Ireland captain Nichola Fryday hopes her side’s decision to swap their traditional white shorts for a navy alternative can allay fears among players in the run-up to the 2023 TikTok Women’s Six Nations.

The move came in response to feedback from players about wearing a white rugby kit during their spell.

Ireland become the first home nation to bid farewell to white shorts and take to the field in green and navy for their TikTok Women’s Six Nations opener against Wales at Cardiff Arms Park.

“If something as simple as changing the color of your shorts takes away that fear or that worry about a girl, then that’s a change to be welcomed, and it’s really positive,” she said.



Fryday is hoping for signs of improvement after a successful summer tour of Japan

“I think for female athletes it’s a concern if you wear white shorts and I don’t think you have to worry about your period if you’re playing a game for your country or club.

“There have been polls about girls dropping out because it’s a problem and if it encourages young girls to keep playing rugby or any other sport that requires you to wear shorts then that’s a good thing.

“The menstrual cycle is a big part of a woman’s performance; our strength and conditioning and our nutrition teams really know.

“There’s a lot of data out there about how your performance can drop off at different points in your cycle, and I think as athletes we need to understand when we’re at our peak to perform, or when the cycle makes us feel. can, one bitten off. out.”

Six Nations Rugby, the official organizing body responsible for the TikTok Women’s Six Nations, has broken all records for fan engagement in 2022 and underlined its commitment to providing women’s football with the best possible growth platform.

The 2023 edition of the Championship will build on this progress, with expected even bigger audiences, more international channels covering all the action and unprecedented social and digital promotion of women’s football heroes.

The match between Ireland and Wales in the first round of the championship is a repeat of last year’s opening game when they lost 27-19 at the RDS Arena.

Greg McWilliams’ side finished fourth last time out, but Fryday hopes to see signs of improvement after a successful summer tour of Japan.

She added: “We just want to improve compared to last year, we had a good series of games against Japan, maybe it was mixed results but it was a great experience for us.

“We just want to build on that. Wales are always a big challenge for us and last year they were the better team in that game, but this year I think it’s a good game to start with.

“It will be a good boost for us if we can win in Cardiff and we are looking forward to that challenge.”