Ireland assistant coach Niamh Briggs also made this decision following their 24-7 defeat at the hands of Italy in Parma last Saturday and spoke about finding the outside noise that is surrounding the team to be draining.

It has also been a difficult time on the pitch for Ireland with Saturday’s reversal to the Azzurre being preceded by comprehensive losses to France (53-3) and Wales (31-5).

“I’m not going to lie, it is tough mentally. You set out to do your best. You want to do your family and the country proud. We never go out there to do anything less than our best. Mentally, I think you have to have resilience if you’re going to be playing on the international stage. Some people learn that the hard way about being able to switch off from that outside noise,” Monaghan explained at an event that was held in conjunction with Guinness and their ‘Never Settle’ campaign yesterday.

“In a rugby sense, I have found the last couple of weeks tough, but I have been trying to switch off from it and put myself mentally and physically in the best place possible for Saturday. Everyone cares what people think, it’s human nature.

“You look at some of the comments online and you’re like ‘Ah!’ It does hurt because you’re putting all you have out there for 80 minutes and then you come off the pitch and see them [online comments].”

However, Monaghan also added that she is grateful to have such a strong support network around her during this time – both inside and outside of the Irish camp.

“I have to say, one of the things that has really been keeping me going is the support from my family, friends. Some of the England girls. Some of my club players [she plays in England for Gloucester-Hartpury]. The crowd that has been there. Everything is magnified in this environment, which is great, but it is that double-edged sword.

“It is good that there is so much media hype. The women’s game is kicking on, but at the minute I’m trying to worry about that afterwards and concentrate on the games ahead.”

Although results haven’t gone Ireland’s way thus far, Monaghan believes improvements have been made since that opening round defeat to Wales at Cardiff Arms Park on March 25.

“It has been hard because we have such little time together whereas other nations have had more. All of the other teams in the Six Nations have had five months together and have been able to kick on. We are improving each game.

“I would be sitting here holding my hands up if I thought we were going backwards, but from the Wales game, we are going forward. It’s about taking the small wins. Keep going forward and bring the inexperienced players up with you.”

Because of a calf injury sustained in a one-day training camp on the previous weekend, Monaghan was marked absent for Ireland’s 69-0 defeat to England at Welford Road in the same round of last year’s Championship.

While the impressive form of their upcoming opponents makes Greg McWilliams’ side clear outsiders in Cork on Saturday, Monaghan still feels there are areas where Ireland are capable of causing problems for the Red Roses.

“Against Italy, our scrum went quite well. We got that penalty try. It’s definitely kicked on from last year. A big focus for us this week is our execution and set-piece, especially our line-out. Getting after England’s breakdown, trying to slow down their ruck speed.

“If we are able to slow that down and give time for our defence to get set, and then bring line speed, we can put them under a bit more pressure,” Monaghan added.