Leading the team out on Sunday is newly appointed captain, Nikita Armstrong from Cooke RFC. The 25 year old has made 23 appearances for the Ulster Women’s senior team and has been described by peers as an experienced player and a natural leader.
Also named in the squad is The Errigle Inn’s Women’s Player of the Year 2013/14, Jemma Jackson.
Speaking ahead of the weekend, newly appointed head coach Jonny Gillespie explains:
“Ulster Rugby held two open screening sessions in June with over 65 players participating. From that the coaches selected a senior training squad of 35 and a development squad of 30. Both these squads entered a summer training programme that has gradually built towards the Interprovincial campaign.”
With 20 of the 35 women selected to travel to Cavan making their first appearance for Ulster this weekend, performance and getting the basics right is more important to Jonny than the result:
“Following a summer of training the girls are eager to get stuck in. They have been training well so I want them to go out and test themselves, we want to really challenge Connacht, try out some new combinations, patterns and positional changes but at the end of the day do the simple things really well. This game will be a great test for us before the Interprovincial Series in September.”
Ulster Women v Connacht Women, Pre-season Friendly, County Cavan RFC, Sunday 17th August 2014 kick off 14.30.
The Ulster Women’s team would like to encourage supporters to make the trip to Cavan this weekend. For directions to the ground please click here.