Robyn O'Connor will make her Ireland debut in Saturday’s Guinness Women’s Six Nations meeting with Italy in Galway, as Scott Bemand makes three changes from his side that were beaten by England last week.
Wexford native O’Connor, who has previously played Sevens for Ireland, comes in on the left wing to replace Vicky Elmes Kinlan, while Anna McGann, who scored hat-trick in this fixture last year, must contend with a place on the bench.
"Robyn's been training fantastically, been playing consistently well, always seems to find a way to the try line in the Celtic Challenge," Bemand said this morning.
"A slightly different player with her sidestepping. And having the ability to step, beat people inside, challenge defences on the edges is going to be a big part for us. So, she fully earns her opportunity."
The 20-year-old scored five tries for the Wolfhounds in their Celtic Challenge winning campaign earlier this year, and Bemand believes it's important to expand his pool of players as they look to build towards the next World Cup in Australia in 2029.
"We've actually got a lot of good players that we want to get some time into, and it's kind of a natural fit, isn't it? Post a World Cup, the start of the next squad cycle, you want to see what people can do on the international scene," the Ireland head coach (below) added.
"She [O'Connor] is a really tough player. She's got physicality, change of direction.
"She's a great, great stepper. And in the women's game, that's perhaps not as prevalent as in the guys. But she's got a great change of direction and that creates attacking moments and opportunities for us either to line-break or get some momentum.
"She has a way to the try line and she's an excellent fielder of a rugby ball. So she's played quite a bit of full-back over her formative years. So anything going up in the air, we know she's incredibly competent and confident under.
"And the Italians bring with them a pretty strong box-kicking game. So again, a slightly different challenge. She's got aerial prowess and she has the ability to sort of dominate that space."
Bemand has made a couple of other big calls in his starting side, with Eve Higgins dropping to the bench in place of Nancy McGillivray, who impressed as a replacement at Twickenham last week.
And there is just one change to the pack from last week as Ruth Campbell comes in to partner Fiona Tuite, with Dorothy Wall on the bench.
Sam Monaghan (below) also makes a welcome return from injury. The former co-captain missed the opening round in London due to a knock, but takes the place of Grace Moore among the replacements.
Clíodhna Moloney packs down at hooker once again, in an unchanged front row alongside Ellena Perry and Linda Djougang.
Campbell starts alongside Tuite at lock, with an unchanged back row seeing captain Erin King pack down alongside Brittany Hogan and Aoife Wafer.
Emily Lane continues at scrum-half, with Saturday’s game coming too soon for the injured Aoibheann Reilly, and Dannah O’Brien is at out-half.
McGillivray slots into the 13 jersey alongside Aoife Dalton, with Stacey Flood, Beibhinn Parsons and O’Connor completing the side.
Ireland: Stacey Flood; Beibhinn Parsons, Nancy McGillivray, Robyn O'Connor; Dannah O’Brien, Emily Lane; Ellena Perry, Clíodhna Moloney-MacDonald; Ruth Campbell, Fiona Tuite; Brittany Hogan, Erin King, Aoife Wafer.
Replacements: Niamh O’Dowd, Neve Jones, Sadhbh McGrath, Sam Monaghan, Dorothy Wall, Katie Whelan, Eve Higgins, Anna McGann
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Follow our live blog on Ireland v Italy in the Women's Six Nations on Saturday from 5.40pm, and listen to live commentary on Saturday Sport on RTÉ Radio 1
