Bemand aiming to find ‘balance’ in Irish selection

Ireland vs. Spain: Pool C of the Women’s Rugby World Cup

Date: Sunday, August 31; Kick-off: 12:00 BST

Scott Bemand, Ireland’s head coach, claims he “strike a balance” in his team selection for Sunday’s World Cup Pool C game against Spain as his side tries to advance to the quarter-finals with a victory at Franklin’s Gardens.

The Irish team’s victory over Japan last weekend, 42-14, gave them a strong start to their campaign, and on September 7th, they will face holders New Zealand in a matchup that will likely determine the group’s winners.

While Aoife Wafer, a star back rower, is still missing from the 23-strong matchday squad despite returning from training with a knee injury, Bemand has changed seven things in his starting lineup for the encounter with Spain.

The likes of Edel McMahon and Beibhinn Parsons will not play in the game, while Neve Jones and Brittany Hogan, the team’s player of the week, are positioned on the bench, despite the former England assistant’s description of his squad as “in fine health.”

Bemand remarked, “There’s always a balance to strike on these occasions.”

There is a “there’s always that blend,” according to the statement “we want to get our best game out there and reach the quarter-finals at the very first opportunity possible.” This weekend, so work must be done.

We are “absolutely in the lead,” they say, “and we have a good chance of clinching that quarter-final spot.” It’s important that people have the opportunity to compete for positions because we’ve been training for it.

“We made a few tactical adjustments, which slightly differs from what we showed against Japan,” the statement read. It’s all about “getting the job done right” on the business end.

After winning the 2021 World Cup qualifier between the teams, Spain defeated Ireland 54-8 in their group opener.

They are eight places below Ireland in the world in terms of ranking them thirteenth.

Spain are a mobile team, we are aware of. They are well-versed in sevens. We want to challenge ourselves physically and become mobile.

In terms of the game’s goals. We want to start playing early and to stay ahead of them. We think we’ve chosen the ideal team for that task.