Neve Jones expects improved Irish lineout for Italy clash

Neve Jones has backed Ireland to fix their lineout issues, ahead of Sunday's Guinness Women's Six Nations meeting with Italy at the RDS (live on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player).

Ireland's lineout ranked bottom of the championship in 2023 with just a 68% return from their throws, while it again came into sharp focus after last weekend's 38-17 defeat to France, in which they had a return of just five from nine.

Jones, who was throwing into the lineout in Le Mans last week, says she's "definitely" confident those issues have been ironed out.

"Lineout is a huge part of the game nowadays so we have done a lot of analysis on what went wrong at the weekend and how we can fix it," the hooker said.

"We have had two sessions with the lineout already and improvements, so it is just continuing that on through the week.

"We have looked at what went wrong and what we can do to change that. Having looked at the analysis it should be going well."

While Jones may have frustrations around the Irish set-piece, the Gloucester-Hartpury hooker has continued to be an influential presence in the Irish defence.

The 25-year-old's 90 tackles topped the chart in last year's championship, and she's on track to match that number again this year, making 23 tackles against France last week, more than any other player in the opening round of games.

The Antrim native, who gained her rugby education at Ballymena, says it's always been an area of the game she's loved, way back to her days playing in the garden with her father David.

"It's just a bit of craic, isn't it?," she laughed, when asked where her love of tackling came from.

"Playing mini rugby I was the only girl and probably the smallest on the pitch, but it's nothing that's ever fazed me.

"I remember my Dad taking me