Greg McWilliams happy to experiment with World Cup the target
Despite opting for a fourth different combination in just six tests for tomorrow’s summer tour clash against Japan at Ecopa Stadium in Fukuroi City (kick-off 11am Irish time/7pm local time), head coach Greg McWilliams insists he is in no rush to nail down a regular half-back partnership for the Ireland women’s rugby team.
Although long-term injuries sustained by both Aoibheann Reilly and Kathryn Dane earlier this year has restored Ailsa Hughes to the Irish starting line-up for the first time under McWilliams’ watch, 18-year-old Tullow prodigy Dannah O’Brien is handed a debut at fly-half in the first of two encounters with the Japanese in the space of seven days.
In doing so, she will become the 10th Irish player to don the number 10 jersey since Nora Stapleton announced her retirement in the wake of the 2017 World Cup. Yet McWilliams was quick to express how important it is to explore squad depth during this international window.
“This is the perfect opportunity to be giving people an opportunity. In games like this, which are very seldom outside of the Six Nations window, this is where you’ve got to experiment. What is our target? World Cup has to be a massive goal for us, getting to WXV (a new competition which will have three tiers, offering consistent international Test-match opportunities to 16 teams to help them prepare for the 2025 World Cup)
has to be a massive goal for us, but you can’t just go rigid now and have your nine and 10,” McWilliams explained.
“We’re going to test lots of combinations. We’re not in a rush here. This is a great chance for us to test players. I’m very comfortable with another combination the next week. People are working very hard and deserve a shot. Away we go and eventually the more people you have getting an opportunity, it’s a good thing.”
In the absence of Reilly and Dane, McWilliams has selected two players on the bench who are capable of filling the scrum-half void. Nicole Cronin and Molly Scuffil-McCabe started together at out-half and full-back respectively against England in this year’s Six Nations, but McWilliams hasn’t ruled out using either player in the nine position tomorrow.
“Both cover nine. Nicole can cover 10, Molly can cover 15. We cover all those in training and their versatility is a strength. Nicole is a baller. I like her at 10 and nine. It depends on how the game goes. There’s no pressure on Dannah, Nicole can come on if needs be, but if Dannah is going well, we can bring on Nicole or Molly at nine.
“They both play slightly different ways and again that is the performance strategy. Selection comes down to the person, the player and the performance strategy.”
While O’Brien is one of four debutants amongst the backs – Méabh Deely, Natasja Behan and Aoife Dalton being the others – there is a much more settled look to the Irish scrum for tomorrow’s game.
Ulster’s Neve Jones is one of seven forwards to retain their place from the final round win over Scotland at Kingspan Stadium in the Six Nations, a campaign that saw her making the hooker position her own. She picked up her first start in a 15-12 triumph against Japan at the RDS last November and is anticipating another big challenge from the Sakura Fifteen.
“The Japanese team are strong, fast, powerful. They’re going to want to bring tempo to the game. We’ve analysed footage and worked together with the forwards and backs to see what they’re going to bring to the table,” Jones said.
“We think we’re going to top the physicality and the girls we’ve got in the backline are raring to go. We’ll feed some of the speed to them and let everyone shine through.”