'Stand up to them' - Fryday calls on Ireland to be fearless against France

Ireland captain Nichola Fryday has warned her players not to be overawed in Saturday's TikTok Women's Six Nations meeting with France in Toulouse.

The skipper is the only survivor in the side from Ireland's last away game against France in the Six Nations in 2018, which was a 24-0 defeat at Saturday's venue, Stade Ernest Wallon.

France are heavy favourites to pick up where they left off in last week's 39-6 win against Italy, and were 56-15 winners in last year's meeting in Dublin.

But in spite of France's quality, the second row says Ireland cannot go into the game expecting a defeat.

"You have to respect them they're one of the best teams in the world. At the same time, you can't have that fear of them," she said from the team's base in Toulouse.

"You have to go out and put your body on the line against a team like France, and stand up to them because if you let their status affect you in any way you'll be playing in your shell, and that's not what we want.

"We want girls to stand up to them and take them on physically. With teams like England and France that's what you have to do to make it a good contest."

When asked if Ireland can win, Fryday replied: "Every team has that belief in them.

"You don't go out thinking you are going to lose a match; that is the way you are driven as athletes. You want to win matches; you want to stand up to the bigger teams in Europe as the perceived underdog.

"If we can get what we can bring to the table right tomorrow and really impose ourselves physically on them as well, it will be a tight game.

"I said from the start this Six Nations will be one of the closest in comparison to previous years as the quality across all six teams is really high. So, you would like to think you will see these