Aoife Wafer may have a target on her back but it's the cap on her head that marks her out.
That’s the version coming from the Black Ferns camp, anyway, ahead of their WXV1 clash against Ireland in Vancouver.
Famously, New Zealand men’s players, B.C. (Before Chicago), struggled to name many more than Brian O’Driscoll when asked who Ireland’s main threats were; that all changed after 2016.
Some level of unfamiliarity is understandable with the womens' teams only meeting for a third ever time on Monday morning and for the first time since 2017.
It’s no surprise that the Wexford woman has been identified by appearance if not by name by the Black Ferns management.
In fairness, 'Aoife’ can be tricky for non-Irish so it may not have been worth a possible mangling on a long distance Zoom call in the early hours of Tuesday morning.
The versatile 21-year-old was a Six Nations player of the tournament nominee and twice player of the round back in the spring.
She’s played eight times for Ireland and scored four tries, including a brace in the 36-10 win over Australia earlier this month.
"If they are going to focus on me and leave off our other threats then I'm happy to get smashed in a tackle," Wafer said ahead of their departure to Canada.
"If it means Amee-Leigh Murphy Crowe is down the wing and scoring a try under the posts [that’s fine].
"We have numerous threats, scattered throughout the park, 1-23.
"The girls who came off the bench made an impact. If they are focussing on me they are going to be leaving someone off."
Ireland out-half Dannah O’Brien (above), meanwhile, also appears in the world champions’ dispatches, although, again, not by name.
"Their first-five [out-half] has a massive left boot so disrupting the quality ball she gets, and the pressure on her will mean hopefully we are playing in the right areas and more chance to counter-attack."
On Ireland, who finished third in the Six Nations and qualified for next year’s World Cup, Christie added: "They have progressed hugely.
"They've led the Six Nations in terms of kick metres and average kick metres so they've got a great kicking game.
"On attack, they were number one for ruck speed so put those two things combined around playing in the right areas and playing at tempo and pace I think they've developed really well."
While Ireland were warming up against the Wallaroos, New Zealand were at the end of a 24-12 loss to England in Twickenham.
The World Cup winners are intent on "stepping it up a notch" after their fourth-place finish in last year’s inaugural WXV but it’s a challenge that Wafer is looking forward to.
"We'll have our own internal goals and then we'll have targets set out for each game that we will hold ourselves accountable to," added Leinster forward Wafer, whose side are ranked seventh in the world to New Zealand’s second place.
"You can't ignore the fact that they are the world champions, they beat England in the World Cup final.
"We'll go in with a game plan to make sure we adhere to our super strengths and then we'll look at areas where New Zealand are weaker so that we can fire shots. The focus will be on ourselves.
"I think it's going to be a really exciting time."
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