Stepping back into international rugby against England at Twickenham on Saturday has been the moment Dorothy Wall visualised when she was pushing her body back to full fitness last summer.

A missed World Cup last autumn further focused the mind of the Ireland lock and those memories will be carried with her when Wall gets her country’s 2026 Guinness Six Nations campaign up and running in south-west London.

Twelve months on from the Achilles’ tendon injury sustained in last season’s final round of the championship, the 25-year-old from Fethard, Co. Tipperary, is relishing the opportunity to pull on a green jersey once more and is not taking the honour lightly.

Rehabbing with back-rower and now Ireland captain Erin King, who also missed the World Cup through injury, the pair have been through the mill together and that has been recalled in conversations this week.

“It’s mad. Myself and Erin, we talked about these weeks, playing England and what that would mean,” Wall said. “When you’re sitting in there doing upper body conditioning, it means even more when you get back in. That’s something I’ve kind of been reminding myself this week.

“If things don’t go to plan, if you make mistakes early in the week, it’s when you’re meant to make mistakes. It’s just being present with it all and realising that it can be taken away from you so quickly.

“So it’s relishing it and even (acknowledging) how quickly an international rugby career is over. Being present and appreciating every moment is definitely a big part of my mindset for this campaign.” 

Wall, who took up a contract with Exeter Chiefs on her return to fitness, has reconnected with an Ireland squad looking to build on their narrow loss to Six Nations rivals France at the World Cup quarter-final stage last September. And despite a terrible record against the English they are fully focused on producing the best version of themselves in front of a 75,000 crowd expecting nothing but a dominant home performance from a side on a 33-game winning run.

Asked for the minimum the Irish players were looking for from this opening fixture against the world champions, Wall replied: “I think we train how we play, so every time we go out there, the way our week is structured it’s clarity.

“We prime what we’re doing. In the first 10 minutes or the first few sets, if the focus isn’t in there, we’re pulled in and it’s a real focus for us to have a fast start to every training we do. That is something that we expect from ourselves at the weekend.

“If it’s the first 10 minutes of the game, if it’s the first 10 minutes after the half with maybe changes or whatever. Whatever segment we are in the game, it needs to be a fast start.

“If it’s when the subs come on, when they make impact or they can see tactical things from the bench, that needs to be a fast start from them. To add momentum, to add impact, to add IQ in certain areas that we might be missing as starters that come off.

“It’s a focus thing, it’s the ability to perform and focus on the moment. As I said, being present is a massive thing for us and a massive thing for me.” 

She added: “We’ve trained really hard… we’ve gone after it physically with our intensity, our clarity… so well prepped to play England.

“I think intensity without clarity or a clear plan of what you’re trying to do is pretty useless. So everything comes from our detail, our clarity, what we’re trying to achieve, our game plan, and then that’s done with the intensity and ferocity that we train with. Should be an exciting, exciting match.”