Robyn O’Connor will make her debut on the left wing in one of three changes to the starting team beaten by England for Saturday’s Six Nations game against Italy at the Dexcom Stadium (5.40pm).
The 20-year-old former Sevens player replaces Vicky Elmes Kinlan on the left wing, while Nancy McGillivray, a replacement at Twickenham, starts in place of Eve Higgins at inside centre. The only change in the pack sees Ruth Campbell, another who started on the bench in London, winning a place in the run-on team ahead of Dorothy Wall.
Higgins and Wall drop to the replacements where prop Sadhbh McGrath and fit again former Ireland captain Sam Monaghan have been called in. Kinlan, Eilís Cahill and Grace Moore drop out of the matchday 23.
Tickets for the game in Galway, which will be preceded by an Under-21 international between the countries, have passed the 8,000 mark, with the new Clan Stand sold out. Saturday’s match is live on Virgin Media One and BBC iPlayer, with radio commentary available on RTÉ Radio 1.
Ireland: Stacey Flood (Railway Union/Leinster); Béibhinn Parsons (Blackrock College/Connacht), Aoife Dalton (Old Belvedere/Leinster), Nancy McGillivray (Exeter Chiefs/IQ Rugby), Robyn O’Connor (Old Belvedere/Leinster); Dannah O’Brien (Old Belvedere/Leinster), Emily Lane (Blackrock College/Munster); Ellena Perry (Gloucester-Hartpury/IQ Rugby), Cliodhna Moloney-MacDonald (Exeter Chiefs), Linda Djougang (Old Belvedere/Leinster); Ruth Campbell (Old Belvedere/Leinster), Fiona Tuite (Old Belvedere/Ulster); Brittany Hogan (Sale Sharks), Erin King (Old Belvedere/Leinster, capt), Aoife Wafer (Harlequins). Replacements: Neve Jones (Gloucester-Hartpury), Niamh O’Dowd (Gloucester-Hartpury), Sadhbh McGrath (Cooke/Ulster), Dorothy Wall (Exeter Chiefs), Sam Monaghan (Gloucester-Hartpury/IQ Rugby), Katie Whelan (Old Belvedere/Leinster), Eve Higgins (Railway Union/Leinster), Anna McGann (Railway Union/Connacht).