Ireland make three changes for second Test against Japan

Ireland head coach Greg McWilliams has made three changes to the starting team for Saturday’s second Test against Japan at Prince Chichibu Memorial Stadium in Tokyo (11.0am Irish time, live on TG4).

Dorothy Wall and Sam Monaghan are unavailable for selection due to injury, while Christy Haney and Nicole Cronin, who both came off the bench last week, are also ruled out from the team that beat Japan 57-22 in the first test.

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Netherlands born Jo Brown, who won the last of seven caps for England in 2019, will make her debut at blindside flanker. Jess Keating and Emma Tilly are in line to win their first caps off the bench. The backline is unchanged, Hannah O’Connor switches to secondrow to replace Monaghan while Brown comes in for Wall at blindside flanker.

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Brown will wear the number six jersey, Edel McMahon continues at openside, and Grace Moore makes her first Ireland start at number eight.

On the bench, Emma Hooban, Chloe Pearse and Katie O’Dwyer provide the frontrow reinforcements, with Taryn Schutzler and the uncapped Keating, who has been playing in America with Life University, completing the forward options available to McWilliams.

The Irish head coach says he was very pleased with last weekend’s nine-try victory at Ecopa Stadium but is looking for further improvement: “It was a reward for the hard work the whole group have put in over the course of the summer programme, but the focus for us has been on improving, growing and being better on Saturday.

“This week has been a test of our resilience as there is no doubt the first Test took a huge amount out of the group, and as we go on this journey together we’ll learn a lot about the demands of Test match rugby. We’ve already grown hugely over the course of this Tour and we’re excited about the team selected for this weekend.

“It is a great chance for us to explore our depth further and give players the opportunity they deserve for their hard work and commitment and I’m looking forward to seeing how they perform in the green jersey.”

IRELAND: Méabh Deely; Natasja Behan, Aoife Dalton, Enya Breen, Aoife Doyle; Dannah O’Brien, Ailsa Hughes; Laura Feely, Neve Jones, Linda Djougang; Hannah O’Connor, Nichola Fryday; Jo Brown, Edel McMahon, Grace Moore.

Replacements: Emma Hooban, Chloe Pearse, Katie O’Dwyer, Taryn Schutzler, Jess Keating, Molly Scuffil-McCabe, Leah Tarpey, Emma Tilly.