'She's been throwing herself around the training field'

Ireland head coach Scott Bemand said the return of co-captain Edel McMahon for Sunday’s World Cup opener against Japan was key to his plans for a flying start.

The Irish have risen to their highest world ranking of fifth and Bemand wants to build early momentum against 11th-ranked Pool C rivals Japan, who they face at Northampton’s Franklin’s Gardens.

Bemand said: “It’s great to have Tricky (McMahon) back. We’ve had a strong plan from the beginning.

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“She’s been throwing herself around the training field for the last couple of weeks. I think experience is going to be a big part of this game.

“We think we’ve got the selection right to begin the game and we think we’ve got energy and impact to bring on. We want to hit our straps sooner in games. If we can do that, we can get momentum.”

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McMahon sat out Ireland’s last two warm-up matches with a knee problem, but returns as one of four changes to the side which started the 47-26 defeat to Canada in Belfast.

The 31-year-old Exeter flanker said: “You feel like you prepare a long time for this first game so it’s a case of ‘let’s get out on the pitch’. I’m really excited and just buzzing to get going.”

Ireland, who fought back from behind to beat Scotland 27-21 in their other warm-up match in Cork earlier this month, will also face Spain in their pool and defending champions New Zealand, who they upset 29-27 in the WXV1 in Vancouver last September.

But Bemand is not looking beyond the threat posed by Japan, who have beaten the Unites States and Spain twice this year.

He added: “They’re a good team. They’re well disciplined, well organised, strong coaching group, so we’re anticipating seeing some stuff we’ve not seen from them before.

“They are pacy, skilful. We’ve picked a team to get our best game out there.

“We used the two games in pre-season to get minutes into people, combinations are important to transition pre-season into the Test arena.”