Ireland women will be a marked team in the Six Nations championship, according to manager Tom Tierney.
The defending champions begin their campaign against Wales in Donnybrook on Saturday at 1pm (live on RTE.ie/sport).
Along the way to victory last year, Ireland recorded a 20-0 win over the Welsh in St Helen’s.
“They are going to be stronger and they are going to be earmarking us as holders to try and knock us off the block straight away,” Tierney told RTÉ Sport.
“We’re under no illusions, the Welsh team are going to be very, very strong this year.
“They have a combination of 7s players and 15s because of the Great Britain situation for the Olympics.”
The sides met last month in a warm-up game but Tierney admits Ireland didn’t show their full hand during the 15-5 loss in South Wales.
He said: “We tried to be clever without being too clever. We weren’t showing them everything that we hope to do in Donnybrook.
“At the same time it was critical that girls who hadn’t played an international since November got a run-out in the jersey so it was a balancing act.”
Follow Ireland v Wales live on from 2pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Radio 1 and via the live blog on RTÉ News Now and RTÉ.ie.
