Wall Returns As Clovers And Wolfhounds Prepare For Round 3

Dorothy Wall returns for the Clovers this weekend in the Celtic Challenge as they host Gwalia Lightning at Virgin Media Park while the Wolfhounds continue their Scottish odyssey with a meeting with the Glasgow Warriors at Scotstoun Stadium.

Glasgow Warriors v Wolfhounds, Saturday 13th January, Scotstoun Stadium, 2pm

Winning their opening two games, the Wolfhounds will bid for a third straight victory as they are once again on the road with an away trip to Scotstoun Stadium.

The Glasgow Warriors currently sit bottom of the standings after their opening two games, last defeated by the Gwalia Lightning 36-19 in Cardiff a game the hosts battled well till the finish but did spend a lot of time on the wrong end of the scoreboard.

Head Coach Chris Laidlaw has made four alterations to the starting XV from that day which will take on the Wolfhounds in a historic first ever home fixture for the Glasgow Warriors. The line-up includes a potential debutant in the form of Phaedra Snailham.

Snailham comes into the starting lineup on the wing in place of Pearl Kellie, with Carla McDonald starting at full-back in a back-three completed by Sky Phimister. Mairi McDonald and Ceitidh Ainsworth continue their partnership in the half-backs, the centre pairing of Lucy MacRae and Claudia McLaren is retained for the third successive fixture.

In the front row Ailie Tucker brings a threat for scoring have bagged three tries in the club’s opening two fixtures, Nikki Simpson and Eilidh Fleming complete the front row. Emma Turner and Ellie Williamson continue their partnership in the second-row, the former set to become the first female Glasgow Warrior to lead out her team at Scotstoun. Louise McMillan starts at blindside after an agreed release from her Premiership Women’s Rugby club Saracens, Lucy Winter and Alex Love make up the remainder of an otherwise unchanged back-row.

The Wolfhounds had a tough 27-17 win over Edinburgh last weekend and will travel to Scotstou hopeful of doing the double over the Scottish selections. It was largely cagey in that contest and they did find themselves behind for a time, showing their depth of quality and experience it ensured they would get over the line in the end.

Should the Clovers topple Gwalia Lightning who currently occupy top spot, a win here for Neil Alcorn’s side would see them take top spot, however trailing by 16 points on score difference a bonus point win may just be enough. 

Six changes have been made to the selection that lined out in Edinburgh, Alcorn opting for a fresh approach in personnel to get some minutes into players for the first time. That includes Katie Corrigan who comes into the backs and Molly Boyne in the forward, who also takes on the role as captain, both have yet to feature in the competition. Eadaoin Murtagh also makes her first start having come off the bench in both of the early games.

Ella Durkan lines out at full-back for consecutive games, joined by a new combination on the wings in Old Belvedere’s Katie Corrigan and Dungannon and Cooke’s Niamh Marley, replacing Natasja Behan and Aimee Clarke both players drop out of the matchday 23. Aoife Dalton and Leah Tarpey remain the midfield pair for the third consecutive game, while no change is shown at the half backs, Dannah O’Brien and Katie Whelan continue to wear 10 and 9.

The front row show’s no change, Linda Djougang, Sarah Delaney and Sophie Barrett will pack down in the front row, a double change in the second row has Keelin Brady replace Fiona Tuite, while Hannah O’Connor moves to the second row to replace Eimear Corri, both players also drop out of the matchday 23. Murtagh makes her first start in the back row at 6, while Boyne skippers the team on her first appearance, Brittany Hogan completes the team at 8 for her third straight appearance.

Change also appears on the Wolfhounds bench, Christy Haney, Claire Boles, Jade Gaffney Kelly McCormill and Ava Ryder all join the bench poised to make first appearances in the campaign this season

Clovers v Gwalia Lightning, Sunday 14th January, Virgin Media Park, 1pm

An historic moment for the Munster contingent lining out for the Clovers on Sunday as they are set to feature in the first Women’s game at the Cork venue since the name change from Musgrave Park.

With a win and a defeat to start their campaign, they will be hoping their last game at the venue can be a winning one. Will the change of venue name banish the memories of the opening day defeat to the Wolfhounds, we will have to wait and see.

Brython Thunder gave them a real stern test last weekend in Energia Park and now the other Welsh selection who lead the standings hope to be a roadblock for the Irish side. The Clovers did need a strong second half to prevail in their last encounter, Sadhbh McGrath and Ruth Campbell crossing in the second period to kick start the 20-5 win.

Denis Fogarty has met yet more changes to his side for their third consecutive appearance on home soil, four personnel changes and two positional switches. Dorothy Wall is back to captain the team in the second row, having missed out last weekend.

Méabh Deely moves from out-half to full-back in one of two switches to occur in the back line, Clara Barrett comes in on the wing with Alana McInerney moving to the midfield. Clara Gorman will be the only link to last week’s back three in the starters.

McInerney partners Kayla Waldron who makes her third straight start at 12 for Fogarty’s charges, A new half-back pair will see UL Bohemian teammates Abbie Salter-Townshend and Kate Flannery come in at scrum-half and out-half respectively.

Niamh O’Dowd, Beth Buttimer and Sadhbh McGrath will continue their partnership in the front row, Ruth Campbell will continue to don the number 4 jersey for the third straight contest and links back up with Wall in the engine room. No change to the back row with Brianna Heylmann, Ivana Kiripati and Shannon Touhey making up the back-row once again. 

Ballincollig’s Aoife Fleming is drafted to the bench for this Cork affair, in line to take her first appearance she joins Róisín Ormond from the Cork club on the bench. Jane Clohessy and Muirne Wall are also in line for a first appearance having also been drafted into the replacements, Aoife Doyle marks her return from an injury spell to take her spot also in the replacements. 

Gwalia Lightning will pose a threat and based on their two previous results this will be a real dogfight of a contest. Defeating the Thunder 20-5 in an historic first contest between the Welsh pair they followed it up by beating the Glasgow Warriors last weekend. While both of those look to be the weaker of the selections from their nations based on form, they cannot be taken for granted.

The biggest news from their selection will be Robyn Wilkins, who played for Wales in WXV1 in New Zealand, is drafted in at fly half for the injured Carys Hughes, who is ruled out with a collarbone injury and is being assessed by the Welsh Rugby Union’s medical team. Full back Nel Metcalfe and Catherine Richards have been ruled out after being called up by English champions Gloucester-Hartpury squad to face Ealing Trailfinders on Saturday.

Cat Nicholas McLaughlin Gwalia Lightning head coach has made six changes for the trip to the Emerald Isle, a couple of enforced changes that they will hope does hot hinder a performance on Sunday afternoon.

Rhod Perry comes in for a first start of the campaign at full-back, Caitlin Lewis will keep her spot on the wing while Kate Davis replaces Richards and makes up the back three having been on the bench last weekend. Kelsie Webster and Rebecca De Filipo make up the midfield pairing, the latter replacing Molly Anderson-Thomas. Wilkins joins Sian Jones in the half-backs.

Abbey Constable, Molly Reardon and Jenni Scoble are again named in the front row, Katie Jenkins comes into the second to to replace Erin Jones, a final change in the half backs will see Maise Davies replace Kate Williams, Lucy Issac and Gwennan Hopkins complete their line-up.