Erin King captains Ireland on her return from injury while two players are in line for debuts against world champions England in the opening round of the Guinness Women's Six Nations on Saturday (2.25pm, live on RTÉ2).
King missed the end of last season's championship and the World Cup with a knee injury but after returning to fitness in the Celtic Challenge tournament with the Wolfhounds.
She takes her place at openside wing forward for the Twickenham clash in which over 70,000 are expected in attendance.
Cliodhna Moloney-MacDonald is set to reach the milestone of 50 Test caps, and will mark the occasion by playing against her wife, Claudia, who has been named on the left wing for the Red Roses.
Uncapped prop Eilís Cahill and scrum-half Katie Whelan are in line for their debut appearances in green off the replacements bench.
Stacey Flood starts at full-back, with Béibhinn Parsons and Vicky Elmes Kinlan on the wings.
Eve Higgins and Aoife Dalton are selected in midfield, as Emily Lane and Dannah O'Brien link up in the half backs at scrum-half and out-half, respectively.
"We've grown as a team and gained confidence"
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) April 8, 2026
Ireland's Eve Higgins looks ahead to their Women's Six Nations opener at Twickenham on Saturday pic.twitter.com/tYJK7cIfWp
In the pack, Ellena Perry, Moloney-MacDonald and Linda Djougang start in the front row.
Moloney-MacDonald will become the 16th Ireland women’s player to reach half a century of appearances in green, following on from Djougang hitting the milestone during last year’s Rugby World Cup 2025 in England.
Fit-again Dorothy Wall and Fiona Tuite make up the second row on Saturday, with Brittany Hogan at blindside flanker, captain King at openside and Aoife Wafer packing down at number 8.
Bemand has a mix of youth and experience among his replacements, with Neve Jones, Niamh O’Dowd, Ruth Campbell and Grace Moore joined by the debutant Cahill – who has impressed recently for the Clovers in the Celtic Challenge – as the forward reinforcements.
'They'll know that these are teams we should be beating' - World champions England are first up but Ireland should be confident taking on the rest of their #WomensSixNations rivals, says @HannahOConnor22 on the #RTERugby podcast pic.twitter.com/wYPIWAUhvf
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) April 8, 2026
There is also a potential first cap for replacement scrum-half Whelan, who has previously been capped for Ireland Women’s Sevens on the HSBC SVNS Series, while Nancy McGillivray and Anna McGann complete Ireland’s matchday 23.
Sam Monaghan and Aoibheann Reilly were ruled out of selection through injury.
England will be captained by centre Meg Jones, one of seven survivors from last September's World Cup final win against Canada.
Veteran forwards Hannah Botterman and Marlie Packer miss out on the 23 altogether but 19-year-old number eight Haineala Lutui is set to make her debut as a replacement.
England: Ellie Kildunne; Jess Breach, Meg Jones (capt), Helena Rowland, Claudia Moloney-MacDonald; Hollie Aitchison, Lucy Packer; Kelsey Clifford, Amy Cokayne, Sarah Bern, Morwenna Talling, Lilli Ives Campion; Maddie Feaunati, Sadia Kabeya, Alex Matthews.
Replacements: Connie Powell, Mackenzie Carson, Maud Muir, Haineala Lutui, Abi Burton, Natasha Hunt, Zoe Harrison, Emma Sing.
Ireland: Stacey Flood; Béibhinn Parsons, Aoife Dalton, Eve Higgins, Vicky Elmes Kinlan; Dannah O’Brien, Emily Lane; Ellena Perry, Cliodhna Moloney-MacDonald, Linda Djougang; Dorothy Wall, Fiona Tuite; Brittany Hogan, Erin King (capt), Aoife Wafer.
Replacements: Neve Jones, Niamh O’Dowd, Eilís Cahill, Ruth Campbell, Grace Moore, Katie Whelan, Nancy McGillivray, Anna McGann.
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Watch England v Ireland in the Women's Six Nations on Saturday from 2pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player. Follow our live blog on RTÉ.ie/sport and RTÉ News app and listen to Saturday Sport on RTÉ Radio 1
