Co-captain Edel McMahon has been passed fit and takes her place in the team to face Japan for Ireland's Rugby World Cup opener in Northampton on Sunday (12 noon, live on RTÉ).
The 31-year-old flanker missed both of Ireland's warm-up games at the start of August with a knee injury but returns to a starting XV that contains four changes from the team beaten by Canada two weeks ago.
It’s a big boost for Scott Bemand’s squad, who are without injured forwards Dorothy Wall, Erin King and Aoife Wafer, though Wafer may feature later in the tournament.
McMahon [known as Tricky] replaces Ivana Kiripati in the back row, with Ruth Campbell starting in the second row alongside co-captain Sam Monaghan.
"We used the two games in pre-season to get minutes into people, combinations are important to transition pre-season into the Test arena," Bemand told RTÉ Sport.
"It's great to have Tricky back. We’ve had a strong plan from the beginning. She’s been throwing herself around the training field for the last couple of weeks, I think experience is going to be a big part of this game."
Fiona Tuite moves from the second row to the flank with Grace Moore on the bench for the Franklin's Gardens clash.
"Fiona's been playing really well," added Bemand. "She brings a wealth of lineout experience. We tend to view the back five of the scrum as a back five and not just locks and back rows.
"We believe her intent around carrying and lineout prowess gives us an opportunity to start this game how we want to."
The two other changes are in the backs, with Eve Higgins starting at inside-centre ahead of Enya Breen and Amee-Leigh Costigan coming in for Anna McGann on the wing.
The front row is as expected, with props Niamh O’Dowd and Linda Djougang either side of hooker Neve Jones.
Brittany Hogan retains her place at number 8 for Bemand’s side, who are ranked fifth in the world.
Aoibheann Reilly partners Dannah O’Brien in the half-backs, while Aoife Dalton and Stacey Flood are at centre and full-back, respectively.
Béibhinn Parsons, who scored two tries against Canada, starts on the right wing.
Clíodhna Moloney-MacDonald, Ellena Perry, Sadhbh McGrath, Eimear Corri-Fallon and Moore are the forward replacements, with Emily Lane, Breen and McGann the backline options on the bench.
"Recently we've been going 6:2, by going 5:3 we get to bring Anna McGann’s pace and power off the bench to bring impact when the game needs it," said the head coach.
"We’ve got physicality, power, set-piece prowess and hopefully it leads to a strong start in a tough group game."
Ireland face the Sakura, ranked 11th in the world, in their first Pool C game with ties against Spain and champions New Zealand to follow.
Japan twice beat Spain in recent warm-up games and in 2022 defeated Ireland at home in the second game of a two-Test tour.
"They're good team," said the former England assistant. "They're disciplined, they're well organised. They've got a strong coaching group.
"We're anticipating that we'll see some stuff that we've not seen before.
"We know that we're going to have to get our best game. If we get our best game out there, the result will take care of itself."
Ireland: Stacey Flood; Béibhinn Parsons, Aoife Dalton, Eve Higgins, Amee-Leigh Costigan; Dannah O'Brien; Aoibheann Reilly, Niamh O'Dowd, Neve Jones, Linda Djougang; Ruth Campbell, Sam Monaghan (co-captain); Fiona Tuite, Edel McMahon (co-captain), Brittany Hogan.
Replacements: Clíodhna Moloney-MacDonald, Ellena Perry, Sadhbh McGrath, Eimear Corri-Fallon, Grace Moore, Emily Lane, Enya Breen, Anna McGann.
Japan: Sora Nishimura; Misaki Matsumara, Mana Furuta, Haruka Hirotsu, Komachi Imakugi; Ayasa Otsuka, Moe Tsukui; Sachiko Kato, Asuka Kuge, Wako Kitano; Yuna Sato, Otoka Yoshimura; Masami Kawamura, Iroha Nagata (capt), Seina Saito
Replacements: Kotomi Taniguchi, Manami Mine, Nijiho Nagata, Ayana Sakurai, Kyoko Hosokawa, Megumi Abe, Minori Yamamoto, Sakurako Hatada
Listen to the RTÉ Rugby podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
Watch Ireland v Japan in the Rugby World Cup on Sunday from 11.30am on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player. Follow a live blog on rte.ie/sport and the RTÉ News app. Listen to live radio commentary on 2fm
Watch the Women's Rugby World Cup with RTÉ Sport featuring 26 matches across RTÉ2, RTÉ Player and RTÉ One, including all of Ireland's group matches
