Ireland head coach Scott Bemand believes his side will be "energised" by the occasion of Saturday's Guinness Women’s Six Nations opener in front of a record crowd in London (2.25pm).
Just under seven months on from their World Cup exit, Ireland are back in England to face the Red Roses in front of a near sell-out crowd at Allianz Stadium, Twickenham.
With more than 75,000 tickets sold at the time of writing, Saturday’s attendance will smash the previous record for a Women’s Six Nations game, when just under 60,000 supporters watched England’s Grand Slam decider against France in 2023.
Two years ago, there was also a bumper crowd at the home of English rugby for Ireland’s visit, with 48,000 in attendance for England’s 88-10 win.
Twelve of the Irish squad from that afternoon are part of Saturday's matchday 23, but Bemand insists his squad have grown a considerable amount since 2024.
"It's amazing. It's why we do this," he told RTÉ Sport.
"We've grown as a team and gained confidence"
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Ireland's Eve Higgins looks ahead to their Women's Six Nations opener at Twickenham on Saturday pic.twitter.com/tYJK7cIfWp
"A couple of years ago - people have asked me about the last time an Ireland women's side went to Twickenham - it was a different story. That group was young with less experience.
"Now you've got a group that's going to get energised by a crowd, by an occasion. These are the occasions that we want to be part of.
"We want people to see that we can go to England and fire shots and actually put a performance out there.
"If we get the performance right, the result will take care of itself. But we want people to get behind it. This is a great time to be involved in these spaces."
Bemand's team for Saturday afternoon shows six changes from the side that started the World Cup quarter-final defeat to France.
Captain Erin King and second row Dorothy Wall both come in as expected after missing the tournament due to injury, while Ellena Perry, Clíodhna Moloney-MacDonald, Emily Lane and Vicky Elmes Kinlan also start, with Sam Monaghan (below) and Aoibheann Reilly the notable injury absentees this week.
"Both were named in the 36 [original squad] and actually both were on the cusp of being ready and available," said Bemand.
"So we've had to just play that a little bit by ear.
"Sam's got something minor, I'm hoping next week she'll be back. Aoibheann picked up a bump in the Celtic Challenge. We're hopeful, she's back on pitch and putting her hand up for selection against Italy. Both brilliant players.
"But in their absence, which unfortunately happens in rugby, if somebody gets a bump, it creates an opportunity for somebody else.
"Emily Lane has been running around like a house on fire in terms of the energy that she's bringing. So when those girls come back, they'll add to a competitive group.
"But girls that have got the opportunity to step into the space created or afforded by somebody having a bump or a bruise have been going unbelievably in training."
Moloney-MacDonald earns a 50th cap, with the hooker becoming just the 16th women to hit a half-century of caps for Ireland.
It’s a long overdue 50th cap for the Galway woman (below), who spent more than two years in Test rugby exile after her public criticism of the IRFU in 2021, before being recalled by Bemand in 2024.
"What's in the past is in the past," the Ireland coach added.
"What we do know is since she's been back in, she's got her head down. Across the World Cup, it was probably more of a bench-and-on piece. She's earned the right to turn up to a game on Saturday to start.
"In terms of her character and what she brings, she's a combative player. She's a great scrummager. Her physicality will shine through. What a great opportunity for her to run out in what's going to be a great occasion with a big crowd."
The former England assistant has changed up his usual starting front row, with Moloney-MacDonald and Perry coming in to replace Neve Jones and Niamh O’Dowd, who are both on the bench.
On paper, it appears to be a concentrated effort to give the scrum a stable platform early on, after Ireland gave up six penalties to the English set-piece in Cork last year.
But Bemand insists the Irish scrummaging unit have taken major strides since the Musgrave Park meeting last April, regardless of the personnel involved.
"The work that's gone on in the background with the scrum has been exceptional," he said.
"Denis Fogarty [scrum coach] spoke yesterday and he's not really one for blowing his own trumpet, so I'll do it for him. The work that he's been doing over the last couple of years, from a year ago, we're chalk and cheese with our scrummaging capability.
"First thing is we want to get into the game and we want to get into the game on our terms.
"Ell [Perry] and Cli [Moloney-MacDonald], that's a good experienced scrummaging unit, so we know that we're going to be able to handle what the scrum looks like. I'm pretty hopeful we're going to be able to give out and perhaps even get some scrum dominance in there.
"And then across an 80-90 minute performance, you need to add to the game, so you bring somebody like a Neve Jones and Noddy [Niamh O’Dowd]; when you bring them on, you're able to elevate the energy. And that's a really big part for us to play.
"And obviously, we've got a new cap in there as well in Eilís Cahill, not a lot of people will know much about her. She's going to be a really special player over the next four years for us as we go into a World Cup cycle."
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