The Ireland Women’s Rugby team will welcome Wales to the RDS in Dublin on Saturday in the first round of the 2022 Six Nations and they will be hoping for a repeat performance of last year’s encounter when they ran in seven tries in a 45-0 rout.

Scrum half Kathryn Dane had a hand in three of those tries during her 62 minutes on the pitch, and she will be hoping that she can have the same influence if given the chance at the weekend.

The Irish team is set to be named today (Thursday) for the Six Nations opener and Dane is well aware of the competition within the squad as well as in her position as new coach Greg McWilliams tries to find the best starting XV.

“We are building really well,” said Dane, who joined her Irish teammates in camp on Wednesday. “Obviously, it is like a brand-new management team, like a brand-new group of girls.

“There is lots of youth in the system which is brilliant and it is all very positive so I am excited to see us perform.”

2021 was a disappointing year for the Women’s team as they failed to qualify for the World Cup, while there was further fall-out on the back of this.

A review was carried out and findings made, but Dane is keen to not dwell on the past and is firmly focused on how the team progresses under McWilliams.

“It’s a total fresh slate. There is no reference to previous failures, which is great.

“That has been dealt with outside of the team so we don’t have to worry about that any more. He [McWilliams] is just worried about making sure we are happy and comfortable within the new systems, and we just get to express ourselves which is really, really good.

“It takes the pressure off and there is very little expectation of us – we just go out there to enjoy and perform.”

Dane, who will be hoping to win her 19th cap on Saturday, has been been impressed with the new Manager since he took over:

“He’s been through the Irish system in both the male and female game, and he knows us pretty well from watching us at clubs.

“He brings some nice fresh perspectives from his time coaching in the US as well. It’s really exciting and it’s a different approach from what I have previously been exposed to, so it is good for me too as an individual.”

Looking ahead to the Welsh game, Dane is hoping to see some of these new approaches put into action.

“They are a strong team; they have obviously went professional with a number of contracts this year which means they have a bit more of a time advantage with players playing together for a bit longer.

“But we performed well against them last year, so hopefully we can do something similar and just play to our strengths.”

But Dane knows that with a new coach and plenty of new faces it does take time to get everything right.

“We recognise we are not the biggest nation in the Six Nations, so size isn’t on our side.

“But pace and world-class handling skills are more our forte, so if we can use them to our advantage we can exploit teams.

“We are obviously still building as a group and getting used to new systems, but hopefully it will evolve as we progress through the Six Nations.”

Focus

The focus is firmly on what the Irish squad can do and the 25-year-old scrum half knows that if it clicks on the RDS on Saturday, it could be another successful day for them.

“In terms of squad goals, we just kind of want to focus on ourselves and play our style of rugby and become competent at it.

“I think that will grow and we are aware with such a young team and new management that things can take time.

“We are not putting too much pressure on ourselves,” she said, before adding that it will be great to put the green jersey back on again.

“I’m absolutely thrilled to get back out on the pitch again and to wear the green jersey!

“It is really, really exciting and no better venue than the RDS.

“It’s going to be an immaculate pitch so hopefully there will be some fast, free-flowing rugby,” Dane said.