Greg McWilliams admits that dealing with all the negativity surrounding his young Ireland team is "tough".
Their return to Parma, scene of the World Cup-qualifying heartbreak in 2021, to face Italy in the TikTok Women's Six Nations on Saturday has been overshadowed by another controversy, this time in the form of a stinging article in the Telegraph, which criticised the IRFU for its attitude towards the women’s game.
An anonymous player, recently and possibly still in the squad, cited examples such as problems sourcing protein supplements prior to a tour, finding out about being dropped by email, failure to consult about the switch from white to blue shorts and an unwillingness to explore the option of hybrid contracts.
The IRFU disputed the article's claims.
But it comes as the union tries to move on from the fallout of the failure to qualify for the World Cup, which led indirectly to two reviews into the women’s game.
The team lost a number of senior players to retirement, while the sevens contingent have been unavailable in this year’s Six Nations as Ireland fell to heavy losses to Wales and France.
"I want to be honest with you all. It is tough," McWilliams told reporters when asked about all of the off-field distractions.
"That's part of our learning because they're young athletes who are learning their ways in the public eye about what is acceptable and what is the manner of a professional athlete who is going to get to the point of being really competitive. It's a big learning for us.
"So it's something we're aware of and the players are aware of and we're working hard to make sure that, again, all you can concentrate on is what you do next.
"For these players, even looking back to when they were in Parma and failed to qualify for the World Cup, if ex-players are talking about that still and [World Cup] 2017 in Belfast, well there's nothing we can do to stop them doing that.
"That's external noise. We control our inner circle of influence and it's not me being corny but that's where my heart is. I talk about this often - I will always be true to myself and I'll say what I believe is right and I'll say the truth.
"Without getting too corny, I'm kinda like their dad and they're my daughters"
"We have a plan in place to play against Italy. This is a massive challenge for us both in terms of how we prep mentally, how we can get up for the game, and how we cannot allow articles by people who are influencers in Irish rugby come out and talk about historical information.
"That's up to them but we're concentrating on developing rugby, we're not concentrating on suppressing it.
"I'd question the timing of the article. I'd question the fact that it's coming out now two days before we play a game when it could have come out in December or it could have come out last summer. So I'm not quite sure why it was done the way it was done.
"Again, education for the players is to understand that there are things you do and things you don't do. Our plan is as is. We're staying very focused on that.
"Positive momentum is really powerful in sport. You look at the likes of the Leinster men's team or Ireland men's team, they have positive momentum.
"Negative momentum is a tough one. It's tough to turn that ship around and the best way to approach that is that every day you come into work, you're preparing yourself to get better.
"What happened in 2017 and 2021, for me, is irrelevant, it's before my time.
"It's why this job was so appealing to me, to be involved with a group who are going to turn the ship around. That, for me, is a much greater challenge and a much more enjoyable one coming through the tough times than jumping into a team where things are going great, just looking around at the odd shape and system.
"There's no doubt our backs are to the wall but we've a process we're really happy about. Our inner circle of control is one I'm really proud of. I'm proud of [coaches] John McKee and Denis Fogarty and Niamh Briggs for how they're going about their business and how they treat players.
"Players come in here and we treat them with the utmost respect. Without getting too corny, I'm kinda like their dad and they're my daughters.
"You are for them and you want them to do well. You know, there's going to be ups and downs. If you just keep chipping away and you stay consistent and stay consistent with your messaging, it's going to turn around. We hope to see an improvement this Saturday and it's something we're really excited about."
One of the complaints from the unnamed player centred around the manner of players finding out they had been dropped.
"Players don't like when they're not selected and as a coach, my job is to pick who I believe are the best players right now to represent Ireland," he added.
"If players aren't happy they weren't selected, well I can't do anything about that."
On the issue of consultation regarding the switch to blue shorts to alleviate period concerns, something which the unnamed player said some squad members found out about on social media, McWilliams was asked how much he knew about the discussions.
"No. Again, that's something we'll get better at," he said.
"We have a leadership meeting every couple of days to make sure we're giving our players the opportunity to voice their concerns, because at the end of the day it's their environment and we're there to guide it.
"It's not unusual for a management to not be consulted about those things, I don't see that as a big thing.
"I'm more concerned about our players' skill level improving, that their ability to be repeatable; to go for long distance with ball in play, to understand their role, they're the things that are important to me.
"It's one of those things, it's like 'let's own it'. 'Let's be better at that, consult our players more'.
"If that's something the players aren't happy about, we'll talk about it on Monday in our review.
"Whether you're wearing different coloured shorts or... I'm just concerned about performance and getting players to own that."
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