Ireland co-captain Sam Monaghan has been passed fit for Sunday's Women's Rugby World Cup clash against New Zealand, but Aoife Wafer remains sidelined.
The lock picked up a hip injury last week, while her co-captain Edel McMahon also returns among six changes from the win against Spain.
Back row Wafer has missed Ireland’s opening wins against Japan and Spain due to knee surgery in the summer, and while she has returned to training this week, the 22-year-old won’t be risked for the pool decider in Brighton.
Ireland head coach Scott Bemand said that he was "really confident" the Six Nations player of the tournament will be cleared to return for next week’s quarter-final, suggesting she might have played this weekend if the game had been a must-win.
Having rotated his side for that win against Spain, Bemand has restored Neve Jones, Ruth Campbell, McMahon, Brittany Hogan, Aoibheann Reilly and Béibhinn Parsons (below) to his starting side.
However, the head coach has also rewarded two of last week’s best performers, with Ellena Perry and Grace Moore retaining their respective places in the starting team.
Perry, last week’s player of the match, is chosen ahead of Niamh O’Dowd at loosehead, while Jones comes back in at hooker for Clíodhna Moloney-MacDonald. Linda Djougang continues at tighthead.
Monaghan has shaken off her hip issue and retains her spot in the second row, while Campbell swaps back in for Eimear Corri-Fallon, who is on the bench.
The big call in the back row sees Fiona Tuite miss out.
The versatile forward had been Ireland’s main lineout caller in the opening two games, but hasn’t been included in the matchday 23, with Hogan starting at number 8, Moore shifting to blindside flanker, and McMahon returning on the openside, with Claire Boles taking the bench spot.
The scrum-half rotation continues, with Aoibheann Reilly replacing Molly Scuffil-McCabe, with Emily Lane on the bench, while Dannah O’Brien (below) goes again at out-half as expected.
Eve Higgins and Aoife Dalton start in the centre together for the third game in a row, with Stacey Flood also continuing at full-back.
Flood could also be called upon to cover at out-half as neither Enya Breen nor Nicole Fowley among the replacements.
Parsons returns on the right wing with Anna McGann moving to the bench, while Amee-Leigh Costigan starts on the left.
The starting side shows eight changes from the XV that began Ireland’s 29-27 win against the Black Ferns in WXV last year.
New Zealand boss Allan Bunting, meanwhile, has made two personnel changes and three positional switches to his starting XV.
Liana Mikaele-Tu'u comes in at number 8 with Kennedy Tukuafu dropping to the bench.
Layla Sae starts at 6, while Jorja Miller is named at openside.
Player of the match against Japan Braxton Sorensen-McGee moves from full-back to right wing with Renee Holmes returning to the team.
Only six of the starting XV, Maiakawanakaulani Roos, Sae, Mikaele-Tu'u, Ruahei Demant, Sylvia Brunt and Holmes, began last year's loss to Ireland.
Ireland: Stacey Flood; Béibhinn Parsons, Aoife Dalton, Eve Higgins, Amee-Leigh Murphy Crowe; Dannah O’Brien, Aoibheann Reilly; Ellena Perry, Neve Jones, Linda Djougang; Ruth Campbell, Sam Monaghan (co-capt); Grace Moore, Edel McMahon (co-capt), Brittany Hogan.
Replacements: Clíodhna Moloney-MacDonald, Niamh O’Dowd, Sadhbh McGrath, Eimear Corr-Fallon, Claire Boles, Emily Lane, Nancy McGillivray, Anna McGann.
New Zealand: Renee Holmes; Braxton Sorensen-McGee, Stacey Waaka, Logo-I-Pulotu Lemapu-Atai'i Sylvia Brunt, Portia Woodman-Wickliffe; Ruahei Demant (co-capt), Risaleaana Pouri-Lane; Chryss Viliko, Georgia Ponsonby, Tanya Kalounivale; Maiakawanakaulani Roos, Alana Bremner; Layla Sae, Jorja Miller, Liana Mikaele-Tu’u.
Replacements: Vici-Rose Green, Kate Henwood, Amy Rule, Laura Bayfield, Kennedy Tukuafu (co-capt), Maia Joseph, Theresa Setefano, Ayesha Leti-I’iga.
Listen to the RTÉ Rugby podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
Watch Ireland v New Zealand in the Women's Rugby World Cup on Sunday from 2pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player. Follow a live blog on rte.ie/sport and the RTÉ News app. Listen to live radio commentary on RTÉ Radio 1
