"It means a huge amount to us to have test rugby on the horizon."
Ireland's Six Nations squad has been bolstered by the addition of five Sevens bolters, including one of the world's very best.
The IRFU has confirmed that the five Sevens stars, all of whom are uncapped at 15s senior level, have been included in a squad of 35 for the upcoming Women's Six Nations Championship.
Chief among those uncapped players is Amee Leigh Murphy Crowe, who was the Sevens Series top try-scorer in 2019 and was named in the Dream Team. Stacey Flood, Eve Higgins, Emily Lane, Grace Moore and Murphy Crowe have been part of the training squad since the conclusion of the Championship back in October.
Claire Boles and Emma Hooban have also been named for the upcoming tournament. Ireland head coach Adam Griggs commented:
"This group have been working very closely together over the past number of months and the Six Nations was always going to be a priority for us. We have two more camps to fine tune things ahead of the first fixture and competition for match squad places will be high."
Ireland will be without the experienced trio of Ciara Cooney, Edel McMahon and Grand Slam winner Larissa Muldoon as all three are unavailable due to injury.
Ireland's tournament starts with an away trip to Wales on April 10 (5pm kick-off) and they play France in Dublin on April 17 (2:15pm).
Ireland Squad (Women's Six Nations Championship 2021)
Backs (16)
Enya Breen (UL Bohemian/ Munster) 4
Eimear Considine (UL Bohemian/ Munster) 15
Kathryn Dane (Old Belvedere/ Ulster) 10
Lauren Delany (Sale Sharks/ IQ Rugby) 12
Aoife Doyle (Railway Union/ Munster) 6
Katie Fitzhenry (Blackrock College/ Leinster) 13
Stacey Flood (Railway Union/Leinster) *
Eve Higgins (Railway Union/Leinster) *
Ailsa Hughes (Railway Union/ Leinster) 12
Emily Lane (Blackrock College/Munster) *
Ellen Murphy (Blackrock College/Leinster) 7
Amee Leigh Murphy Crowe (Railway Union/Munster) *
Sene Naoupu (Old Belvedere/ Leinster) 38
Beibhinn Parsons (Ballinasloe/Blackrock College/ Connacht) 8
Laura Sheehan (Exeter Chiefs/IQ Rugby) 4
Hannah Tyrrell (Old Belvedere/ Leinster) 17
Forwards (19)
Claire Boles (Railway Union/Ulster) 3
Anna Caplice (Harlequins/ IQ Rugby) 14
Linda Djougang (Old Belvedere/ Leinster) 9
Laura Feely (Blackrock College/ Connacht) 15
Nichola Fryday (Blackrock College/ Connacht) 15
Ciara Griffin (UL Bohemian/ Munster) 33
Brittany Hogan (DCU/Old Belvedere/Ulster) 1
Emma Hooban (Blackrock College/Leinster) 7
Neve Jones (Malone/Ulster) 1
Leah Lyons (Harlequins/ IQ Rugby) 25
Aoife McDermott (Railway Union/ Leinster) 13
Claire Molloy (Wasps/IQ Rugby) 70
Cliodhna Moloney (Wasps/ IQ Rugby) 23
Grace Moore (Railway Union/IQ Rugby) *
Hannah O'Connor (Blackrock College/ Leinster) 2
Katie O'Dwyer (Railway Union/ Leinster) 1
Chloe Pearse (UL Bohemian/ Munster) 2
Lindsay Peat (Railway Union/ Leinster) 31
Dorothy Wall (Blackrock College/ Munster) 4
*Denotes uncapped at senior international level
