Christy Haney is upbeat despite missing out on Ireland's WXV1 campaign in Canada and confident of a return to action for the Celtic Challenge in December.
The Ireland prop injured her knee soon after coming on as a replacement in the team’s 36-10 win over Australia earlier this month.
A number of Ireland players, co-captain Sam Monaghan, Aoibheann Reilly and Natasja Behan, are currently sidelined with ACL [anterior cruciate ligament] injuries, which usually require around nine months’ rehabilitation.
In the past, full-back Eimear Considine and scrum-half Kathryn Dane also suffered ACL injuries.
"It’s an MCL [medial collateral ligament] injury. Of all the injuries in the knee, it’s one of the quickest rehabs so I'm looking at four to eight weeks.
"100%, it was bad timing for Canada but should be ready for the Celtic Challenge."
USA-born Haney has 19 Ireland caps and juggles a full-time job as a structural engineer with her rugby career.
Originally, she booked some time off for the trip and planned to meet up with her family, but she’ll remain in Ireland and cheer on her team-mates, in matches against New Zealand, Canada and USA, from Dublin.
"I’m not going over," said the 30-year-old Leinster front row, who moved to Ireland eight years ago.
"I would love to. I had booked the time off, but I was working two days on, three days off, even when I was over there so I’ve 'unbooked’ it.
"I told my mom that she should come ‘cos it was in Canada and I told her it was in Toronto [on the west coast].
"We’re on the east coast, Taylorstown, Virginia, and she said, fantastic, that would be so convenient and then I was like, by the way, it’s actually Vancouver, and she said it’s nearly easier to get to Ireland than Vancouver."
While Ireland finished the Six Nations on a high, beating Scotland to qualify for the World Cup, they were outclassed in games against France and England.
The Black Ferns, beaten by England two weeks ago, are world champions and pose a daunting challenge but Haney feels the team has learned from the 14-try trouncing in Twickenham, and that was evident as they ran in six tries against the Wallaroos.
"It was a huge catalyst for growth within our team, seeing what didn't work and what will work and I know the girls will apply that against New Zealand," said Haney, whose grandmother comes from Borrisokane in Tipperary.
"Going into this campaign we have our targets of how to perform.
"Scott [Bemand, head coach] has a great framework for us.
"He has broken it down, the game within the game, the areas around the park that we want to target but he also encourages us just to play rugby and that’s where you get the keys to the car, that’s where you get to express yourself.
"It seems to come a bit more naturally when we are confident."
Haney is an ambassador for the new Tackle Your Feelings school’s campaign and also spoke about her ways of dealing with setbacks, in particular how she coped with the aftermath of Ireland’s wooden spoon campaign last year.
"I’m lucky in that I have a full-time career," Haney (above) said.
"That environment was a great place for me, my employers were incredibly supportive.
"I remember the director came around and he patted me on the back and said, ‘they might have bet you, but nobody is a better structural engineer than you are’.
"It comes back to your support network, the people you have around you and the perspectives that they can bring."
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