Four debutants included in Ireland XV for opening test in Japan
She may be just 18 years of age, but Ireland women’s head coach Greg McWilliams said he had absolutely no qualms about handing Tullow’s Dannah O’Brien her debut at out-half in Saturday’s international test against Japan at Ecopa Stadium in Fukuroi City (kick-off 7pm local time/11am Irish time).
For the first of two encounters on an historic summer tour (they will renew acquaintances in Tokyo on Saturday week), O’Brien is amongst four newcomers in McWilliams’ starting line-up. Tullamore centre Aoife Dalton will make her own Irish bow along with Blackrock College duo Méabh Deely and Natasja Behan, while Taryn Schultzer and Leah Tarpey are also expected to pick up their first caps off the bench.
McWilliams did have the option of selecting either Nicole Cronin (who is held in reserve) or Enya Breen (Dalton’s partner in midfield) in the number 10 jersey, but believes O’Brien and the remainder of his starting debutants have more than earned their chance to impress.
“As I said to her, there’s actually no pressure on her. Everything from here on in is a bonus. We have an 18-year-old who has got a poise that I can’t explain. I’ve been very lucky to coach at St Michael’s for a long period of time. Coach the Leinster U19s for a number of years, coach Irish squads. You can just tell, people just have ‘it’,” McWilliams explained in a remote press conference from Japan.
“She has something that I think is very special. Same with Aoife Dalton, Méabh Deely is settling in lovely at full-back and Tash Behan has worked so hard since the Six Nations. We had to have a pretty honest conversation post-Six Nations as to the direction that I felt that she needed to go in.
“She took on the words and she came back fitter, stronger. She had a notebook in hand and she’d written out loads of notes. She looked at Huddle for hours. There’s a desire there with Tash and she deserved this more than anybody. I’m just so excited to see how they cope.”
Having also made her international debut at 18 against France back in February 2015 – a game best remembered for an extended floodlight failure in Ashbourne – Limerick native Doyle has now come full circle and finds herself as one of the senior members of the current set-up.
She echoed McWilliams’ sentiments in regards to O’Brien (who is no relation of fellow Tullow native and former Ireland back-row Sean O’Brien) and is excited to see what she can bring to the table this weekend.
“You talk about people who have raw talent and it’s just something you can see right off the bat from her. Obviously when you come into a squad first and you’re new, you have to get used to systems. You have to get used to calls, but in terms of skill set, she didn’t have to learn anything,” Doyle said.
“Her kicking from hand, her passing skills, they’re so crisp for someone so young. It’s easy to help a player like that when they have raw talent. You can see there is something special in her. Obviously out-half is such a massive position on the pitch. She’s well able to take her opportunity this weekend.”
M Deely, N Behan, A Dalton, E Breen, A Doyle, D O’Brien, A Hughes; L Djougang, N Jones, K O’Dwyer, N Fryday, S Monaghan, D Wall, E McMahon, H O’Connor.
E Hooban, C Pearse, C Haney, T Schultzer, G Moore, N Cronin, L Tarpey, M Scuffil-McCabe.