Having missed out on Ireland's famous win against New Zealand a year ago, Eimear Corri-Fallon is hoping to make up for lost time in Brighton this weekend.
The Leinster second row was laid up with injury when Ireland pulled off their incredible 29-27 win against the Black Ferns in Vancouver, but has been ever present since her return last month for Scott Bemand’s side.
That return couldn’t have been timed any better.
With Dorothy Wall injured with her own Achilles issues and Fiona Tuite deployed in the back row, Corri-Fallon has been able to supplement Sam Monaghan and Ruth Campbell in the second row, and the former sprinter has hit the ground running.
The Portlaoise native featured in both of Ireland’s warm-up games and both pool matches against Japan and Spain, with two 80-minute shifts combined with two appearances off the bench.
In the World Cup so far, her workrate has been off the chart, with her 29 attacking ruck arrivals being the highest in the Irish squad.
At the setpiece, she’s been the second lineout option for Ireland behind their primary target Tuite, and she got through a mountain of work on Sunday in her start against Spain, logging 16 tackles, among a total of 20 for her 100 minutes of rugby
Having come off the bench in the final quarter against Japan, she went the full 80 last Sunday against the Spanish in Northampton.
"Starting is definitely different to coming off the bench," she says.
"You don't have that time to see what the other teams bring into the game. And we definitely wanted to attack our fast start again, which I think we did."
Now 27-years-old, Corri-Fallon made her debut against Kazakhstan at the 2023 WXV3 in Dubai, and made her Six Nations bow a few months later off the bench against Italy.
She would have to wait 16 months for another cap though, sidelined by injury from September 2024 until she returned for the World Cup warm-up against Scotland last month.
Watching on from home as her team-mates pulled off the shock of the year against New Zealand 12 months ago was bittersweet.
"It was obviously disappointing to not be involved in it, and having been involved in WXV3 the previous year and in the Six Nations that got the girls up into WXV1, but hugely proud and so delighted to be able to support a performance like that.
"I could see things that we put in progress three years prior to that as well. So just hugely proud of the group and how much we've really grasped onto the green wave and pushing ourselves on, really wanting to put in our best performances and our best Irish performances as well."
When it comes to feeding off the energy that victory brought, the second row insists it wasn’t a 'You had to be there’ moment.
She said: "The girls have been talking about their experiences all throughout the week, and it's important for the girls that weren’t there that they could share those experiences. And that's the thing.
"We've come into this World Cup where we only had one person that had played in it [previously], so it's all about sharing those experiences with the wider group.
"I could buy into even talking about setpieces and launches that the girls would have had experience using against New Zealand.
"I'm just completely feeding off their feedback and what they felt to give me that insider information so they're not experiencing that for the first time."
When Ireland defeated New Zealand last September, there was no official attendance given for what appeared to be a sparsely filled BC Stadium, with the majority of estimates putting the crowd around 1,500 people.
By contrast, Sunday’s game at the Brighton and Hove Albion Stadium will have roughly 20 times that attendance, with the 31,800 stadium pretty much sold out.
And Corri-Fallon (above) is backing her team-mates to embrace the noise.
"It's all about not being overwhelmed by the occasion," she said.
"We've always tried to trust ourselves and back ourselves, and we've the backing of such a wide management staff as well.
"Just feeding off that confidence and knowing that the girls trusted themselves at that moment [in 2024] to see that game out, and bringing that forward: that we have earned the respect of the New Zealand team, and to back ourselves.
"We're hugely aware that it's been sold out, I think before the World Cup even kicked off. So we are very aware of the occasion, but we're hugely excited by that.
"These are days we've all trained for. So much work has gone into preparation for making the squad and this World Cup.
"We're used to taking it game by game, but now that we're here, now that we know it’s to sell out, we know so many Irish people are coming, we're just so looking forward to getting going."
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