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Published 12:23 22 Jan 2020 GMT
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"The younger girls that are there (in the squad) are there for a reason," says Naoupu. "They have been training the house down. "That's such a positive as you can see the player pathway is doing its' job and there is exciting talent throughout the squad. Their presence and enthusiasm is putting pressure on all the senior players. I'm looking forward to seeing a lot of them in the Six Nations but two that have really impressed me are Dorothy Wall and Enya Breen (both Munster)."[caption id="attachment_209210" align="aligncenter" width="1280"]
Dorothy Wall (right) and Enya Breen. (Credit: Sportsfile)[/caption]
Ireland have lost the likes of Ali Miller (retired) and Claire Molloy (sabbatical) in the past year while experienced, World Cup-winning outhalf/fullback Niamh Briggs is recovering from a bad knee injury.
"We've got a new leadership, with new voices," says Naoupu. "Ciara Griffin is an excellent leader for us and a formidable player and our coaches are taking our game to another level."
England and France will once again be the teams to beat in the women's championship. Ireland's February 23 encounter with the English will be a real test of their mettle and it pits Naoupu up against Harlequins centre Rachel Burford again. The pair were Leinster and Quins captain for that Twickenham clash and they both teamed up, before that, for some rugby coaching road-shows in Ireland.
"We were coaching at some schools in the Dublin area and, I remember, she was blown away by the numbers that were there and by the level of talent. We did one session at a club down in Wicklow and 120 girls showed up for it. "She was probably not expecting that. And we probably don't realise how fast women's rugby is growing here. It's really positive."[caption id="attachment_209209" align="aligncenter" width="2048"]
Sene Naoupu has teamed up with the GUINNESS brand to rally support for Ireland’s Women’s team ahead of their upcoming Women’s Six Nations Championship campaign. (Pic: INPHO)[/caption]
Naoupu has teamed up with Guinness in their efforts to raise awareness and encourage fans to support the 2020 Women's Six Nations Championship through the following activities:
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