Ireland backs coach Niamh Briggs say there are no plans to bring their Sevens contingent back into the squad in the second half of the TikTok Women's Six Nations.
Next week's World Series leg in Hong Kong ensured that dual internationals such as Beibhinn Parsons, Amee-Leigh Murphy Crowe, Eve Higgins and Lucy Mulhall were not included in the 32-player squad for the Six Nations, which sees Ireland take on Wales in their opening game on Saturday (live on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player).
After Hong Kong, the Sevens squad have six weeks until the final leg of the World Series in Toulouse, but with Aiden McNulty's side challenging for one of the four automatic Olympic qualification spots available, it appears the XV's team won't be supplementing their squad with any Sevens players later in the championship.
"No, we're really happy with the 32 we’ve selected," the Ireland assistant said, when asked if they would be drafting the likes of Parsons and Murphy Crowe into camp after their Sevens duties in Hong Kong.
"I think we've rewarded girls that have played really well at club, Interpro and Celtic Cup, and it’s a very exciting young group."
Briggs is reporting a "full deck" of players for head coach Greg McWilliams to choose from this week, with no injury concerns.
The majority of the squad have been playing together for several weeks as part of the Combined Provinces XV which beat Welsh and Scottish opponents to win the inaugural Celtic Challenge, while they were joined in camp by their English-based teammates last week.
This will be the first Six Nations championship since the introduction of fully professional contracts in the XV's game.
And Briggs, whose role as as assistant is part-time, says she's been taken aback by the improvements made by the now full-time professional players in the group.
"There's no comparison, in terms of everything. The players are so tuned in to what high performance means," she added.
"Even at the end of last week, as a coaching group we were talking about a week out from a Six Nations, where we were this time last year. We’ve definitely improved a huge amount, but that’s the same for every team.
"Every team has nearly gone professional now, every team has got numbers that are professional, every other team in the Six Nations has been at a World Cup last September, but we haven’t, so we’re very aware of where we are.
"I think that’s probably the most exciting thing about this weekend, we get to see where we are on another scale. We feel like we’re in a really good place, but on the flip of that, I’d imagine Wales are saying the same.
"I think it’s probably fair to say it’s starting our journey in relation to continuing on from Japan a little bit, I think last year’s Six Nations was a tight time whereas we got a good chunk of work done in Japan and obviously girls going full-time into November, you can already feel a little bit of a difference.
"I think for this group it’s really important that they all know they’re all incredibly valued and we’re really, really happy with them."
Ireland finished fourth in last year's championship, beating Scotland and Italy, while losing to champions England, France and Wales, who they face this week.
Breaking into the top three will be the goal for 2023 however, in order to qualify for the top tier of the new WXV competition taking place in the Autumn.
And Briggs says while there's no hiding behind the fact that they're working with an inexperienced squad, they have to move beyond their label as a side "in transition".
"I’m actually so excited," she added
"And they are young, which is fine. I’m not going to say we’re still in transition, we’re not. I think we’ve got to get out of that mindset now, probably as a support base, as a fanbase, as media, and as a group within this building. I think we’ve got to talk about the standards that we set for ourselves and continuously push them and keep trying to raise the ceiling.
"Once we can do that, that’s all we’ll ask. But there’s definitely huge potential and I suppose as a coaching group, you just want them to go and fulfil that and get better all the time.
"I think if we can go and enjoy an occasion like Saturday, on the back of a really good couple of weeks for the IRFU, then that puts us in a really good place and can give them confidence.
"But I’ve no doubt there will be nerves. They’re young, but they’re exciting, and we’ve got to back that talent and hopefully they can show the world what they’re good at."
Watch Wales v Ireland in the TikTok Women's Six Nations on Saturday from 2.15pm live on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player, follow a live blog on RTÉ.ie/Sport and the RTÉ News app and listen to live commentary on RTÉ Radio 1's Saturday Sport
Watch Munster v Glasgow (5.15pm) and Ulster v Vodacom Bulls (7.35pm) in the BKT United Rugby Championship on Saturday live on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player
