Moloney back in as Irish seek to end run
IRELAND have recalled hooker Cliodhna Moloney to their squad for the Six Nations.
The Exeter Chiefs player has not featured for her country since 2021 after being critical of the Irish Rugby Football Union on social media.
Having lost to France and Italy, Ireland will face Wales at Musgrave Park on Saturday and head coach Scott Bemand says Ireland are “absolutely” on the right track after losing all five games last year.
Bemand said: “We won’t ever shy away, we talk about winning. We’re really comfortable with that.
“Going away to France, it was always going to be a tough start, but we saw some green shoots and emergence of character and resilience.
“Against Italy, we produced a performance that would ordinarily produce a win. We didn’t manage to get over the line in that, but we’ll keep going after the confidence and the stuff we did well.
“We’re pretty certain that those wins aren’t too far away.”
Bemand said Sale Sharks full-back Lauren Delany will need a “couple more days” to regain fitness after she was forced off in the 27-21 loss to Italy last Sunday.
Back when still a Wasps player, Moloney was a notable omission from the Ireland panel for the 2022 Six Nations following her reaction to the IRFU’s then-women’s director of rugby Anthony Eddy comments that their XVs programme had not been overlooked.
On social media, Moloney described those remarks as “slurry spreading”.
The 30-year-old was also one of the players who signed a letter sent to an Irish government minister to say they had “lost all trust and confidence in the IRFU and its leadership”.
Full-back Lauren Delany is continuing her return to play protocols and is expected to resume full training ahead of the Wales game in Cork.
Lock Ruth Campbell is continuing her rehab for the hand injury that has ruled her out of the previous two rounds.