To proceed their upward trajectory, Bemand, who has signed a brand new deal to stick with Eire till the conclusion of the 2029 Girls’s Rugby World Cup, has freshened up his squad and opted for a change of captain.
There are 9 uncapped gamers within the 36-strong panel whereas winger Amee-Leigh Costigan, who captained the facet all through final yr’s championship, and former co-captain Edel McMahon, are out.
The armband has been handed to returning again row Erin King, who Bemand believes is the best candidate to steer the inexperienced wave into a brand new cycle.
He mentioned: “Erin embodies the Eire participant of the way forward for how she assaults coaching and the way she is – trustworthy, pushed and a resilient participant.”
The 22-year-old not too long ago returned from the intense knee damage which pressured her to overlook final yr’s World Cup and is relishing her new function.
King believes Eire should goal being aggressive in each video games in opposition to the highest two and it isn’t an unrealistic objective.
They had been nicely within the sport at half-time in Cork final yr once they trailed 7-5, just for England to blow them away within the second half to win 49-5.
On the World Cup in the summertime, Eire led 13-0 on the break earlier than France got here again with 18 unanswered factors to progress to the final 4.
“We all know we’re bridging the hole to the highest two groups – France and England. They have been skilled for lots longer than us however the previous few years of our professionalism is paying off now,” she mentioned.
“Final yr we held it to England for an excellent whereas so it might be nice if we might compete for the total 80 [minutes] in opposition to them and get to get one up on France, we will undoubtedly compete with them.
“With the squad we now have, we will do issues we have by no means executed earlier than. We simply need to get going.”
