Wing O'Connor gets debut as Ireland change three for Italy
With scrum-half Aoibheann Reilly not fit enough to return, Emily Lane continues alongside fly-half Dannah O'Brien, who drew praise from Bemand during his Thursday news conference. "Dannah's done a lot of her growing up and performance development in the public eye," he said. "As an 18, 19-year-old, she was carrying the can really and doing a lot of the leading.
"Fly-half in the northern hemisphere is the driver of the game, so we're challenging, stretching and supporting Dannah to do more on and off the pitch in terms of getting up front and speaking to people. "And how she speaks in front of people is chalk and cheese compared to two years ago. " Watch live on BBC iPlayer and online; live text and video highlights on BBC Sport website and app Nancy McGillivray has played her way into the starting line-up after an effective display off the bench against England Ellena Perry, Cliodhna Moloney-MacDonald and Linda Djougang form an unchanged front row, while Campbell joins Fiona Tuite in the second row.
Captain Erin King, Brittany Hogan and Aoife Wafer are retained in the back row. Neve Jones, Niamh O'Dowd, Monaghan and Wall provide experience on the bench, with Katie Whelan set to earn her second cap and Anna McGann hoping to make another impact after marking her second-half introduction with a try against England. Ireland scored eight tries to hammer Italy 54-12 in Parma last year but the Azzurre claimed a shock 27-21 win at Dublin's RDS Arena in 2024.
Bemand, however, says his squad have taken a poor start against England that led to a 21-0 half-time deficit "to heart" and insisted there will be "no hangover" this week. "We understand what we're trying to do. We understand how we're going to execute it.
"We've got to a space where we believe it'll withstand under pressure so now it's just about having the confidence to go an execute that plan. " Ireland: Flood; Parsons, Dalton, McGillivray, O'Connor; O'Brien, Lane; Perry, Moloney-MacDonald, Djougang, Campbell, Tuite, Hogan, King (capt), Wafer. Replacements: Jones, O'Dowd, McGrath, Wall, Monaghan, Whelan, Higgins, McGann.