Four Galway players have been named to the Irish U18 Women’s Six Nations Squad out of ten total drawn from Connacht.
The U18 Women’s Six Nations Festival will take place at Wellington College in England from April 7 – 15, with each team playing five games total.
The Irish Squad features 10 Connacht players, Poppy Garvey, Beibhinn Gleeson, Roisin Maher, Sarah McCormick, Ellen O’Toole, Ailish Quinn, Molly Boote, Hannah Clarke, Emily Foley and Grainne Moran.
Molly Boote (Connacht/Oughterard/Tuam RFC), is one of six returning players who competed in the inaugural U18 Six Nations last year.
Head coach Larissa Muldoon has been leading the players in a series of camps at the IRFU High Performance Centre on the Sports Ireland campus this month.
The 28 player squad she has chosen from among their ranks is now ready to take the field this weekend.
The first two matchdays, on Friday, April 7 & Tuesday, April 11 will see the teams play two 35 minutes games one each day.
That will be followed by a full 70 minute fixture to close out the competition on the final matchday of Saturday, April 15.
The Irish side will start the competition competing against France, with kick-off at 3pm tomorrow, and finish with a full game against Wales.
Ballinasloe native and Irish International Aoibheann Reilly will be assisting Muldoon as an additional coaching resource for the Six Nations competition.
All of the games will be live streamed by Six Nations through their YouTube channel.
IRELAND U18 WOMEN’S SQUAD – 2023 WOMEN’S U18 SIX NATIONS FESTIVAL
Forwards (15)
Grainne Burke (Munster/Ennis RFC)
Kelly Burke (Leinster/Mullingar RFC)
Beth Buttimer (Munster/Fethard RFC)*
Lily Byrne (Leinster/Skerries RFC)
Poppy Garvey (Connacht/Sligo RFC)
Beibhinn Gleeson (Connacht/Oughterard/Tuam RFC)
Roisin Maher (Connacht/Creggs RFC)
Lilly Morris (Munster/Killarney RFC)
Sarah McCormick (Connacht/Ballina RFC)*
Alma Obehi Atagamen (Leinster/Balbriggan RFC)
Ellen O’Toole (Connacht/Wesport RFC)
Ruby Starrett (Ulster/Larne RFC)
Ailish Quinn (Connacht/Ballina RFC)
Orla Wafer (Leinster/Enniscorthy RFC)*
Saskia Wycherly (Munster/Bantry Bay RFC)
Backs (13)
Molly Boote (Connacht/Connemara RFC)*
Emma Brogan (Leinster/Navan RFC)
Lyndsey Clarke (Munster/Ennis RFC)
Hannah Clarke (Connacht/Oughterard/Tuam RFC)
Katie Corrigan (Leinster/Tullow RFC)*
Emily Foley (Connacht/Ballina RFC)
Caitriona Finn (Munster/UL Bohemians/Ballina-Killaloe RFC)
May Goulding (IQ Rugby/Hartpury)
Abby Healy (Leinster/Wicklow RFC)
Lucia Linn (IQ Rugby/Loughborough University)
Grainne Moran (Connacht/Ballina RFC)
Niamh Murphy (Leinster/Cill Dara RFC)
Robyn O’Connor (Leinster/Wexford Wanderers RFC)*
*capped at U18 level
Match Day 1: Friday 7th April, 2023
France v IRELAND KO 3.00pm
IRELAND v Italy KO 5.00pm
Match Day 2: Tuesday 11th April, 2023
Scotland v IRELAND KO 10.00am
IRELAND v England KO 11.00am
Match Day 3: Saturday 15th April, 2023
IRELAND v Wales KO 2.15pm
