The teams have been announced for Ireland’s second WRWC2017 Pool C game to be played tomorrow (Sunday) evening at UCD Bowl, kick off 17:15.
Sorry for the delay in getting these up but there was a disciplinary for one of the Japanese players and their team announcement was delayed. The upshot of the disciplinary is that influential centre Makiko Tomita has relieved a 3 match ban and will not be available to play until the final round of the competition.
Ireland have made five personnel changes and two positional switch to the team that started against Australia. Katie Fitzhenry, Ciara O’Connor and Ciara Griffin all move into the starting line up, from the bench, with Mairead Coyne and Nicole Cronin making their first starts of the tournament. Ashleigh Baxter, the only Ulster starter, moves from blindside to openside and Claire Molloy moves from openside to No. 8.
Anna Caplice, Jeamie Deacon and Louise Galvin join the match day squad for the first time and will start on the bench.
It’s very much an untried Ireland side and it’ll be interesting to see how they perform. There is the security of the tried and tested Molloy, Spence, Moloney and Peat in the forwards and Stapleton, Miller and Naoupu in the backs with Egan, Fitzpatrick and Muldoon on the bench should things not go as planned.
As we said, Japan will be missing their defensive centre Makiko Tomita but versatile back and FRU Favourite Riho Kurogi does start in her place. With the exception of Sophie Spence, Ireland have downplayed the physical impact of their side and Japan will certainly appreciate a faster paced game with less of the physical challenge. Whether either of these sides has the skills to fully exploit, what should be an open game, has yet to be determined.
The FRU Predicts: I suspect it’ll be a disjointed game as various players try to find their feet at this level. However Ireland’s determination and their experienced core should see them scrap out another win to keep their campaign on track.
| IRELAND | JAPAN | |
|---|---|---|
| Mairead Coyne | 15 | Mayu Shimizu |
| Hannah Tyrrell | 14 | Eriko Hirano |
| Katie Fitzhenry | 13 | Iroha Nagata |
| Sene Naoupu | 12 | Riho Kurogi |
| Alison Miller | 11 | Honoka Tsutsumi |
| Nora Stapleton | 10 | Minori Yamamoto |
| Nicole Cronin | 9 | Moe Tsukui |
| Lindsay Peat | 1 | Makoto Ebuchi |
| Cliodhna Moloney | 2 | Seina Saito |
| Ciara O’Connor | 3 | Saki Minami |
| Ciara Cooney | 4 | Aoi Mimura |
| Sophie Spence | 5 | Ayano Sakurai |
| Ciara Griffin | 6 | Yuki Sue |
| Ashleigh Baxter | 7 | Sayaka Suzuki |
| Claire Molloy | 8 | Maki Takano |
| Leah Lyons | 16 | Misaki Suzuki |
| Ruth O’Reilly | 17 | Mizuho Kataoka |
| Ailis Egan | 18 | Maiko Fujimoto |
| Paula Fitzpatrick | 19 | Aya Nakajima |
| Anna Caplice | 20 | Yui Shiozaki |
| Larissa Muldoon | 21 | Yumeno Noda |
| Jeamie Deacon | 22 | Ayaka Suzuki |
| Louise Galvin | 23 | Ai Tasaka |