When Scott Bemand's appointment as new Ireland women's head coach was confirmed this summer, one of his first duties would have been to find a new captain.
Nichola Fryday's retirement from Test rugby came just over 18 months on from the previous skipper Ciara Griffin doing the same, with the turnover of experienced talent proving just how stressful life had been as the face of the women's game.
As well as leading the team on the pitch, Griffin and Fryday also had to deal with the many off-field headlines that dogged the women's game in this country.
Here's hoping their successors will be afforded the opportunity to focus their efforts solely on rugby.
After a disastrous Six Nations campaign in 2023, Ireland will begin to pick up the pieces tomorrow when they play their first game under their new head coach Bemand.
Their WXV3 opener against Kazakhstan in Dubai may fly under the radar given the World Cup quarter-final against New Zealand for the men's team on Saturday, but it's no less important for this side to break their losing streak.
Prior to the squad departing for their camp in Dubai, the new boss picked his captains: flanker Edel McMahon and second-row Sam Monaghan will share the duties for this campaign, although Bemand has hinted he may appoint one permanent skipper down the line as he gets to know his squad.
For now, the division of labour suits the co-captains, both of whom play their club rugby in the Premiership; McMahon with Exeter and Monaghan with Gloucester-Hartpury, while they were previously team-mates at Wasps.
And for McMahon, sharing that responsibility has been a welcome development.
"So far it's actually not been too bad. Me and Sam have a good relationship before this anyway, we were team-mates in Wasps and genuinely good friends as well," McMahon said.
"When it was announced it would be a co-captaincy, I had a bit of a sigh of relief that I got to do it with Sam. We work well together, we have a good, honest relationship so that puts the two of us at ease and we can bounce off each other in sessions.
"In fairness, we have a player-performance group with a lot of other girls who are leaders, so it’s not felt like we had to take the role on by ourselves."
The 29-year-old says the new joint-captains have even been perfecting the psychology that comes with the role.
"I think it depends, sometimes maybe I'm bad cop. The role varies," she laughs.
"Sometimes off-pitch Sam might be bad cop and I’ll be good cop, and on-pitch vice versa!"
McMahon, whose nickname 'Tricky' has stuck to her ever since her Run-DMC-inspired initiation song for Galwegians, has also had to figure out her new role in the team under new management, as they get used to Bemand's style of coaching.
And after joking that the squad have warmed to him 'even though he's English', she says they're all eager to tap into his experience working in a Red Roses set-up where winning was expected and not hoped for.
"I think the girls have respected his rugby CV and what he's done and the fact that he’s worked with women’s rugby, and he’s gelled very well with the squad.
"Straight away there was a good buy-in with the way he wants us to play the game and the general culture of the group. It’s been a good change," she added.
With the WXV third tier taking place in Dubai, it's going to provide for some testing conditions, with temperatures this week hitting 40C at times.
But with a 7.30pm local time kick-off (4.30pm Irish time), the captain is confident they'll be able to avoid the worst of the heat, even if it's something they're prepared for.
"We've had four weeks prep now at this stage, with heated climatisation techniques, getting two or three shots of that heat a week, we’ve been doing bike sessions and then they’re making us do these challenging memory games afterwards to see how we’re struggling with the stress of heat.
"As a group we’ve done well, and in fairness every other team is out here experiencing the same challenges.
"It’s one thing to note, we’re training in the peak of the heat, and it’s a bit of a relief to know our matches are on in the evening time, so it’s not going to be as bad as we’ve been experiencing.
"I think everyone has embraced the environment. It's been challenging for sure, but the whole experience has brought the team closer together, and people are genuinely having a bit of craic and enjoying the challenge."
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