Ireland will kick off their Women's Rugby World Cup on Sunday week.
Head coach Scott Bemand whittled down his squad yesterday after two warm-up games against Scotland and second-ranked Canada.
The world rankings show that England, Canada, New Zealand and France are out on their own, while Ireland are fifth, ahead of the rest of the Six Nations teams and Australia.
With Japan and Spain in their group, Ireland will hopefully battle with New Zealand for the top spot and a chance to avoid France in a quarter-final.
However, with the squad available to Bemand and his experienced coaching staff, they have every chance of success. The competition format has also changed, meaning two teams from each group will go through to a quarter-final, giving Ireland a great chance of reaching the knockout stages.
Ireland will unfortunately be without longer-term injuries such as Dorothy Wall and Erin King, both massive losses to the squad. The warm-ups have been good to Ireland in terms of injuries - or lack thereof - although Edel McMahon and Christy Haney had been out with shorter-term issues.
Star forward Aoife Wafer is still in uncertain territory since her knee injury during the Six Nations, but she has been included in the squad, which will hopefully bring her back into the fold before Ireland's crunch match with New Zealand in their third group game.
Ireland have talent at their disposal, particularly in an electric backline. If they manage their game correctly, there’s no shortage of finishing power.
Beibhinn Parsons (above right) lined out against Scotland, returning from her second leg break. She built on her return by scoring a brace of tries against an impressive Canadian side in Belfast.
Parsons is world-class when she’s given the chance and Ireland will be hoping to feed her speed throughout the campaign. She’s one of many talented 7s and 15s players back in the squad.
Anna McGann was lively in Ireland’s attempted comeback in the second half against Canada with two tries of her own, to give Bemand a headache on the wings. Add Amee-Leigh Costigan into the mix and you have a high level of competition and finishing power in the Irish squad.
The firepower is spread across the backline. Eve Higgins made a massive difference when introduced in the second half against Canada. She replaced Enya Breen, who is physically capable in the middle of the pitch and offers another right-footed kicking option.
Dannah O'Brien was Bemand’s choice at out-half in the two warm-up matches. Her left boot is a serious weapon for Ireland. When Ireland get their kicking tactics right, O'Brien has the distance to punish any team, and she’s strong off the tee too, which will be needed in a high-stakes tournament like this.
"Bemand has set an incredibly high standard within the group."
Ireland kicked loosely in the first half while Canada stacked the back field. Instead, they should have opted for contestable kicks to compete to win the ball back, or used their numerical advantage to run the ball back. It’s clear that there’s a tactic to utilise O’Brien’s kicking ability.
Stacey Flood’s role at full-back gives her a chance to distribute in the wider channels. Flood has been a triple threat option at inside centre in the past, with her ability to run, kick and pass. Her distribution from a wider channel will help her wingers, which it did last weekend.
Up front, Ireland aren’t short of firepower either, but they will depend on fit bodies coming through the tournament.
Sam Monaghan’s return is a huge boost. She’s a real leader for the team, as well as providing power in the engine room.
Neve Jones was co-captain last weekend while Monaghan was used from the bench. Her presence in the squad, and her competition at hooker, Cliodhna Moloney MacDonald, add a massive amount of experience and strength at the set piece.
The back five positions provide plenty of physicality, with Grace Moore and Brittany Hogan amongst the picks. Hopefully Aoife Wafer (pictured below) can add her ball-carrying ability to the mix in time, along with Ireland’s co-captain in yesterday’s announcement, Edel McMahon.
Ireland’s second half against Canada will give them some momentum going into the tournament. With 10 changes to the team that started the Scotland game, it was always going to take time to get into their flow.
Canada killed the game off early, but Ireland stayed in the fight, making a few changes and they will take a lot of positives from their performance.
It was a low-key preparation period for the Women’s World Cup, partly due to the amount of summer rugby being played. Now it’s time to get behind the women in an exciting time for Irish rugby.
Bemand has set an incredibly high standard within the group, which shone through in the WXV last year, beating the Black Ferns in a transformative victory for this squad. They’ll have nothing to fear going into the tournament.
The coaching group has a lot of experience, and Ireland have a playing squad that can go deep into the competition if they take their chances.
There’s been a massive amount of work done in Irish women’s rugby to turn things around. The World Cup is another huge opportunity for players to showcase what the team is about.
