Hannah Tyrrell has welcomed the return of Eimear Considine to the Ireland team after more than two years off the international scene.
The Munster full-back last played for Ireland in April 2022 when she was injured during a 69-0 defeat to England.
Considine had a baby in January of 2023 and last September suffered an ACL injury so had to juggle a long rehabilitation and motherhood.
But the determined 33-year returned to action with impressive cameos in the final two matches of the Interprovincial Championship last month.
With a number of back-three players impressing across the series Considine initially missed out but an injury to Connacht full-back Méabh Deely opened the door and head coach Scott Bemand saw enough in training to put the Clare woman straight into the starting team to face Australia tomorrow in Belfast (2.30pm).
"Only called up as a replacement but she’s starting already.
"The reason for that is her experience in the backfield. Teams are going to try and target Ireland’s backfield.
"She is so good under the high ball, she’s an experienced voice and Scott has obviously seen that.
"We need as much experience as possible having lost [injured co-captain] Sam Monaghan, a huge blow."
It’s the first meeting of the teams since facing off twice in the 2017 World Cup in which both sides won once.
Considine, who will win her 27th cap, and Clíodhna Moloney are the only two remaining players from that tournament in the squad for tomorrow's clash against the fifth-ranked team in the world.
"They've got into WXV1 now and you can see the growth and they’ve got a strong coaching team and are back on track," she said.
"Having the opportunity to play against northern hemisphere teams is really interesting because it’s really different to the southern hemisphere against the likes of New Zealand and Fiji.
"There’s much more tactical kicks and that’s noticeable from Ireland, they quite like a kick battle. That’s something we are mindful off.
"Knowing Scott, they like to keep the ball in hand and move the ball and create quick ball. We have to be quick around the corner defensively to stop that."
Tyrrell, who won 19 Ireland caps between 2015 and 2021, also gave a prediction for the match, for which Ireland come in ranked ninth in the world.
"It's going to be tight," she said.
"I just don't know if they have had enough time together. I'm going to say 19-17 to Australia.
"I don't want it to be that but my head is telling me we mightn't have made the inroads as much as I'd hoped."
The game, kicking off the IRFU's 150th anniversary celebrations, also serves as a warm-up for Ireland's upcoming fixtures against New Zealand, USA and Canada in Vancouver.
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