Ireland want to 'thrive' in Clermont cauldron

Defence coach James Scaysbrook hopes Ireland's experience of playing in front of a record Women's Six Nations crowd this year will help their bid for a historic win in France this weekend.

Les Bleues have won all 11 Women's Six Nations meetings on French soil and have not lost to Ireland since a 21-5 reverse in Dublin in 2017.

But Scaysbrook feels turning out in front of a 77,120-strong crowd in the 33-12 loss to England at Allianz Stadium earlier this month was a good high-pressure test for the renewal of Ireland's rivalry with France at Clermont's Stade Marcel-Michelin.

"I think they've had a reasonable practice in front of 77,000 at Twickenham," said Scaysbrook.

"We're really looking forward to thriving in that environment. We're looking at it as a challenge and something to be really excited by and not worried about."

Saturday's game (20:10 BST, watch on BBC Two NI & BBC iPlayer) will be the first meeting since last year's thrilling World Cup quarter-final when France roared back from 13-0 down to win 18-13.

But Scaysbrook suggested heartache is not driving the squad by insisting the main focus is "growing as a team".

"We're all human beings and we all remember what happened," he added.

"Our focus is on growing ourselves and growing our performance and getting better week on week."

Ireland are aiming for back-to-back wins after a thumping 57-20 win over Italy in Galway, while France beat Italy and Wales in their first two games.