Home / Rugby / Women’s Six Nations 2026: Ireland make one change as Dorothy Wall returns to face France

Women’s Six Nations 2026: Ireland make one change as Dorothy Wall returns to face France


Bemand has stuck with the same backline after a free-flowing attacking performance that yielded nine tries in Galway.

Stacey Flood continues at full-back with right wing Beibhinn Parsons hoping to build on her hat-trick against the Italians. On the opposite wing, Robyn O’Connor is retained after her try-scoring debut in Galway.

Aoife Dalton and Nancy McGillivray continue in midfield with Dannah O’Brien and Emily Lane – who has three try assists in this year’s tournament – remaining in the half-backs.

Ellena Perry, Cliodhna Moloney-MacDonald and Linda Djougang form an unchanged front row, with Wall recalled to partner Fiona Tuite in the second row after dropping to the bench for the Italy game.

The in-form back row includes Aoife Wafer, who recaptured her best form against Italy, captain Erin King and Brittany Hogan.

The Ireland players have been vocal about their ambition of breaking into the top two in the Six Nations, but Bemand does not feel as though Saturday’s game will make or break Ireland’s campaign.

“In the grand scheme of things, I don’t think it does [make or break their championship], with the start of a new World Cup cycle,” he said.

“We want to keep getting better. We want to keep closing the gap – that’s one of the key things for us.

“The game against England, we let them get to a start that we didn’t want. France’s two games, they’ve only got going in the second half. So for us, the ability to get a good start is going to be really important for us.

“But we know France are a different entity in France. They’re going to have a full stadium behind them, so we know it’s the toughest place to go.”


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