After clocking an impressive 275 appearances for London Irish over a 15-year spell, Danaher subsequently served as a coach at the club from 2016 to 2023 – working alongside former Munster and Ireland head coach Declan Kidney for much of that period.

However, last summer saw The Exiles being placed into administration and having known Danaher for quite some time, Bemand jumped at the opportunity to get him on board as Ireland women’s defence coach.

While he wasn’t involved when Ireland secured the inaugural WXV 3 crown in Dubai last October, he has made a strong impression since joining the fold at the beginning of 2024.

“I’ve known Dec a good while. When you’re doing your coaching badges and coming through, Dec was on my Level 4. I would have played against him a good few times, a gnarly back-row! Just the kind of person that was ideal to bring in,” Bemand remarked at a press conference held in Abbotstown yesterday.

“With the London Irish situation, which is sad for all involved, I picked up the phone and reached out to him and said ‘look, would you ever be interested?’

“To be fair, he is incredibly receptive to it and wants to challenge himself. Wants to come and taste what coaching in an international environment looks like. He has been brilliant. From my perspective, he has been absolutely outstanding.”

After not being involved in the 2023 edition of the tournament – when Bemand’s predecessor Greg McWilliams was at the helm – due to their commitments to the Ireland 7s, Eve Higgins, Beibhinn Parsons and Aoibheann Reilly were all part of the 15s set-up for last year’s aforementioned WXV success.

Higgins and Parsons made their presence felt in the latter tournament’s opener against Kazakhstan, registering four tries apiece as Ireland cruised to a record-breaking 109-0 victory.

Parsons also grabbed a brace of tries in their second round win over Colombia, before being joined on the pitch by both Higgins and Reilly as Ireland sealed the WXV 3 trophy with a narrow triumph against Spain on October 28.

This triumvirate are also part of Bemand’s plans for this year’s Six Nations, while another pair of Ireland 7s stars – Claire Boles and Katie Heffernan – were also named in his 35-strong player pool for the Championship when it was unveiled last month.

Given Ireland are targeting a top-three finish in the 2024 Six Nations – which, by extension, would guarantee them a spot at next year’s Rugby World Cup finals in England – it is a massive boost to Bemand and his coaching staff to have this quintet at his disposal.

The former England women’s lead coach confirmed they are available for selection this weekend and with a strong line of communication existing between himself and his 7s counterpart Allan Temple-Jones, he believes the IRFU’s two women’s rugby programmes can continue to compliment each other in the weeks, months and years to come.

“We’ve got a great working relationship with Allan Temple-Jones in the 7s programme. We’ll get some support from the 7s and we will offer some support back. It will be a two-way relationship and will be ongoing from here,” Bemand added.