There's no position in the Ireland women’s team as hotly contested right now as scrum-half.
Over the last 18 months, Scott Bemand has narrowed his selections down bit by bit to the point where there is no debate around his first choice in several positions.
Niamh O’Dowd, Neve Jones and Linda Djougang are the locked-in front row for big games. Ruth Campbell, Sam Monaghan, Aoife Wafer, Dannah O’Brien, Aoife Dalton, Amee-Leigh Costigan and Stacey Flood also appear to be guaranteed their shirts if fit.
At scrum-half, Aoibheann Reilly, Emily Lane and Molly Scuffil-McCabe have been rotating in and out. The margin between starting and missing out on the matchday 23 has been razor thin.
Lane and Scuffil-McCabe shared the jersey during WXV1 campaign in Canada last year while Reilly was still on her way back from an ACL injury, with Scuffil-McCabe starting the win against New Zealand, before Lane got the nod in the games against Canada and USA.
In the Six Nations, it looked as though Lane was top of the scrum-half rotation when she started the games against France and England, with Reilly (above) impressing in her chance in the 9 jersey away to Italy.
Bemand continued to rotate, with Scuffil-McCabe brought into the starting side for the final two Six Nations outings, and she kept her place for the first World Cup warm-up against Scotland.
For the visit of Canada, Reilly came back in, and she impressed again in Ireland's Pool C opener against Japan last week.
Just as it seemed the 24-year-old had taken the jersey for herself, it now looks like another rotation is on the cards for Spain on Sunday.
"That's what you want, you want competition in your squad," says Reilly, who started last week's win against the Sakura XV.
"We always knew that the World Cup was coming up and it's only fair that everyone gets a chance and play with different combinations and see what works best for the team.
"And we're blessed that we have depth there, because someone's game style might suit an opposition better than the other."
A tally of the numbers sums up how unpredictable Bemand’s thinking has been around scrum-half. In the last 11 games, Lane is the only player to have featured in every game, but only four of those have been starts, and she hasn’t started since Round 3 of the Six Nations.
Scuffil-McCabe (above) has played six times, with four of those from the start, while Reilly has started three of her five appearances.
"We have depth there now, whereas maybe we didn't have it as much before," said Reilly.
"And you're starting to see that not just at scrum-half, but other positions now, where other girls can put their hand up every week and there's constant competition there which is only driving us on as a squad."
With Bemand and assistant coach Larissa Muldoon both former scrum-halves, Reilly says there is "constant feedback" to the trio of 9s.
"It's definitely evolved me as a player and helped me see the game differently," she adds.
"They both come and give different advice about different things but it's great to have the both of them, and they're all aligned with our style of play, which is great.
"All of us are very different and we have different elements to our game so it's just really what suits the team at the weekend. We all compete really well together, so it's great that we're all there, pushing each other on.
"I like playing with a fast-tempo game, lots of running lines. That’s probably the style I like most."
Getting to a World Cup has been a milestone achievement for the Blackrock and Connacht scrum-half, given she has come back from two ACL injuries in recent seasons.
Representing Ballinasloe is also a driving factor. One of three Ballinasloe RFC products in this Irish squad, Reilly has been playing with Béibhinn Parsons and Meabh Deely since she was a child.
"It's unreal. It's hard to explain because it's all we've ever known," she said.
"We were always on the same teams together but it's so cool to see how the town has gotten behind us.
"There’s huge posters up around Ballinasloe of the three of us which is surreal, but, yeah, it's really special.
"My family was over last weekend. I think they're going to all the games to support the girls and my brother came over from New York.
"And it's actually his first time seeing me live so he's over for the month, which is great.
"And then my other brother [Colm], he plays with Connacht so he's hoping to come for the New Zealand games.
"He can't quite get it off training but it's great to have the support over. And there's so many Irish in the crowd last weekend, which was class."
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