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Johnes drafted into Wales Women side for Irish test

International | 6th February 2020


Manon Johnes has been drafted into the Wales Women side to take on Ireland in the Six Nations on Sunday.

The Cardiff Blues back row is set for her first start on the international stage this season, having missed the autumn Test series through injury.

Johnes, who featured as a replacement during the opening weekend defeat to Italy, is one of two changes made by head coach Chris Horsman for the trip to Donnybrook.

The former Ysgol Gyfun Glantaf pupil is joined in the starting line-up by two regional team-mates.

Robyn Wilkins retains the number 10 jersey as Cerys Hale lines-up in an unchanged front row.

Meanwhile, Cardiff Blues Community Foundation’s Inclusion and Disability Officer, Kelsey Jones, who plays for Ospreys, keeps hold of her place at hooker after last week’s try-scoring display.

Cardiff Blues duo Georgia Evans and Paige Randall are also included on the bench.

Coach Chris Horsman said, “We are extremely lucky with the riches we have available to us in the back row. It’s a hotly contested area and it’s a case of giving these players a chance to shine and provide the right balance in this match. Beth (Lewis) and Alex (Callender) will also play a key part as Manon and Alisha did from the bench last Sunday.

“We are comfortable with where we are as a group. We showed how dangerous we can be in the first-half against Italy, our scrum was excellent against a bigger Italian team and defensively we were very good but we need to manage our possession better and be more clinical with ball in hand.

“The girls should be confident going into the weekend. We did well to come back into the game and be with a shout of sneaking the win and we learned a lot from the game.“All Round One games were extremely tight which shows how competitive the Six Nations is this year. It’s all about how you perform on the day which is what we’ve been working on.” 

Wales Women: Kayleigh Powell; Jasmine Joyce, Hannah Jones, Kerin Lake, Lisa Neumann; Robyn Wilkins, Keira Bevan; Gwenllian Pyrs, Kelsey Jones, Cerys Hale, Natalia John, Gwen Crabb, Alisha Butchers, Manon Johnes, Siwan Lillicrap

Replacements: Molly Kelly, Cara Hope, Ruth Lewis, Georgia Evans, Bethan Lewis, Alex Callender, Ffion Lewis, Paige Randall