Head coach Scott Bemand has made just one change to his side for Saturday’s crucial Guinness Women’s Six Nations clash away to France.
Dorothy Wall returns to the second row in the only change from last week’s impressive 57-20 win against Italy in Galway.
The Munster and Exeter Chiefs lock swaps back in for Ruth Campbell, having played from the bench at Dexcom Stadium, while the only other alteration to the matchday 23 sees Eilís Cahill come back on to the bench ahead of Sadhbh McGrath as the tighthead prop replacement.
Wing Robyn O’Connor retains her spot in the 11 jersey after marking her debut with a try in last week’s victory, and she’s joined in the back three by Stacey Flood – who scored a try the last time these sides met – and Beibhinn Parsons, hat-trick scorer a week ago.
Nancy McGillivray and Aoife Dalton are paired in the centre again at Stade Marcel Michelin this weekend, meaning Eve Higgins will once again provide reinforcement from the bench.
Aoibheann Reilly continues to miss out due to injury, with Emily Lane starting for the third game in a row at scrum-half, while Dannah O’Brien is in the 10 shirt.
Bemand has stuck with the same starting front row for the third game running, with Ellena Perry, Clíodhna Moloney-MacDonald and Linda Djougang anchoring the scrum, with the latter of the trio returning to the city where she played for a season with ASM Romagnat in 2021/22.
Wall is paired with Fiona Tuite in the second row, with an impressive back row of Brittany Hogan and captain Erin King, either side of Aoife Wafer at number 8.
Ireland are looking to beat France for the first time since 2017, but they have come close twice in the last year, with this fixture having become something of a grudge match.
And while Bemand (below) believes his side are capable of winning in Clermont this weekend, he doesn’t believe it’s a game that would “make or break” Ireland’s championship.
“In the grand schemes of things, I don’t think it does [make or break the Six Nations], with the start of a new World Cup cycle,” he said.
“We want to keep getting better. We want to keep closing the gap. That’s one of the key things for us.
“The game against England, we let them get to a start that we didn’t want. France’s two games, they’ve only got going in the second half. So for us, the ability to get a good start is going to be really important for us.
“But we know France are a different entity in France. They’re going to have a full stadium behind them. So we know it’s the toughest place to go.
“We know what we’ve got to do. So I think we’ll keep going after the goals that we set ourselves at the beginning.
“We want to keep closing this gap. Whatever happens, we know we’ve got the game to go there and cause problems.
“If we get that bit right, we’ll fire enough shots, we’ll get our game out there and the result will take care of itself.”
Ireland: Stacey Flood; Beibhinn Parsons, Nancy McGillivray, Robyn O’Connor; Dannah O’Brien, Emily Lane; Ellena Perry, Clíodhna Moloney-MacDonald; Dorothy Wall, Fiona Tuite; Brittany Hogan, Erin King (capt), Aoife Wafer.
Replacements: Niamh O’Dowd, Neve Jones, Eilís Cahill, Sam Monaghan, Ruth Campbell, Katie Whelan, Eve Higgins, Anna McGann
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