Kathryn Dane and Claire Boles have been named in Ireland’s 35-player squad for the upcoming Women’s Six Nations Championship.

Scrum half Dane has been a regular in the side in recent times and she will be aiming to add to the ten caps she has already earned on the international scene.

Claire Boles was added to the squad since the conclusion of the championship in October and has retained her place for the upcoming series.

The Ulster back has three Ireland caps to date.

This year’s Women’s Championship will see a new and condensed format similar to that of the recent Autumn Nations Cup, culminating in a Grand Final weekend to crown the Six Nations Champions 2021.

The format will comprise of two pools of three teams with each team playing one home and one away fixture.

Once the pool round matches are complete, teams will face off against the opposing ranked team from the other pool in the play-offs matches, i.e. 1st place Pool A v 1st place Pool B.

Ireland are in a pool with Wales and France and dates and kick off times for the Championship were confirmed this week by Six Nations Rugby. Ireland start their campaign away to Wales on April 10 with a 5pm kick off.

A week later they are back at Energia Park to face France, with that game down for a 2.15pm start.

The tournament concludes with a final round of games on April 24 determined by results over the first two rounds.