cap for replacement scrum-half Whelan, who has previously been capped for Ireland Sevens, while Nancy McGillivray and Anna McGann complete Ireland’s match day 23.

Sam Monaghan and Aoibheann Reilly were ruled out of selection through injury.

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Ireland

15.⁠ ⁠Stacey Flood

14.⁠ ⁠Béibhinn Parsons

13.⁠ ⁠Aoife Dalton

12.⁠ ⁠Eve Higgins

11.⁠ ⁠Vicky Elmes Kinlan

10.⁠ ⁠Dannah O’Brien 

9.⁠ ⁠Emily Lane 

 
1.⁠ ⁠Ellena Perry

2.⁠ ⁠Cliodhna Moloney-MacDonald

3.⁠ ⁠Linda Djougang

4.⁠ ⁠Dorothy Wall

5.⁠ ⁠Fiona Tuite

6.⁠ ⁠Brittany Hogan

7.⁠ ⁠Erin King

8.⁠ ⁠Aoife Wafer 

Replacements:

16.⁠ ⁠Neve Jones

17.⁠ ⁠Niamh O’Dowd

18.⁠ ⁠Eilís Cahill

19.⁠ ⁠Ruth Campbell

20.⁠ ⁠Grace Moore

21.⁠ ⁠Katie Whelan

22.⁠ ⁠Nancy McGillivray

23.⁠ ⁠Anna McGann