Amee-Leigh Costigan to captain Ireland against England

Scott Bemand has made three changes to the starting line-up to face England in round three of the Women’s Six Nations in Cork on Saturday.

Captain Edel McMahon and Enya Breen, who captained Ireland in two matches at WXV 1 last year, are both ruled out through injury. Amee-Leigh Costigan will captain the side and retains her position on the right wing, while Brittany Hogan will take McMahon’s place at blindside flanker

Following the bonus-point win against Italy in the last round, the back three remains unchanged with Stacey Flood starting at full-back, and Anna McGann, who scored a hat-trick in the last in Parma, on the opposite wing to Costigan.

Aoife Dalton and Eve Higgins continue their midfield pairing. Emily Lane is given the nod at scrum-half with Aoibheann Reilly moving to the bench, while Dannah O’Brien continues to pull the strings in the number 10 jersey.

The front row is also unchanged, with Niamh O’Dowd, Neve Jones, and Linda Djougang all starting.

They’ll be joined in the second row by Fiona Tuite and Dorothy Wall. Tuite switches to number 4, while Wall takes her place in the engine room ahead of last week’s starter Ruth Campbell, who’s named as a replacement.

With Hogan on the blindside, Erin King and Aoife Wafer retain their positions on the openside and at number eight respectively.

Ireland have lost in their last eight meetings with England, their most recent by 78 points (10-88) last year at Twickenham Stadium.

Their last two wins against the Red Roses in the Women’s Six Nations came in the years where they won the Championship, in 2013 (25-0), and 2015 (11-8).

Fixture

Womens Six Nations