Ireland W v Australia W - teams and prediction
PREVIEW: Ireland Women will host Australia Women for the first time since the teams met in 2017 World Cup.
The two teams will go head to head at Kingspan Stadium in Belfast on Saturday.
Western Force duo Alapeta Ngauamo, Lucy Dinnen and former Melbourne Rebels forward Tiarah Minns are in line to make their international debut after being included on the bench for Australia.
It’s been a remarkable few weeks for Gold Coast-raised Dinnen, who was brought into the squad for the tour late after being part of the Wallaroos training squads for close to a decade.
Minns has also overcome a spate of injuries in her young career to make her Wallaroos debut while Ngauamo’s maiden Test appearance comes at 36 years of age.
Siokapesi Palu will captain the side for the match, where the Wallaroos have been forced to make several changes for due to injuries.
Starting forward Brianna Hoy suffered an ACL injury at training on Tuesday and will return home to undergo surgery with a replacement player to be confirmed.
Bridie O’Gorman starts in Hoy's absence while Leilani Nathan moves to right flanker and Natalie Wright earns her first starting cap at scrumhalf.
Tabua Tuinakauvadra comes into the line-up with Piper Duck (ankle) ruled out for the tour. Ashley Marsters returns to hooker with Tania Naden (hand) unavailable.
Wallaroos wing Maya Stewart makes her return from a hamstring injury with Biola Dawa shifting to the bench alongside Arabella McKenzie.
Edel McMahon will captain Ireland from the loose forward, as head coach Scott Bemand includes four uncapped players in his squad.
Ireland Sevens international Vicky Elmes Kinlan will make her Test debut on the left wing, Ruth Campbell is selected to start for her first cap in the second row, while uncapped forwards Siobhán McCarthy and Erin King - who alongside Elmes Kinlan became an Olympian at Paris 2024 - are named on the bench.
As well as kicking off Irish Rugby's 150th Year Celebrations, Saturday's Test serves as invaluable preparation for Ireland's WXV1 debut later this month providing Bemand and his coaching Team with an opportunity to explore squad depth and build cohesion at the start of the 2024/25 campaign.
A number of players have been rewarded for their performances during the recentWomen's Interprovincial Championship and for their application during the last two weeks of National Team camp at the IRFU High Performance, including Elmes Kinlan who was originally called up to the squad as a training panellist.
The 21-year-old starts in the Ireland back three alongside Eimear Considine at fullback and Amee-Leigh Murphy Crowe on the right wing, who both return to the Test arena in green for the first time since 2022.
Aoife Dalton and Enya Breen are a familiar midfield pairing for Ireland, with Molly Scuffil-McCabe and Dannah O'Brien making up the halfback pairing.
In the pack, Niamh O'Dowd earns her first start at loosehead prop, joining Neve Jones and Linda Djougang in the front row.
Dorothy Wall partners debutant Campbell in the engine room, with Aoife Wafer, captain McMahon and Brittany Hogan forming the loose trio.
Bemand has strong options on the bench, with Clíodhna Moloney, Christy Haney and Fiona Tuite joining the uncapped duo of McCarthy and King as the forward replacements.
Backs Emily Lane, Eve Higgins and Stacey Flood, all of whom were part of the Ireland Women's Sevens squad at the Olympics, complete the Match Day 23.
Wallaroos coach Jo Yapp said: “We’re all really excited to be here in Belfast and I’ve been pleased with how the players have settled in and responded with the travel and being away from home.
“We want to put in a good performance on Saturday and build on what we’ve been working on in recent camps.
“It’s a new-look side selected and it’s important with a few injuries to build depth in key areas and give players an opportunity.
“Alapeta, Lucy and Tiarah are all deserving of their first Test caps this weekend and we’re looking forward to watching them play.”
The Wallaroos will then travel to Cardiff on Sunday ahead of their next match against Wales at Newport Parade on September 21.
Prediction:
@rugby365com: Australia by 10 points
Ireland Women: 15 Eimear Considine, 14 Vicky Elmes Kinlan, 13 Aoife Dalton, 12 Enya Breen, 11 Amee-Leigh Murphy Crowe, 10 Dannah O'Brien, 9 Molly Scuffil-McCabe, 8 Brittany Hogan, 7 Edel McMahon, 6 Aoife Wafer, 5 Ruth Campbell, 4 Dorothy Wall, 3 Linda Djougang, 2 Neve Jones, 1 Naimh O'Dowd .
Replacements: 16 Clíodhna Moloney, 17 Siobhán McCarthy, 18 Christy Haney, 19 Fiona Tuite, 20 Erin King, 21 Emily Lane, 22 Eve Higgins, 23 Stacey Flood.
Australia Women: 15 Lori Cramer, 14 Maya Stewart, 13 Georgina Friedrichs, 12 Cecilia Smith, 11 Desiree Miller, 10 Faitala Moleka, 9 Natalie Wright, 8 Tabua Tunakauvadra, 7 Leilana Nathan, 6 Siokapesi Palu, 5 Michaela Leonard, 4 Kaitlan Leaney, 3 Eva Karpani, 2 Ashley Marsters, 1 Bridie O'Gorman.
Replacements: 16 Tiarna Molloy, 17 Alapeta Ngauamo, 18 Lydia Kavoa, 19 Tiarah Minns, 20 Lucy Dinnen, 21 Layne Morgan, 22 Arabella McKenzie, 23 Biola Dawa.