World Cup Pool C: Ireland v Japan, Franklin’s Gardens; Sunday, August 24th, 12pm. Live on RTÉ 2 and BBC 2
Béibhinn Parsons will play her first competitive 15s game for Ireland since the 2024 Six Nations having been named in the starting line-up ahead of Sunday’s World Cup opener against Japan.
Parsons, who has endured a cruel injury run featuring a pair of leg breaks inside the last 12 months, has won the battle to start in a competitive back three. The Connacht wing lines out on the right flank with Amee-Leigh Costigan on the opposite side and Stacey Flood at fullback.
Anna McGann, Ireland’s starting right wing for much of Parsons’s absence, is named on the bench.
Scott Bemand has made four personnel changes and one positional switch to the starting XV which lost to Canada in Ireland’s final warm-up game ahead of the tournament. Co-captain Edel McMahon – who did not feature in either warm-up match – has been passed fit to start in the backrow.
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Joining her is Fiona Tuite who lines out at blindside flanker after starting in the second row against Canada. The other changes come at centre, where Eve Higgins comes in at 12 for Enya Breen, and second row Sam Monaghan returns to co-captain the side with McMahon. McGann started the Canada defeat on the left flank but makes way for Costigan.
As was already announced by Ireland’s coaching staff on Wednesday, number eight Aoife Wafer misses out this week through injury. After spending additional time rehabbing from knee injury in Dublin this week, Wafer will join the squad this weekend with a view to returning to training ahead of the second match against Spain.
On the bench, recent new cap Ellena Perry provides loose head cover in what will be her second match for her adopted nation. The former England international and current Gloucester frontrow was a late call-up once tight head Christy Haney injured her hamstring in the lead-up to the tournament. The other player called up during the summer from England, Exeter centre Nancy McGillivray, has not made the match day 23.
After naming a 6-2 forwards/backs split on the bench in both warm-ups, Bemand has reverted to picking five forwards and three backs. Clíodhna Moloney-MacDonald, the only player left in the squad who featured in Ireland’s last World Cup appearance back in 2017, provides frontrow cover alongside Perry and Sadhbh McGrath.
Eimear Corri-Fallon and Grace Moore are the other forward replacements, while scrumhalf Emily Lane, outhalf/centre Enya Breen and wing McGann round out the bench.
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Parsons’s return to competitive action is a notable boost. During last summer’s Olympics, she broke her fibula in the quarter-final against Australia. Months later, during a Sevens event in Cape Town, she suffered another leg break when she fell awkwardly in a tackle in just her second tournament back from the original injury.
The Ballinasloe native returned to fitness in time for Ireland’s preseason bloc and started in both World Cup preparation games against Scotland and Canada. She crossed for a pair of tries during the latter contest a fortnight ago in Belfast.
Now 23, Parsons has been on the scene for some time having debuted as a tearaway strike runner aged 16. She has jumped between Sevens and 15s, like much of this Ireland squad who went to the Paris Olympics last year. Her pace only adds to the dynamism of an Irish backthree all with extensive Sevens experience.
“I honestly feel like I’m only getting started now. It really does feel like the Scotland game felt like a first cap,” said Parsons.
“It felt like the start of my career even though I have been here a while. I just want a good clean run. I feel like I just want to tear into 15s and see how far I can go.”
The flip side of injury luck leaves Ireland fielding a makeshift backrow. With both Wafer and 2024 World Rugby breakthrough player of the year Erin King out of action, that McMahon has won her own injury battle will bring some comfort to Bemand and his coaching staff. Both from a playing and leadership point of view.
Yet lining out against a Japanese outfit renowned for their defensive breakdown work brings its own challenges. Moving Tuite from secondrow to six is an interesting call, albeit not unheard of. When Wafer missed the final game of the Six Nations against Scotland, Bemand started Dorothy Wall, another lock by trade, in the six jersey. No doubt with a view to preserving attacking power in the absence of Ireland’s best carrier. In the recent warm-ups, Grace Moore lined out at six and now occupies a seat on the bench.
Tuite’s presence should also aid a lineout which has grown in influence under the tutelage of assistant coach Alex Codling. Yet it could be pointed out that Ireland lack dynamism on the floor against an opponent which loves to play at a high tempo.
Japan are a ball-dominated team. They love to hang on to possession, their kicking game focused more on short options exploiting space in behind rather territory. With Dannah O’Brien’s left boot becoming more influential at outhalf, Ireland have developed into a stronger kicking side. They kick often and kick long.
For all the focus on Parsons’s return, how she only adds to a back three laden with exciting runners, that aerial game is where this contest is likely to be decided. Ireland love to go to the territory battle first and, when they have a forward advantage, rely on their lineout and maul.
Expect Ireland to go via the direct route initially. Overpowering Japan will be what decides the victor. Later opportunities afforded to wide threats – on either side – will determine the margin.
Ireland: Stacey Flood; Béibhinn Parsons, Aoife Dalton, Eve Higgins, Amee-Leigh Costigan; Dannah O’Brien, Aoibheann Reilly; Niamh O’Dowd, Neve Jones, Linda Djougang; Ruth Campbell, Sam Monaghan (co-capt); Fiona Tuite, Edel McMahon (co-capt), Brittany Hogan. Replacements: Clíodhna Moloney-MacDonald, Ellena Perry, Sadhbh McGrath, Eimear Corri-Fallon, Grace Moore, Emily Lane, Enya Breen, Anna McGann.
Japan: Sora Nishimura; Misaki Matsumura, Mana Furuta, Haruka Hirotsu, Komachi Imakugi; Ayasa Otsuka, Moe Tsukui; Sachiko Kato, Asuka Kuge, Wako Kitano; Yuna Sato, Otoka Yoshimura; Masami Kawamura, Iroha Nagata, Seina Saito. Replacements: Kotomi Taniguchi, Manami Mine, Nijiho Nagata, Ayano Sakurai, Kyoko Hosokawa, Megumi Abe, Minori Yamamoto, Sakurako Hatada.
