Ireland’s first-ever Six Nations game at the Dexcom Stadium on Saturday (kick-off 5.40pm) won’t be an altogether novel experience for Béibhinn Parsons.
The flying winger was born and raised in Ballinasloe, a 45-minute drive from the newly redeveloped ground in Galway city. She has already played two games there since the Clan Stand went up, including one in the Celtic Challenge, while her Clovers team trains at the Dexcom every Tuesday.
But Parsons’ history with the venue goes back much further, to when she first played there in her early teens. Her favourite memories at the old Sportsground were underage Connacht finals when she played for Ballinasloe RFC.
“Me and Dexcom Stadium go way back,” said the 24-year-old. “We heard that the Clan Stand was sold out and I’d say half of it is my family, friends or cousins. Everyone I’ve spoken to said they’re going, so I can’t wait.
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“I think I’ll embrace it, to be honest. I feel really supported, and it’s a happy moment, more than too, emotional for me. I think I’ll just really enjoy it.”
Over 8,000 tickets have been sold for the second-round encounter with Italy, with a crowd of more than 10,000 hoped for as Ireland seek their first win of this Six Nations campaign after last Saturday’s defeat to England.
“It’s incredible,” said Parsons. “The fact that we’ve built our green wave so much and travelled abroad with it when playing in England at the World Cup. Now to finally come back and be able to play at home is amazing, and there’s no better place in the west.”
Aoibheann Reilly, who grew up playing rugby with Parsons in Ballinasloe, has returned to training and is available for selection this week. The town has certainly punched above its weight in producing top-level players, both women and men, over the years.
“For me, it was the people involved in the club, the coaches we had and the volunteers,” said Parsons. “Sometimes I felt like the under-16 girls team from Ballinasloe was the only team in the club because we had that much support. People were so dedicated to us and gave us such a high level of coaching.
“It’s the people involved in Ballinasloe. That’s why there has been such a strong crop. It’s not just a group of talented players, it’s the people behind the scenes.”
Parsons will be fired up for this weekend, not only because of the home connection. Like many of her team-mates, she feels she has a point to prove after not firing enough shots against the world champions last time out.
England raced into a comfortable early lead and, while Ireland improved considerably after half-time, it was a frustrating afternoon in front of a record 77,120 crowd, the hosts winning 33-12.
Kicking coach Gareth Steenson said this has been the most impressive week of training he has witnessed since coming on board, so a big response is expected. Head coach Scott Bemand will name his team on Thursday morning.
“My own personal performance left a lot to be desired,” said Parsons. “Getting more involvements, being able to impose my game and fire some shots is something I’ll definitely be targeting this week.
“There are quite a few players who feel the same way – that they didn’t impose their game the way they wanted to. It was a big occasion, but I don’t think that was the reason. I think we were really revved up as a squad and ready for it.
“Once we did fire shots, we saw that we can take it to anyone in the world. That gave us confidence, but it also left us feeling we have a lot more in the tank. So I’m going to attack this week – and we all are as a squad. We’ve had a really tough training week and we’re ready to rip in.”
Sam Monaghan is also back in training after missing last weekend, but Jane Clohessy has been ruled out of the remainder of the Championship after suffering an arm fracture.
“It’s unfortunate, obviously,” said Steenson. “She worked so hard to get herself back into the squad, and that’s just the nature of the game in rugby. It’s disappointing for her, but it gives another opportunity to someone else.
“There are frustrations around what happened at Twickenham, but there are positives in it as well.”
