Ulster scrumhalf, Amy Davis will start for Ireland on Friday evening as Philip Doyle’s side begin the defence of their RBS 6 Nations title. Davis will win her 31st international cap in the game. The Ulster Rugby sub-academy strength and conditioning coach is delighted to be wearing the green shirt again:
“Last year, although we won the 6 Nations, it was disappointing for me on a personal level as I didn’t get as much game time as I would have liked. I am absolutely over the moon to be starting on Friday.
“Scotland are are very good but we know how we want to play against them and we just have to stick to our game plan,” continues Davis. “We just have to do the basics well and not take anything for granted.”
Last year’s Grand Slam victory gave the women’s game on the island of Ireland a huge boost. Can the team repeat that achievement and win all five games again this season?
“This year will be an awful lot harder than last season,” believes Davis. “We have our two toughest games away from home. We are away to England at Twickenham and their coach has already said that they are targeting that game. Then we are away to France in the last weekend as well. The last time that we played at the Stade du Hameau was in front of a ten thousand crowd - it was unbelievable, so it will be hard to hit the heights of last year with those away matches.”
Having been selected for the opening game of the 6 Nations, Davis’ aim now is to stay in the team. With the prospect of a historic first women’s international against Italy at the Aviva Stadium on 8th March, there is plenty of incentive:
“It will be the first time that we have every played at the Aviva and everyone is really looking forward to it”, says Davis. “We just want to play in big venues, play in big games and do the women’s game justice. We would be hoping for a big crowd to stay after the men’s game to watch it. It will be huge occasion but we have to first focus on the game on Friday night and then see what happens after that.”
RBS 6 Nations Ireland Women's Fixture
IRELAND WOMEN v Scotland Women
Asbourne RFC; 19:30
Friday 31st January, 2014