Nancy McGillivray and Ivana Kiripati will make their debuts against Scotland for Ireland’s first Rugby World Cup warm-up game in Virgin Media Park on Saturday, August 2nd (KO 2pm).
McGillivray was formerly a contracted transition player for England, and also grew up playing in Hong Kong, but the outside centre qualifies through her Irish father.
Sam Monaghan returns to captain the side after a lengthy lay-off following an ACL injury sustained in the PWR final in June 2024.
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Bemand has also handed a debut to Kiripati in the backrow, with Ailish Quinn primed to make her debut from the “This is the first real opportunity for players to put their hands up for World Cup selection, and that’s brought great intensity to our work in camp. We’ve seen real growth in this group since we assembled at the start of June, and now it’s about transferring that onto the pitch. bench.
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In the pack, Siobhán McCarthy, Clíodhna Moloney-MacDonald and Sadhbh McGrath are in the frontrow. Eimear Corri-Fallon, also returning after nearly 12 months out, joins Monaghan in the engine room and Grace Moore, Kiripati and Brittany Hogan make up the backrow.
In the backs Molly Scuffil-McCabe starts at scrumhalf with Dannah O’Brien at outhalf. Eve Higgins partners McGillivray in the centre with Amee Leigh Costigan and the returning Béibhinn Parsons on the wings.
Neve Jones, Niamh O’Dowd, Linda Djougang, Fiona Tuite, Deirbhile Nic a Bháird and Ailish Quinn are the forwards available to Bemand on a strong bench, with backs Emily Lane and Enya Breen completing Ireland’s 23.
“This is the first real opportunity for players to put their hands up for World Cup selection, and that’s brought great intensity to our work in camp,” Bemand says.
“We’ve seen real growth in this group since we assembled at the start of June, and now it’s about transferring that on to the pitch.”
IRELAND (v Scotland, World Cup warm-up, Saturday, Musgrave Park, 2pm): Méabh Deely (Blackrock College/Connacht); Béibhinn Parsons (Blackrock College/Connacht), Nancy McGillivray (Exeter Chiefs)*, Eve Higgins (Railway Union/Leinster), Amee-Leigh Costigan (Railway Union/Munster); Dannah O’Brien (Old Belvedere/Leinster), Molly Scuffil-McCabe (Manawatū/Leinster); Siobhán McCarthy (Railway Union/Munster), Clíodhna Moloney-MacDonald (Exeter Chiefs), Sadhbh McGrath (Cooke/Ulster); Eimear Corri-Fallon (Blackrock College/Leinster), Sam Monaghan (Gloucester Hartpury/IQ Rugby) (capt); Grace Moore (Trailfinders Women/IQ Rugby), Ivana Kiripati (Creggs/Connacht)*, Brittany Hogan (Old Belvedere RFC/Ulster).
Replacements: Neve Jones (Gloucester Hartpury), Niamh O’Dowd (Old Belvedere/Leinster), Linda Djougang (Old Belvedere/Leinster), Fiona Tuite (Old Belvedere/Ulster), Deirbhile Nic a Bháird (Old Belvedere/Munster), Ailish Quinn (Galwegians/Connacht)*, Emily Lane (Blackrock College), Enya Breen (Blackrock College/Munster).
*denotes uncapped player
