They may have been part of a different set-up within the union in more recent times, but Ireland women’s head coach Scott Bemand isn’t anticipating any teething problems for his 7s cohort on their return to the 15-a-side game this weekend.

After featuring for their country at the Olympic Games in Paris this summer, Vicky Elmes Kinlan and Amee-Leigh Murphy Crowe have been named on the wings for Ireland’s test encounter against Australia at Kingspan Stadium in Belfast tomorrow afternoon (kick-off 2.30pm). Whereas Elmes Kinlan is currently uncapped at the grade, Tipperary native Murphy Crowe’s most recent appearance in an international 15s game was against Italy in the third round of the 2022 Women’s Six Nations.

THEY MAY HAVE been part of a different set-up within the union in more recent times, but Ireland women’s head coach Scott Bemand isn’t anticipating any teething problems with his 7s cohort on their return to the 15-a-side game this weekend.

After featuring for their country at the Olympic Games in Paris this summer, Vicky Elmes Kinlan and Amee-Leigh Murphy Crowe have been named on the wings for Ireland’s Test encounter against Australia at Kingspan Stadium in Belfast tomorrow afternoon [kick-off 2.30pm].

Whereas Elmes Kinlan is currently uncapped at the grade, Tipperary native Murphy Crowe’s most recent appearance in an international 15s game was against Italy in the third round of the 2022 Six Nations.

That was also the last outing – until now – in the 15-a-side code for Stacey Flood, who is named on the bench tomorrow along fellow 7s compatriots Erin King, Emily Lane and Eve Higgins. The latter was a regular starter under Bemand during this year’s Six Nations Championship, but while it can take some players time to readjust after an intense period of 7s action, Bemand is confident it won’t be a major concern for Ireland’s returning Olympians.

“I think Sevens has grown, it has evolved. A good while ago there would have been a definitive 7s style. If you look at how people attack and defend now, the systems have become advanced. I’ve always believed that 7s is an absolutely outstanding tool for developing. So everything you can say might be a nuance or a problem, there’s an opportunity with it,” Bemand remarked at a pre-match press conference yesterday.

“We’ve just come off the training paddock now and we’ve seen some of the 7s girls, from the 22, rip it to an edge and go the length and score. We’ve had two really, really good training weeks in terms of what it has been like to come from a 7s pitch to a 15s pitch. Everything I’ve seen so far, they’ve taken to it like ducks to water.”

Joining Murphy Crowe in the back-three is another player who last appeared for the Ireland 15s team more than two years ago. Due to a combination of injuries and the arrival of her son Caolán into the world, Eimear Considine most recently donned the green jersey in a fourth round defeat to England in the 2022 edition of the Six Nations – an encounter that saw her sustaining a medial collateral ligament injury.

She recently returned to competitive fare for Munster in the Women’s Interprovincial Championship following another lengthy lay-off caused by an ACL issue and after initially being drafted into the squad as cover for Meabh Deely, she has forced her way into the starting line-up at full-back for the visit of Australia to Ravenhill.

On the opposite side of the fence as England’s coach when she last represented Ireland on the international stage, Bemand said that Considine has fully merited her inclusion for tomorrow’s game.

“She has been brilliant, absolutely brilliant. As the game evolves, there are certain things that you need to have. You need a full-back who is like a good goalkeeper in soccer, they need to be safe. They need to read play, they need to work with their edge players.

“They basically own that back-field space. She’s safe as houses and then the athlete that she is, she’s got a run threat, she can kick with both feet. She can pass, she can distribute, she can pick off edges.

“Eimear has earned her opportunity. It’s absolutely brilliant to be able to get her back into an environment that she left a while ago. I was actually there when she got hurt, on the other side of the coaching bench. Everything we’ve done, everything we’ve seen with her, from capability to experience, she’s adding a massive amount to the environment.”

As well as being the starting point for Irish Rugby’s 150th year celebrations, tomorrow’s game will also serve as ideal preparation for Ireland ahead of their WXV 1 campaign in Vancouver – which begins at the end of this month with a tough fixture against reigning world champions New Zealand.

A good display is undoubtedly an imperative for Bemand ahead of their forthcoming trip to Canada, but pulling off a positive result in Belfast is also something that he and his troops are aiming for.

“I think there’s a definite performance piece that I think we need to accelerate going to WXV. Do we want to win it? It’s our 150th year anniversary game on home soil and no different to the Six Nations. We want people to be proud of coming to watch us playing at home. It’s a home game and we want to put a winning performance out there,” Bemand added.

Daire Walsh

Despite some significant alterations to the backroom team since she last featured on the international stage, Cork native Enya Breen has insisted there haven’t been radical changes to the way the Ireland women’s rugby team operates.

When Breen lined out at inside centre in a final round Women’s Six Nations victory over Scotland at Ravenhill in Belfast on April 27 of this year, John McKee (senior coach), Declan Danaher (defence coach) and Larissa Muldoon (assistant backs and attack coach) were members of Scott Bemand’s coaching ticket alongside scrum specialist Denis Fogarty.

HAVING PREVIOUSLY SHARED the role with fellow forward Sam Monaghan, the next few weeks will see Edel McMahon taking on sole responsibility as team skipper within the Ireland women’s rugby set-up.

Having been named as co-captains by Scott Bemand upon his appointment as Ireland women’s head coach in July of last year, McMahon and Monaghan helped to guide their country towards the inaugural WXV 3 title in Dubai in the autumn of 2023.

Even though they both missed out on certain parts of the tournament, the UK-based duo featured from the start when Ireland defeated Scotland at Ravenhill on 27 April to earn third spot in the Six Nations Championship and, by extension, qualification for the 2025 Women’s Rugby World Cup.

While McMahon is expected to play a prominent role when Ireland take on Australia in the Belfast venue this Saturday, the ACL injury she picked up playing for Gloucester-Hartpury in last June’s Premiership Women’s Rugby final not only rules Monaghan out of this weekend’s encounter but also the forthcoming WXV 1 tournament in Canada.

Yet despite acknowledging how much of a loss she will be on the field, McMahon said Monaghan’s presence in the Irish camp last week was a major lift ahead of their showdown with the Wallaroos.

“It was great to have her around. There’s full faith that she’s putting her head down and getting herself back fit and ready to come in,” McMahon remarked at a press conference in the IRFU’s High Performance Centre yesterday.

“We even had her dialled in for a couple of our forward sessions, so she’s still part of the core group, adding value where she can and leadership outside of the pitch, and everything that she can do.

“Even from my point of view, we’ve leaders pretty much everywhere across the field. It’s not as lonely as it feels with her gone. Obviously I do miss her, but we’ve a lot of leadership around the team so it’s going well.”

In addition to a plethora of uncapped players being included in the wider playing group, there is also a fresh look to the Ireland coaching team ahead of Saturday’s game – which is set to mark the start of Irish Rugby’s 150th-year celebrations.

While the aforementioned Bemand and scrum coach Denis Fogarty remain from this year’s Six Nations, Alex Codling (forwards coach), Hugh Hogan (defence coach), Gareth Steenson (kicking coach) and Marie-Louise Reilly (World Rugby coach intern) are new arrivals to the backroom set-up.

Additionally, after he had worked alongside both Bemand and his predecessor Greg McWilliams as senior coach of the women’s side, the IRFU have now appointed New Zealander John McKee to a new position within their Women’s High Performance Programme.

Although they are bringing some new ideas to the table, McMahon stressed that the new coaches are building on existing foundations rather than opting to reinvent the wheel.

“The new staff have just added layers onto what we already have in place. We’ve still got the same coaching cues, still going after the same kind of pitch map and they’re just adding their expertise.

“Alex Codling has come in from a lineout perspective, so there’s that leadership there and he’s done a massive amount of work. He’s a great character and I think he really gets the squad and what makes us tick. The work that the girls have done now since I’ve come in is really sharp. They’re looking after that side of things.”

While Lauren Delany and Hannah O’Connor have stepped into international retirement since the conclusion of this year’s Six Nations, an experienced face from the past has returned to the Irish set-up in recent weeks. Despite not being named in Bemand’s initial 35-player selection for the upcoming international window, Eimear Considine was subsequently drafted into the squad as injury cover for Connacht’s Meabh Deely.

A debutant back in 2017, Considine’s most recent appearance for the international 15s side came against England in a Six Nations Championship clash at Welford Road back in April 2022. A knee injury picked up in that game kept her sidelined for a number of weeks and she then enjoyed an extended spell away from rugby due to the arrival of her son Caolán into the world.

An ACL injury had her on the treatment table not long after returning to competitive action in 2023, but following 10 months out of the game, Considine made her latest comeback in the colours of Munster during the recent Women’s Interprovincial Championship.

Given they are both natives of Kilmihil in West Clare, McMahon knows Considine better than most within the Ireland camp. Though she will face stiff competition from those who have featured at test level in more recent times, McMahon revealed that the 33-year-old is doing everything within her power to pick up a 27th Irish cap.

“I know back in Kilmihil, we were back at a football match on Sunday. Everyone was looking for us to tog out and I was like, ‘No, no, she’s gone now, she’s in with us!’

“Obviously the parish is very proud of the two of us representing Kilmihil, but equally proud of her for her journey from baby to ACL and a little set-back then in Interpros. She has been putting her hand up for selection,” McMahon added.

Daire Walsh