Ireland’s hosting of the 2017 event isn’t remembered fondly on the playing front. Squeezing opening wins against Australia and Japan at the UCD Bowl proved to be mere stays of execution. Three losses followed, to France, Australia and Wales. Ireland eventually finished eight, an afterthought at their own party. A team that had won four times in the Six Nations earlier that year was on the slide that would only bottom out with a public admonishment of the IRFU in 2021 and a wooden spoon two years later. So, step back even further, and what we have over the coming weeks is the possibility that this could be the first World Cup to generate some old-fashioned feelgood since a legendary vintage took down the Black Ferns in Marcoussis in 2014. God, but those were the days. Grand Slam champions in 2013, Six Nations kingpins again in 2015. Even the unsuccessful campaign between those two were undone only by a seven-point loss in Twickenham and a four-point reversal in Pau. The best of times. The current crew aren’t at that level yet. Truth is, a so-so Six Nations disappointed after the highs of another win against New Zealand, and a competitive loss to Canada, in the WXV1s over in British Columbia late last year. This squad is without Erin King and Dorothy Wall in the pack because of injury. Aoife Wafer is still in Dublin trying to get right for a return later in the pool stage, but this is still a strong hand dealt by head coach Scott Bemand. Aoibheann Reilly gets the nod at nine ahead of Emily Lane and Molly Scufill-McCabe in what was probably a tight three-horse race. The absence of the three aforementioned forwards sees Fiona Tuite switch from lock to start at blindside flanker for the first time. Ireland have a young but superb out-half, solid centres and a skilled back three. They have six strong front rows, including ex-England prop Ellena Perry, good second row options and the back row, as with the men’s game, is a source of depth. “We’ve been together as this group now for two years,” said Bemand. “We’ve continued to evolve our game, evolve strategies and evolve depth. We’re in the right space, the right condition physically, we now need to put it into game mode.” The bench should offer something extra against a nation that has one just one of 12 pool games down the years, but one that is targeting a scalp and has more recent experience of this tournament having qualified in 2021 as well. Bemand duly talked up a well-disciplined, organized side with pace and skill and a strong coaching group headed by Canadian Lesley McKenzie. He also played down the fact that, on his side, only Cliodhna Moloney-MacDonald has played at this tournament before, in 2017. Ireland don’t lack completely for big-game experience. Five of today’s 23 featured in Paris last year when, as with that home XVs World Cup in 2017, they fell short of their ambitions and finished a disappointing eighth. Co-captain Edel McMahon is confident that sort of background can stand to them. “We do have girls with different experiences on the world stage, so it doesn’t feel like a lot of players’ first World Cup,” said one of four in the panel light on game time after long-term injury. “These girls take it in their stride. It’s cool to see that headspace.” Slow starts in the warm-ups against Scotland and Canada should concentrate the minds in Northampton where a win, followed by another against Spain next week, would seal a quarter-final place before a final Pool C game against their old Kiwi friends. It would be encouraging to see the defence tighten up and for that dangerous back line to generate more momentum and threat, and the side will no doubt take to the field with teammate Shannon Ikahihifo in mind after her recent cancer diagnosis. This should be the start of something, in more ways than one. Ireland: S Flood; B Parsons, A Dalton, E Higgins, AL Costigan; D O'Brien, A Reilly; N O’Dowd, N Jones, L Djougang; R Campbell, S Monaghan; F Tuite, E McMahon, B Hogan. Replacements: C Moloney-MacDonald, E Perry, S McGrath, E Corri-Fallon, G Moore, E Lane, E Breen, A McGann. Japan: S Nishimura; M Matsumura, M Furuta, H Hirotsu, K Imakugi; A Otsuka, M Tsukui; S Kato, A Kuge, W Kitano; Y Sato, O Yoshimura; M Kawamura, I Nagata, S Saito. Replacements: K Taniguchi, M Mine, N Nagata, A Sakurai, K Hosokawa, M Abe, M Yamamoto, S Hatada.