As an illustration of how competitive training has been ahead of this Saturday's Test with Australia, Edel McMahon points up at her right eye.
There’s the makings of a shiner developing on the flanker’s face after Tuesday’s training session which she admits was "a bit feisty". As for the culprits, no names were mentioned.
As this generation of Irish players prepare for their biggest challenge yet in the WXV later this month, Scott Bemand’s side have been able to prepare with their biggest squad.
Between the senior squad and the additional training panellists, a group of 40 players have been in camp over the last week in anticipation of their warm-up clash with Australia this Saturday in Belfast.
Having secured their place in the top tier of WXV, and logged early World Cup qualification after a promising Guinness Women’s Six Nations campaign in the spring, the Ireland head coach stressed last week that the next 12 months are about building depth right across the pitch.
If Bemand was to assess his depth chart today, it’s likely his back row would fill him with the most confidence.
In the Six Nations, the Ireland coach largely worked off a group of five back row forwards. McMahon started four of the five games as co-captain and one of the most experienced in the squad, while Brittany Hogan cemented her spot at number 8.
Aoife Wafer announced herself on the international stage with a breakout championship, while Bemand also regularly called on Grace Moore and Shannon Ikahihifo.
That quintet are all jockeying for places again this autumn, while it’s expected Munster’s Deirbhile Nic a Bháird will be involved this Saturday against the Aussies as she completes her recovery from an ACL injury. Out in the wider squad, Connacht’s Faith Ovaiwe was one of the standouts in the recent Interprovincial championship, and it looks like a matter of time before the 22-year-old becomes an Ireland international.
"Ireland produces back rows like there's no tomorrow, but across the squad the depth is quite high. It's been very competitive," McMahon (above) says.
"I actually could go through the whole front row, second row, back row, backfield, centre, the two teams we had out today battling off today against each other. It's starting squads in both sides."
The Exeter Chiefs flanker has co-captained Ireland for the last year alongside Sam Monaghan, and will likely take the role in a solo capacity this weekend if named in Bemand’s starting team on Thursday.
And McMahon says while Monaghan is det for a long spell on the sidelines with a knee injury, the second row has still been an influential presence in camp across the last week.
"Obviously Sam was in with us last week so it was great to have her around. So there’s full faith that she’s putting her head down and getting herself back fit and ready to come in.
"We even had her dialled in for a couple of our forward sessions so she’s still part of the core group and adding value where she can and leadership outside of the pitch and everything that she can do.
"But even from my point of view, I’ve had girls from our group who’re stepping up, we’ve leaders pretty much everywhere across the field. So it's not as lonely as it feels with her gone.
"Obviously, I do miss her but we’ve a lot of leadership around the team so it’s going well," she added.
With Ireland pitted against world champions New Zealand, as well as third-ranked Canada and the USA in the WXV in Vancouver, Saturday’s opposition Australia will serve as a good benchmark ahead of the tournament.
The Wallaroos – ranked fifth in the world – have played all three of Ireland’s WXV opponents in 2024, losing heavily twice to the Black Ferns, while falling 33-14 to Canada and 32-25 to the USA.
However, with Australia, New Zealand and Canada all being new opponents for the vast majority of this Ireland squad, McMahon says they won’t be looking too in-depth at the form book.
"I've never played Australia, Canada or New Zealand. We've come up against USA a couple of times, so it's a real tester for us.
"We're looking now, this is our plan to build towards a World Cup, ticking off big teams like Canada and New Zealand will be a massive bonus for us. How we prepare for those games, the outcomes, and how we adapt if we meet them again. This is great preparation for us.
"It’s funny, you may do really well against one team and another team comes across and might lose and then you play them and hockey them.
"It is not a like for like because strategy games are completely different so we can’t really benchmark on how our performance is against Australia.
"It is massive just getting the squad together and seeing what we can do. Can we fire shots? Can we be ambitious and build on that into WXV? Not exactly a like for like."
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