IPSWICH Scorpions winger Louise Rickard will be celebrating this weekend, as she earns her 90th international cap.

IPSWICH Scorpions winger Louise Rickard will be celebrating this weekend, as she earns her 90th international cap.

Louise, a teacher at Woodbridge School, has been confirmed in the starting line-up for Wales in their 2007 Women's Six Nations opener against Ireland, at Taffs Well RFC on Saturday.

The Welsh women's side will be seeking to build on their fantastic performances throughout 2006, which was their best-ever year in Test rugby. Wales confounded expectations last year, finishing second behind England, last year's World Cup finalists. Now they will be looking to build on this success.

Coaches Fielies Coetsee and Jason Lewis have selected an experienced squad that includes a second row pairing of Liza Burgess and Claire Donovan with more than 130 caps between them, as well as the experienced Rickard, who had a magnificent year at international level last year, scoring tries in each of her last three games for Wales.

Coetsee said: “Last year we were an unknown quantity. Almost no one was expecting us to do well, so maybe the other teams didn't do very well in terms of preparation. It's different now as people know that Wales are a good side, so our rivals will do their homework better.”

This year Italy have joined the fold in place of Spain, and the Women's Six Nations competition now officially comes under the auspices of the Six Nations Committee.

The tournament will run in parallel with both the men's and Under-21 campaigns and there will be a new trophy up for grabs. This weekend's game kicks off at 2.30pm.