Scott Bemand believes Ireland are ready to deliver a performance that "gets people talking", as they look to finish their Guinness Women's Six Nations campaign with two home wins.
After last week’s break, Ireland return to action against Wales at Affidea Stadium in Belfast on Saturday evening (live on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player), before hosting Scotland at Aviva Stadium in their final game, where ticket sales have now reached 26,000.
While Ireland have lost two of their opening three matches, those defeats both came away from home to the championship’s big-hitters, England and France, with a victory against Wales in between.
And despite so much physical and mental energy spent in the first block of three games, the Ireland head coach insists he is "really, really confident" his side can kick on and finish their championship on a high.
"The next two games in Ireland are massive for us," the head coach said, after naming his team for Saturday's game in Belfast.
"So for me, these next two games, starting with Wales, are big moments for us.
"Not just to beat Wales in Ireland - we want to win our three home games, of course we do – but to actually to put a performance out there, a performance that we can go, 'yeah, actually we're moving', and a performance that people can get on the back of."
With that in mind, the former England assistant believes the break week came at just the right time for his group.
"We've used the fallow week in, I think, the perfect manner.
"We took a few days to recover. We've been able to have a couple of days training and the girls have bounced back and we can see that in some of the performance data in terms of how quick people are moving.
"So we know there's been a great bounce-back. The energy is back around the group and the girls are confident in what they're trying to achieve.
"A home Test match against Wales, they're big, aren't they? And we want to get that performance out there that really gets people talking about it."
Bemand confirmed this afternoon that scrum-half Aoibheann Reilly will miss the remainder of the championship after suffering a recurrence of a leg injury which kept her out for the opening three rounds.
Elsewhere, the head coach has made just one change to his starting team, as Eve Higgins returns to the 12 shirt in place of Nancy McGillivray, who drops out of the matchday 23, as does Anna McGann.
Versatile Trailfinders back Niamh Gallagher (below) comes in as the outside back replacement, with Bemand opting for a 6:2 split on the bench to combat what he believes will be a forward-oriented Welsh gameplan.
"Wales have scored, I think seven of their eight tries through their driving maul. So we know there's going to be a battle, a pretty feisty battle up front with the pack.
"We've been developing our depth and capability. And what we always do is, we pick a 6:3 and then as coaches, we choose what the game needs, where we think the game will go.
"And this week it's a 6:2 in favour of the forwards. So we think we've got the coverage within the backs and it gives us an extra bit of grunt up front."
Along with scrum-half Katie Whelan, Gallagher will cover the backline off the bench, and Bemand believes the 20-year-old is ready to make the step up.
"Niamh [Gallagher] came in, we had a calibration camp in January. She'd been part of the, part of the 20s, 21s. She played played against Italy for the 21s, when we played them [in Galway].
"And to be honest, she's been training the house down. So we've known about her for a good while. She's been a regular addition for Ealing.
"She's got a really rounded skillset, like she can kick the ball a mile. I was saying to a couple of the media personnel over in France, she was goal kicking from the halfway line. So we don't see that very often in the women's space.
"So she's got a load of capability. And what we we've been looking to do is give her a chance to show it on the international stage. And she's more than earned the crack," he added.
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Watch Ireland v Wales in the Guinness Women's Six Nations on Saturday from 6pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player. Follow our live blog on RTÉ.ie/sport and RTÉ News app and listen to Saturday Sport on RTÉ Radio 1
