Preview: Fighting Irish spirit welcome but tactics required against France

A hurting Ireland side face an uphill battle to get their TikTok Women's Six Nations campaign back on track when they welcome France to Musgrave Park this afternoon.

Last weekend’s sobering loss to Wales laid bare the size of the task that Greg McWilliams and his coaching staff have on their hands.

With 10 of the original squad plying their trade in the Premier 15s in England and most of the rest having taken up professional contracts, it was felt that Ireland were in with a decent shot of finishing best of the rest, a mini-group within the Six Nations that includes Wales, Scotland and Italy; England and France are on another level.

But it became apparent after just a few minutes in Cardiff that they were still miles behind the level required so getting back on track, in this instance, means producing a coherent performance in Musgrave Park.

Ireland captain Nichola Fryday wants to right the wrongs of last weekend's loss when France come to Cork #IREvFRA @Womens6Nations #RTERugby pic.twitter.com/nZbePzGHuW

"Shell-shocked" was how the head coach described his side as they went in 26-0 down at the break in Wales.

The disparity was even more stark when you consider that Ireland beat Wales 45-0 in the 2021 fixture.

So what now?

Ireland, who have won their last two home games in the championship, don’t have to beat France this afternoon but there is a huge onus on the squad to front up and back up their talk this week.

Prior to last week’s 31-5 defeat, the key messages were about hitting the ground running and being in a good place for the challenge, which turned out not to be the case.

This week’s theme has been about the "fighting Irish" and how closely knit the squad is.

Those are, of course, important traits but completely nullified