Ireland women's coach Scott Bemand says the upcoming WXV3 campaign will be an opportunity to "get the plane off the runway" as they go in search of qualification for the next Rugby World Cup in 2025.
The Irish team take on Kazakhstan on Friday (4.30pm Irish time) in the first of their three games at the inaugural tournament in Dubai this month.
It will be also be a first game in change for new head coach Bemand, who replaced Greg McWilliams after the Six Nations, in which Ireland finished bottom of the table after five defeats from five.
Having missed out on qualification for the last World Cup which was held in 2022 in New Zealand, Bemand has stated his main target in the short term is ensuring Ireland are at the next renewal in England in 2025.
A third place finish in the Six Nations next year will guarantee that, and while they could also qualify via the WXV over the next two years, achieving that goal at the earliest opportunity is their target.
"Essentially, the controllable we have is finishing third in the Six Nations," he said.
"This tournament, obviously our goal is to get out of WXV3 and progress forward to WXV2. That itself doesn't automatically qualify you. It could be part of the qualification pathway, but the first controllable is to finish third in the Six Nations.
"We have a great opportunity in the Six Nations in 2024, there are a couple of away games to navigate in France and England but we have the remaining fixtures in Ireland."
And the former England assistant (above) believes their games against Kazakhstan, Colombia and Spain in the next fortnight will be ideal preparation in getting their plans off the ground.
"It’s the first thing we can go for. We have this competition in which we’re going to embed a training and playing identity that suits us.
"We’ll get the plane off the runway and we’ll start worrying about how fast and what direction we’re flying."
Ireland start in the third and bottom tier of the new international competition after a disastrous spell which has seen them go more than a year without winning a game, dating back to their first Test win away to Japan in August 2022.
And with such a young, inexperienced side, Bemand believes it's crucial they snap out of their losing streak, starting with a Kazakhstan side that are a fast-developing team in the women's game.
"There'll be an enormous amount we don’t know [about them] and will have to discover in-game.
"We have some games [footage] we can rely on, but this first game in a new competition with a new coaching group, with a new-ish team, I think most of this focus is going to be on ourselves to be honest.
"I think in any elite environment, results can potentially become habitual. From what I've seen in camp, we've spent some time together before coming out to Dubai, and a key thing we’re going after is our training identity.
"What I’m seeing on the pitch is that the girls are becoming more confident. It’ll be nice to get some games in, we’re really looking forward to the next three games to continue to build confidence in the Test environment. A good game against Kazakhstan’s the ideal place to start that."
Ireland have been boosted with the return of Beibhinn Parsons and Eve Higgins to the starting line-up, with the Sevens pair returning to the XV's side for the first time since April 2022.
Bemand has also included three uncapped players on the bench, with 18-year-old hooker Sarah Delaney (below), 21-year-old prop Megan Collis and 25-year-old lock Eimear Corri all set for their debuts.
"There's some fantastic potential that we get an opportunity to nurture and develop. High level, elite sport, you always want a competition for places, and you want to see if you can push on and take the level up.
"Sarah [Delaney] is very young, such a wise head on young shoulders. She’s got an enormous amount of potential, playing at hooker.
"Eimear [Corri] is a former sprinter, former winger, so exciting to see her. The first game I saw her, I turned up and saw her finish a try from 45 metres. We’re a month in and a few more training experiences, it definitely wasn't an accident so there's little bit of excitement that can be generated from what she can do in space.
"Megan [Colllis] has been part of a centralised programme, and has been biding her time and has massively earned the opportunity to come in and show us what she can do.
"We’ve got a great opportunity to blood them in and to see what sort of levels they can get to," he added.
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