But while the excitement around the team continues to build, the players and coaches won’t be getting carried away just yet. It wasn’t a perfect performance against Japan and they will know there are issues to iron out against Spain before the expected pool decider against New Zealand in a fortnight.
The line-out will be a big point of focus in training this week. It provided a good platform at times against Japan, but it was inconsistent.
Japan were not strong enough to really punish Ireland in this area, but it will be a different story against the top teams. The likes of New Zealand, France and England can be absolutely ruthless here, so Ireland need their line-out as an exit tool inside their own 22.
At times, Ireland didn’t gain enough territory from their phase play and there will be a recognition that barely gaining 10 metres from three, four, five phases will be too energy-sapping against the strongest teams.
There is always a risk to disrupting a winning formula, but Ireland need to build depth so it would not be surprising to see a few changes for Spain. Dannah O’Brien and Aoibheann Reilly both acquitted themselves well in the half-backs against Japan, but it is too much to expect nines and 10s to play 80 minutes every week.
Nicole Fowley has not been involved in recent matchday squads, so it would be an opportunity to give her some minutes while Scott Bemand has two other quality scrum-halves in Emily Lane and Molly Scuffil-McCabe in case he favours a switch at nine.
Aoife Wafer appears to be closing in on her return from a knee injury, and while the coaches will be keen to get her involved before the New Zealand game, it is important for her to be carefully managed. If she does return against Spain and come through unscathed, it would give the squad a serious boost.
