To continue their upward trajectory, Bemand, who has signed a new deal to stay with Ireland until the conclusion of the 2029 Women’s Rugby World Cup, has freshened up his squad and opted for a change of captain.
There are nine uncapped players in the 36-strong panel while winger Amee-Leigh Costigan, who captained the side throughout last year’s championship, and former co-captain Edel McMahon, are out.
The armband has been passed to returning back row Erin King, who Bemand believes is the ideal candidate to lead the green wave into a new cycle.
He said: “Erin embodies the Ireland player of the future of how she attacks training and how she is – honest, driven and a resilient player.”
The 22-year-old recently returned from the serious knee injury which forced her to miss last year’s World Cup and is relishing her new role.
King believes Ireland must target being competitive in both games against the top two and it is not an unrealistic goal.
They were well in the game at half-time in Cork last year when they trailed 7-5, only for England to blow them away in the second half to win 49-5.
At the World Cup in the summer, Ireland led 13-0 at the break before France came back with 18 unanswered points to progress to the last four.
“We know we are bridging the gap to the top two teams – France and England. They’ve been professional for a lot longer than us but the last few years of our professionalism is paying off now,” she said.
“Last year we held it to England for a good while so it would be great if we could compete for the full 80 [minutes] against them and get to get one up on France, we can definitely compete with them.
“With the squad we have, we can do things we’ve never done before. We just want to get going.”
