Ireland women's coach Greg McWilliams says he hopes his team can feed off the example of the men's and U20 Grand Slam Winners, when they get their TikTok Six Nations campaign under way against Wales this Saturday (live on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player).
McWilliams named his side for Saturday's game at Cardiff Arms Park this afternoon, with uncapped prop Sadhbh McGrath named to start at loosehead, after the 18-year-old impressed for the Combined Provinces in the recent Celtic Challenge.
Irish rugby has been on a high in recent weeks, with the men's and U20 sides storming to Grand Slam titles in their own Six Nations campaign, although there will be more humble expectations from the women's side in the second year under their new coaching ticket.
With England and France expected to fight it out for the title, the head coach admitted that three wins or a third place finish would be a realistic target for Ireland, a result which would secure them a place in the top tier of the new WXV competition later this year.
Ireland will also be without the likes of Beibhinn Parsons, Stacey Flood, Eve Higgins and Amee-Leigh Murphy Crowe for the duration of the championship, who will concentrate on their Sevens commitments.
"Let's talk about the elephant in the room, we don't have Sevens players," McWilliams said, when asked about his expectations for the championship.
However, the coach is remaining optimistic about the long-term prospects of his squad.
"But I can get a true reflection of where we stand, moving into next year. Wherever we finish in the Six Nations, it's where we deserve to be, and if it's not good enough, it starts with me, I'll own it."
With all of the Irish squads training at the IRFU's high performance centre in Abbotstown, it's given both the women's and U20 sides the opportunity of being in the same training environment as Andy Farrell's side.
And McWilliams reserved praise for Farrell and his coaches, who he says have had an open-door policy to the other teams.
"Since the Grand Slam win reports are coming in about Andy Farrell, what he has built with the team and the inclusivity with family and other people.
"It would be very easy for the coach of the national team to close off the HPC at certain times and just be them, and that's happened previously.
"Andy is the opposite. He has a big smile on his face, he always comes in and asks how we are getting on. Paul O'Connell is talking to me about session plans, about lineout, defence.
"You go up to Andy (below) and ask if he would mind if we come out and watch a session and he looks at you as if you have two heads: 'Of course, come out here, you're always welcome’. And that’s really important.
"An environment isn’t the building. The resources that we have at the HPC are amazing but it is about people within the building and we have great people who are all trying to help us succeed and that is really reassuring."
That sharing of information also extends to the assistant coaches, with women's scrum coach Denis Fogarty a brother of men's coach John.
"John and Denis [Fogarty], honestly its like the Muppet Show: you know those two brothers on the balcony? The two of them are great fun together and they have great energy.
"John [McKee, women's senior coach] would spend a lot of time with Simon Easterby and John and I can observe the sessions.
"Look at what the men's team and the 20s team did. That’s very inspirational for us and you have to remember that we are training in the same building as them all the time. We are having coffees beside them.
"Their coaching staff has been really supportive of us and it has given us the chance to develop our understanding as a coaching staff, a management team and a playing group but this is our journey and lets not forget that."
The inclusion of 18-year-old loosehead McGrath (below) was the big call in the opening team selection of the championship, with the Ulster teen having been fast tracked in recent months.
And McWilliams says she's a player who has been on his radar for some time.
"I travelled to the Irish U18s game against Scotland last year and got the chance to watch her play, and a few other players we have on her radar.
"We brought her in from the Interpros to Celtic Challenge, and she's just a very, very talented player with a big ceiling.
"We've had Denis Fogarty working a lot with her, and even had John Fogarty come in and help us out and have a look at her, and make sure she was available to make the step up. We're really impressed with her diligence and skill, and her ability, and I'm just so excited to see her play."
Wales overpowered Ireland in the second half of last season's meeting in Dublin, and McWilliams has gone with a 6:2 split on the bench in a bid to combat the physicality of the hosts, who reached the quarter-finals of the World Cup in Japan.
Ireland's last outing was back in August when they drew in their summer Test series in Japan, and while McWilliams is confident of the progress his side have made in training, he admits the Six Nations will be a true test of how far they've come.
"It's one of those things that's a bit unknown, certainly between the staff and players.
"We believe we are well prepared for this game but so are Wales. Wales beat us at home last year, they got to the quarter-final of the World Cup, so they had the big chunk of time pre-World Cup as a group. Ioan [Cunningham], their coach is someone I know very well and he's a very good coach, so there's no doubting that it will be a tough encounter.
"No matter what happens, we'll know where we are, and that's important."
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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
